Maybe a bilge or ballast pump failed, and they were unable to either trim the ship properly for the heavy seas or they were unable to get rid of excess water they shipped, again due to heavy seas. In the ferry boat sinking I described in Post 32, it was speculated that a pump failure may have been the cause. I had duty that night, and I remember standing on ther flight deck earlier in the day watching that little boat swoop up and down like a bathtub toy on the waves and thinking that I was glad I wasn't on board that thing.
So you think this out-dated ordnance idea is too far-fetched...?
I mean, if they were having trouble trimming the ship, wouldn't they have known they were in trouble with enough advance warming to send out a Mayday?
I'm a completely landlubber, whose only experience on the water is in the bath tub, so please don't become impatient if I sound "off the wall", it's just that I'm wondering why it seems no one knew they were going down with enough lead time to send out a distress signal.