The science of the "Damage Control" aspect of Ship Husbandry and Handling was probably at a relatively unsophisticated level in those days, otherwise ,when it became obvious that the ship was going down by the head,then they would have brought everyone up fom aft,and "counter- flooded" enough stern compartments to correct the trim. The ship would have ended up lying much lower in the water,but LEVEL, and would almost certainly have remained afloat for much,much longer ,barring any sudden drastic deterioration of the prevailing sea state/ weather conditions. But.....nobody seems to have thought of it !!