Bill, I do not want to speculate on what happened to the Gunboat. I just take that situation and accept it as one that should be within the limits of a cruiser. Yes, all the factors that you mention matter. But what I am assuming is that for the sake of argument the design, engineering and manufacturing was up to par and that both designs would claim that the conditions mentioned in the first message are within the specifications. I can then ponder the architecture of the designs and given the same level of skills and diligence, conclude that the HP is fundamentally more safe (in that situation). Any bad built HP is going to be worse than a well built Gunboat and vice versa, But given equal design & built quality HP is the lesser prone to accidental failure. I am sure there are engineering methods to come up with the numbers. Sadly enough there won't be enough statistical ones to corroborate. Lacking those, overall design insight takes front stage. Do I overlook a fundamental vulnerability, again architecturally speaking? 

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