In fact, Britannic's propellors could of still be running When the famous lifeboat propellor incident occurred, the vessel was still far enough above the water to feasibly have steam running through the ships system. I mean, let us recall, Barlett ordered Britannic flank speed to Kea Island after she first explosion, which I personally credit to a mine (and there is much proof for this theory), however, as the vessel began to rapidly list, Barlett ordered the engines be ceased and that crew aid in the evacuation of the ship. It was evident, via both witness reports and with the known characteristics of the captain and crew, that I doubt much care was given to shutting down the systems. I think just a quick drop and run was the order of the moment. HA HA! Sad, but true.
Also, if you analyze the timeline of the sinking, the vessel only sank in about 55 minutes, there is a great possibility that the engines could of still been running around the time the lifeboat prop incident was believed to of happened. It was said that the timeline of events went:
Time of IMPACT APPROX 8:10AM (according to several report)
8:13-8:15 (3-5 minutes after impact) Bartlett orders ahead full to Kea Island
8:25 (13-15 minutes after impact) Bartlett cancels order and has all efforts to get passengers and crew off of the vessel
9:05am (55 minutes after impact) Britannic is reported to disappear from the surface.
It was said that the incident of the prop and lifeboat incident was 5-10 minutes before the vessel went completely under (again based on witness reports), that places the incident at about 8:55-9:00am. I believe it was likely more like approx. 5-10 minutes before the reported time.
Regardless, that still shows there is enough time to consider that the props could possibly still be running. However, I would doubt they were still spinning at the time the vesel went completely under.
Thoughts?