Titanic's Watertight Doors and Bulkheads
	All the transverse bulkheads were carried up watertight to at least the height of the E deck. Bulkheads A and B, and all bulkheads from K to P, both inclusive, further extended watertight up to the underside of D deck. (Bulkhead A further extended to C deck, but it was watertight only to D deck.) Bulkheads A and B forward, and P aft, had no openings in them. All the other bulkheads had openings in them, which were fitted with watertight doors. Bulkheads D to O, both inclusive, had each a vertical sliding watertight door at the level of the floor of the engine and boiler rooms for the use of the engineers and firemen. On the Orlop deck there was one door, on bulkhead N, for access to the refrigerator rooms. On G deck there were no watertight doors in the bulkheads. On both the F and E decks nearly all the bulkheads had watertight doors, mainly for giving communication between the different blocks of passenger accommodation. All the doors, except those in the engine rooms and boiler rooms, were horizontal sliding doors workable by hand both at the door and at the deck above. The diagram below shows the location of all watertight doors [shown in red] on the Titanic.
		The 12 doors immediately above the inner bottom in the engine and boiler room spacesworked vertically. They closed by gravity, and were held in the open position by a clutch which could be released by means of a powerful electro-magnet controlled from the captain’s bridge. In the event of accident, or at any time when it might be considered desirable, the captain or officer on duty could, by simply moving an electric switch, immediately close all these doors. Each door could also be closed from below by operating a hand lever fitted alongside the door. As a further precaution floats were provided beneath the floor level, which, in the event of water accidentally entering any of the compartments, automatically lifted and thus released the clutches, thereby permitting the doors in that particular compartment to close if they had not already been dropped by any other means. These doors were fitted with cataracts which controlled the speed of closing. The time required for the doors to close was between 25 and 30 seconds. Due notice of closing from the bridge was given by a warning bell. A ladder or escape was provided in each boiler room, engine room, and similar watertight compartment, in order that the closing of the doors at any time should not imprison the men working therein. The watertight doors on E deck were of horizontal pattern, with wrought steel door plates. Those on F deck and the one aft on the Orlop deck were of similar type, but had cast iron door plates of heavy section, strongly ribbed. Each of the ‘tween deck doors, and each of the vertical doors on the tank top level could be operated by the ordinary hand gear from the deck above the top of the watertight bulkhead, and from a position on the next deck above, almost directly above the door. To facilitate the quick closing of the doors, plates were affixed in suitable positions on the sides of the alleyways indicating the positions of the deck plates, and a box spanner was provided for each door, hanging in suitable clips alongside the deck plate.
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