At 11.40 p.m. on 14 April 1912, RMS Titanic struck an iceberg. She sank less than three hours later, taking around 1,500 people down with her. Devastated survivors provided conflicting information about her final hours – did she slip gracefully below the waves in one piece, or did she violently break apart?

The answer would not be confirmed for seventy-three years.

Breaking Titanic is the first comprehensive study of the break-up of Titanic’s hull. Using eyewitness accounts, underwater archaeology reports and data from computer simulations, Eugene Nesmeyanov presents a critical analysis of the most significant theories and models of the break-up, drawing his own conclusions based on the available body of evidence.

‘Very few people are as informed about Titanic as Eugene Nesmeyanov. In this book, he offers his detailed assessment of just how Titanic transitioned from a floating ship to a shipwreck scattered on the ocean floor. I found it compelling and fascinating and recommend it as one who has with submersibles and robots explored that scattered wreckage.’

‘Eugene Nesmayenov has performed a unique, valuable service by collating and comparing the ever-growing body of facts, hypotheses, findings, inconsistencies and fallacies from more than a century of survivor accounts, official inquiries and multiple expeditions to the wreck. Breaking Titanic is a thoughtful analysis by this expert author, and a detailed portrait of where our knowledge stands in understanding Titanic’s history, present status and likely future.’

EUGENE NESMEYANOV inherited an interest in Titanic from his father, who was Commander of the Soviet Navy (Baltic fleet). Eugene studied Philosophy at St. Petersburg State University and worked in the State Hermitage Museum. In 2013 he published his first book on Titanic, which he worked on for more than ten years, and which became the largest written work about Titanic available in Russian (in two editions). He has published articles on Titanic across Russian and English language media and has lectured widely. He lives near St Petersburg.