Quote History Quoted:
A quarter inch hole in the hull will do the trick if unattended. Titanic anyone?? Short answer, YES.
View Quote
As part of a underwater salvage course I did in dive school we had to raise a boat, then sink it for the next class. (stripped metal hull, weighed about 7k lbs maybe 30-40' long)
It took something like 15 minutes to sink with an open top, and about 4-5 big holes in the hull varying from 1' circles, to 1 1/2' foot by 3 foot ovals.
A 1/4' hole in a carrier hull would take forever to flood enough to reduce buoyancy, and even then, would have to do so in a way that makes the buoyant force zero, meaning and instability putting the hole on the bottom of the boat if it rolls traps air, and if it rolls the hole out of the water no more incoming water... buoyancy maintained.