W P Dixon wrote:
Ships are designed to flex. Remember back in WWII when Kaiser was
building liberty ships, it was a problem because Kaiser had the entire
thing welded up tight, versus riveted. He built them a heck of alot
faster, but a few sank because they could not flex.

Except that your explanation above isn't even close to correct. Do a
quick search, that reason for the failure of the liberty ships is easy
to find. It had to do with poor welds and substandard steel and the
fact that welds won't stop the propogation of cracks the way that rivet
holes will. ALL structures flex under load, doesn't matter if they are
riveted, welded, nailed, screwed or glued. A structure can't support a
load until it deflects to at least some degree.


Matt