If the ship hit the berg head on, it would have killed many of the crew, which had their quarters in the bow section.

It is possible that the ship could have survived a head on impact, that is, if there was no iceberg shelf underneath the ship to poke holes in compartments further back.

Remember, Titanic actually was leaking in boiler room (4 I think) from the floorplates (not the side), as if her double bottom was pierced from ice at or just above the keel.

So even though a head on collision would have stopped damage along the side of the lower hull, we might still have to worry about underneath the ship.