Film director James Cameron has expertise in designing and testing these submersibles, and he has many criticisms of the design of the sub that imploded, and of the hubris of the CEO who ignored repeated safety warnings from the diving community. He also mentions that the sub seems to have been attempting to resurface when it imploded, suggesting that they were aware the hull was starting to fail.
Probably less dramatic. You’re not going to get a spray of water; if water’s coming in, it’s coming in at over mach 3, and implosion would happen in milliseconds. Cracking like that would also be pretty unlikely. It’s more likely that they thought that it was just “an abundance of caution.”