![Titanic the sinking](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Titanic_the_sinking.jpg)
The
sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912 shocked the world and attracted controversy, resulting in a number of
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
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regarding the disaster.
One such hypothesis is that the sunken ship was actually the ''Titanic''s near-identical sister-ship
'' Olympic'', which was the subject of a large insurance claim, and that the two vessels were secretly switched prior to the voyage.
Investigation results
The ''Titanic'' collided with an iceberg, damaging the hull's plates on the starboard side, causing the front compartments to flood below the waterline. The ship then sank two hours and forty minutes later, with approximately 1,500 fatalities as a result of drowning or
hypothermia
Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...
.
''Olympic'' exchange hypothesis
One of the most controversial
and elaborate theories surrounding the sinking of the ''Titanic'' was advanced by
Robin Gardiner in his book, ''Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank?'' Gardiner draws on several events and coincidences that occurred in the months, days, and hours leading up to the sinking of the ''Titanic'', and concludes that the ship that sank was in fact ''Titanic''s
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
, disguised as ''Titanic'', as an
insurance scam by its owners, the International Mercantile Marine Group, controlled by American financier
J.P. Morgan that had acquired the
White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
in 1902.
Researchers Bruce Beveridge and Steve Hall took issue with many of Gardiner's claims in their book, ''Olympic and Titanic: The Truth Behind the Conspiracy''.
Author Mark Chirnside has also raised serious questions about the switch theory.
British historian Gareth Russell, for his part, calls the theory "so painfully ridiculous that one can only lament the thousands of trees which lost their lives to provide the paper on which it has been articulated." He notes that, "since the sister ships had significant interior architectural and design differences, switching them secretly in a week would be nearly impossible from a practical standpoint. A switch would also not be economically worthwhile, since the ship's owners could have simply damaged the ship while docked (for instance, by setting a fire) and collected the insurance money from that "accident," which "would have been far less severe, and infinitely less stupid, than sailing her out into the middle of the Atlantic with thousands of people, and their luggage, on board, and ramming her into an iceberg."
Deliberately sunk
Some theorists believe that the ''Titanic'' was sunk on purpose to eliminate opposition to the creation of the
Federal Reserve Bank
A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...
. Some of the wealthiest men in the world were aboard the ''Titanic'' for her maiden voyage, several of whom, including
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sinki ...
,
Benjamin Guggenheim
Benjamin Guggenheim (October 26, 1865 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman. He died aboard when the ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. His body was never recovered.
Early life
Guggenheim was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, t ...
, and
Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus (February 6, 1845 – April 15, 1912) was a Bavarian-born American Jewish businessman, politician and co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served for just over a year as a member of the United State ...
, were allegedly opposed to the creation of a U.S.
central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
. All three men died during the sinking. Conspiracy theorists suggest that
J.P. Morgan, the 74 year-old financier who set up the investment banking firm that still bears his name, arranged to have the men board the ship and then sink it to eliminate them.
Morgan, nicknamed the "Napoleon of Wall Street", had helped create
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
,
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
, and
International Harvester
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
, and was credited with almost single-handedly saving the U.S. banking system during the
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
. Morgan did have a hand in the creation of the Federal Reserve, and owned the
International Mercantile Marine
The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade.
IMM was founded by shipping magnates ...
, which owned the White Star Line, and thus the ''Titanic''.
Morgan, who had attended the ''Titanic'' launching in 1911, had booked a personal suite aboard the ship with his own private
promenade deck
The promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both sides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for ''promena ...
and a bath equipped with specially designed cigar holders. He was reportedly booked on the ship's maiden voyage but instead cancelled the trip and remained at the French resort of
Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie. to enjoy his morning massages and sulfur baths.
His last-minute cancellation has fuelled speculation among conspiracy theorists that he knew of the ship's fate.
Closed watertight doors
Another theory involves ''Titanic''s watertight doors. This theory suggests that if these doors had been opened, the ''Titanic'' would have settled on an even keel and therefore, perhaps, remained afloat long enough for rescue ships to arrive. However, this theory has been rebutted for two reasons: first, the first four compartments were naturally watertight, thus it was impossible to lower the concentration of water in the bow significantly. Second, Bedford and Hacket have shown by calculations that any significant amount of water aft of boiler room No. 4 would have resulted in capsizing of the ''Titanic'', which would have occurred about 30 minutes earlier than the actual time of sinking.
[Hacket C. and Bedford, J.G. (1996). ''The Sinking of the S.S. Titanic – Investigated by Modern Techniques''. The Northern Ireland Branch of the Institute of Marine Engineers and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, 26 March 1996 and the Joint Meeting of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 10 December 1996] Additionally, the lighting would have been lost about 70 minutes after the collision due to the flooding of the boiler rooms.
[ Bedford and Hacket also analyzed the hypothetical case that there were no bulkheads at all. Then, the vessel would have capsized about 70 minutes before the actual time of sinking and lighting would have been lost about 40 minutes after the collision.
Later, in a 1998 documentary titled ''Titanic: Secrets Revealed'', the ]Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
ran model simulations which also rebutted this theory. The simulations indicated that opening ''Titanic''s watertight doors would have caused the ship to capsize earlier than it actually sank by more than one half-hour, confirming the findings of Bedford and Hacket.
Expansion joints hypothesis
''Titanic'' researchers continued to debate the causes and mechanics of the ships breakup. According to his book, '' A Night to Remember'', Walter Lord
John Walter Lord Jr. (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, lawyer, copywriter and popular historian best known for his 1955 account of the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'', '' A Night to Remember''.
Biography Early life
Lo ...
described ''Titanic'' as assuming an "absolutely perpendicular" position shortly before its final plunge. This view remained largely unchallenged even after the wreck was discovered by Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...
in 1985, which confirmed that ''Titanic'' had broken in two pieces at or near the surface; paintings by noted marine artist Ken Marschall
Ken Marschall (born October 28, 1950)http://www.hangupsgallery.net/bio_marsh.html is an American painter and illustrator notable for his paintings of famous ocean liners, such as the , , and the , and other transportation vessels including the ...
and as imagined onscreen in James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
's film ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'', both depicted the ship attaining a steep angle prior to the breakup. Most researchers acknowledged that ''Titanic''s aft expansion joint
An expansion joint, or movement joint, is an assembly designed to hold parts together while safely absorbing temperature-induced expansion and contraction of building materials, and vibration, or to allow movement due to ground settlement or seis ...
—designed to allow for flexing of the hull in a seaway—played little to no role in the ship's breakup, though debate continued as to whether the ship had broken from the top downwards or from the bottom upwards.
In 2005, a History Channel expedition to the wreck site scrutinized two large sections of ''Titanic''s keel, which constituted the portion of the ship's bottom from immediately below the site of the break. With assistance from naval architect Roger Long, the team analysed the wreckage and developed a new break-up scenario which was publicised in the television documentary ''Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces'' in 2006. One hallmark of this new theory was the claim that ''Titanic''s angle at the time of the breakup was far less than had been commonly assumed—according to Long, no greater than 11°.
Long also suspected that ''Titanic''s breakup may have begun with the premature failure of the ship's aft expansion joint, and ultimately exacerbated the loss of life by causing ''Titanic'' to sink faster than anticipated. In 2006, the History Channel sponsored dives on ''Titanic''s newer sister ship, , which verified that the design of ''Britannic''s expansion joints was superior to that incorporated in the ''Titanic''. To further explore Long's theory, the History Channel commissioned a new computer simulation by JMS Engineering. The simulation, whose results were featured in the 2007 documentary ''Titanic's Achilles Heel
An Achilles' heel (or Achilles heel) is a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to ...
'', partially refuted Long's suspicions by demonstrating that ''Titanic''s expansion joints were strong enough to deal with any and all stresses the ship could reasonably be expected to encounter in service and, during the sinking, actually outperformed their design specifications. But, most important is that the expansion joints were part of the superstructure, which was situated above the strength deck (B-deck) and therefore above the top of the structural hull girder. Thus, the expansion joints had no meaning for the support of the hull. They played no role in the breaking of the hull. They simply opened up and parted as the hull flexed or broke beneath them.
Brad Matsen's 2008 book ''Titanic's Last Secrets'' endorses the expansion joint theory.
One common oversight is the fact that the collapse of the first funnel at a relatively shallow angle occurred when the forward expansion joint, over which several funnels stays crossed, opened as the hull was beginning to stress. The opening of the joint stretched and snapped the stays. The forward momentum of the ship as she took a sudden lurch forwards and downwards sent the unsupported funnel toppling onto the starboard bridge wing.
One theory that would support the fracturing of the hull is that the ''Titanic'' partly grounded on the shelf of ice below the waterline as she collided with the iceberg, perhaps damaging the keel and underbelly. Later during the sinking, it was noticed that Boiler Room four flooded from below the floor grates rather than from over the top of the watertight bulkhead. This would be consistent with additional damage along the keel compromising the integrity of the hull.
Fire in coal bunker
A fire began in one of ''Titanic'' coal bunker
A coal bin, coal store or coal bunker is a storage container for coal awaiting use or transportation. This can be either in domestic, commercial or industrial premises, or on a ship or locomotive tender, or at a coal mine or processing plant.
D ...
s approximately 10 days prior to the ship's departure, and continued to burn for several days into the voyage. Fires occurred frequently on board steamships due to spontaneous combustion
Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high tem ...
of the coal. The fires had to be extinguished with fire hoses, by moving the coal on top to another bunker and by removing the burning coal and feeding it into the furnace. This event has led some authors to theorize that the fire exacerbated the effects of the iceberg collision, by reducing the structural integrity of the hull and a critical bulkhead.
In 2011 David J H Smith posited this idea in his book ''The Titanic's Mummy'' which looked at the event in a docudrama style. It was stated that the bunker fire was at the heart of the eventual disaster, claiming that decisions made because of the blaze led it to a collision course with the iceberg. The book also looks at the fire's physical effect on the ship which claims it weakened the area of impact.
Senan Molony
Senan Molony is an author as well as the ''Irish Daily Mails Political Editor. He was formerly Deputy Political Editor for the '' Irish Independent''. He broke the news of politician Michael Healy-Rae's ''Celebrities go Wild'' voting scandal ...
has suggested that attempts to extinguish the fire – by shoveling burning coals into the engine furnaces – may have been the primary reason for the ''Titanic'' steaming at full speed prior to the collision, despite ice warnings. Most experts disagree. Samuel Halpern has concluded that "the bunker fire would not have weakened the watertight bulkhead sufficiently to cause it to collapse." Also, it has been alternatively suggested that the coal bunker fire actually helped ''Titanic'' to last longer during the sinking and prevented the ship from rolling over to starboard after the impact, due to the subtle port list created by the moving of coal inside the ship prior to the encounter with the iceberg.Titanic's Guardian Angel
– by Parks Stephenson. Retrieved 5 January 2017. Some of these foremost ''Titanic'' experts have published a detailed rebuttal of Molony's claims.
[Titanic: Fire & Ice (Or What You Will)](_blank)
Various Authors. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
See also
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Encyclopedia Titanica
''Encyclopedia Titanica'' is an online reference work containing extensive and constantly updated information on the . The website, a nonprofit endeavor, is a database of passenger and crew biographies, deck plans, and articles submitted by histor ...
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Legends and myths regarding RMS ''Titanic''
References
Bibliography
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External links
Was there a fire aboard ''Titanic''? CBC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titanic Alternative Theories
Science and technology-related conspiracy theories
Pseudohistory
Alternative theories
Death conspiracy theories
Pseudoscience