Submersible structures consist merely of simple and double curvature thin-walled shells. For this kind of structure, collapse occurs due to the combined nonlinear action of buckling and plasticity of material. Load-carrying capacity may then be assessed mainly by two approaches: experimental investigations and step-by-step numerical procedures. In nonlinear analyses, the results obtained are influenced by the magnitude of the load increment adopted. Solution procedures are then required in order to choose adequate parameters for material failure description as well as elastic nonlinearity. The aim of this paper is to carry out a suitable numerical procedure whose reliability does not depend on the finite-element code adopted.