Implosion Scenario
Did the sailors suffer? Probably not, even if they understood what was happening.
Experts have described what should happen during an implosion:
The hull of the Minerva was designed to withstand high pressures. Its depth limit was around 600 m, but for safety reasons the submarine was not allowed to descend below 300 m.
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When the collision occurred, the Minerve took on a considerable amount of water, which weighed it down and disrupted the balance that allowed it to float just below the surface of the water. It sank to a depth of over 2,000 m, well beyond the 600 m limit.
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When the submarine reaches this depth, the water pressure on the hull exceeds 60 bar, more than 600 t/m2, and the hull suddenly gives way. The enormous amount of energy accumulated is released in a single burst. In a few milliseconds, the interior of the submarine's hull is compressed and reduced to a fraction of its original volume. The pressure instantly exceeds that of the water, creating an overpressure that is at least ten times greater than the external pressure.
The atmospheric pressure inside the vessel rises almost instantly to several hundred bars.
The compression of the gases causes the temperature to rise to perhaps more than 500 degrees Celsius. A huge shock wave rips through the hull, shattering everything, metal and men alike, reducing everything to a pile of twisted debris and broken bodies.
Just as quickly as the implosion crushed the hull, the massive overpressure is released in an equally violent explosion, throwing debris from the wreckage through the breaches created by the implosion into the surrounding water. With an energy equivalent to the detonation of tonnes of TNT, the steel hull, several centimetres thick, was twisted and extruded in some places, and shattered like glass in others.