How Strong Is the Mythical Kraken? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill)

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The Kraken is one of the most feared mythical beasts ever for its ability to pull entire ships down under the waves. But how strong would it have to be to do that? Kyle has the gripping details on this week's Because Science!

Because Science every Thursday.

Artist: Andrew Bowser

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[duomaxwell]

You forgot to take into account, that the Kraken only had to tip over the boat, seawater would then fill the hull lowering its water displacement weight, making it easier for it to drag entire ships under the water..

[passthebutterrobot]

An octopus is a notoriously smart animal, ditto for squids. Yea it would probably break the ship up or just tip it on it's side before pulling it down.

[AtticusHimself]

This video, while fun, misses the key way a kraken would actually pull down a ship, which is by crushing the hull like crushing a sheet of paper into a ball. The hull integrity is null, at this point, meaning that the ship is no longer so voluminous with air, and rather is a collection of broken ship pieces filling up rapidly with ocean water, such that the kraken doesn't even have to exert any effort "pulling" it down.

[funnyguy]

I am so glad you finally mentioned the breaking of the ships first, because that is what was actually said that happened. And knowing that a giant said actually does exist and that the ships of the time was made from wood and therefore could only be so big or they would fall apart from their own weight, it is very plausible that a giant squid could have been the legendary Kraken instead of the mythological beast they thought it was.

[ErdingerLi]

I really love how Kyle seems to be enjoying and having so much fun explaining these. And if what we know that Krakens are indeed cephalopods then they must most definitely be smart enough to know how to puncture or damage the ships to lower their bouyant force.

[thebananamonk]

7:37 I've seen enough tentacle Hentai to know where this is going

[AifDaimon]

BRUH, in pop culture, the Kraken WAS often depicted as breaking the ships into pieces in order to sink them faster.

[windhelmguard]

next questions: how strong would a kraken need to be to snap a ship in half and how powerfull would a krakens beak need to be to work through the hull of a ship, for it to fill with water so it wouldn't have to pull all that hard.

[theduskmonarch]

My issue with this one is that you dont take the air away. Lets say it is a ship with sails and everything (pirates of the caribbean style) then there are a lot of openings, and if you let water get in there then it sinks much faster than that. Same with cars btw, if you sink a car in a river and leave the windows open then it will sink a lot faster when the water reaches the windows. With the Titanic and the tanker i can get behind a bit more since most of them have air sealing doors. But in general what makes a ship float on water is the surface area with not a big amount of material. Its only a shell filled with minor other objects and air... Mainly air and the air would peace the fuck out if a kraken would pull something underwater. If we ignore that and say that the air is part of the ship then great job :)

[drewwalling]

Usaly they are also snap the center of the ship

[Randoman]

The lower estimates kinda make sense. In a lot of the Kraken's pop culture depictions, they actually do tend to break the ship apart, and the stories tend to occur in settings of wooden ships only, like the Earl of Pembroke and such. They've never really tried to show a Kraken sinking a modern ship.

I think that would actually make for a cool action scene, to see a Kraken try and fail to sink a modern ship after tearing apart so many older, wooden ones. "The tides hath turned, beast!"

[thedarkrytype]

As a point wouldn't the force needed to drag the ship under become less the further it is dragged under due to it taking on water, or could it just be pulled to one side and be allowed to once again fill with water? Not a disagreement just something I am wondering about

[guyclykos]

Titanic with tentacles? Go on... I'm listening...

[skepticalpickle]

A giant squid would have a giant beak. What if the squid poked holes in the ship before sinking it? Deflating the balloon before trying to submerge it would make the process easier.

[LordBuglug]

I was wondering more about how hard it would have to squeeze to breach the haul. Once it starts flooding the ship seems like it would be much easier to pull down. Thank for all the videos :)

[Sheol]

0:06
I've watched too much hentai to know where this is going.

[mjolnirgod]

I'm Matt! You're welcome for watching! I loved the episode, I wish though that you had included some data on real life cephalopods for comparison. Great stuff, keep up the good work.

[Timcudjoe]

Hey man, I hope you take my question. So is is possible that the Flash can escape Doctor Strange's Timeloop?? I know physics is high in this process?? @nerdist

[tieflingcorpse]

You'd also have to take into account that almost every time you see the kraken pull a ship down under, you see it first break the ship in have and then submerge it, which begs the question, how strong would the kraken have to be to do that?

[untitled]

I loved the video, and this series. I learned a lot from it, and I am glad that you eventually pointed out that the kraken could simply negate the buoyancy of the ship by damaging it and flooding the vessel, which is exactly what we see happening in movies and shows that feature the kraken attacking ships of any kind.

As far as the Titanic is concerned, the second the kraken started yanking on the ship, the substandard steel used in its construction would buckle and shred, which would make it a LOT easier for the oversized squid to get its people-based lunch.