That is of course a given, but no sailor can combat 15 atmospheres of water pressure if the hull is breached catastrophically. The picture looks like the boat was ripped open like a tuna fish can. I'm just amazed that it didn't fill with water in about 5 seconds.
Yeah. If the pressure hull had been breached, it would have been game over.
I suppose it’s remotely possible that some miracle of luck and skill would have allowed some of the crew to survive.
The sea-foam green insides you are looking at in that photo or of the three forward ballast tanks and not inside the pressure hull. Still amazing though. And I served aboard that ship. We used to have to calculate how much water would flow into the ship from a 1/4" crack at 700ft for example on written tests from time to time. IIRC, a hole that small at such a depth would overwhelm the main drain pump.