The Titanic Conspiracy - Switched at Birth?

[TVRKing]

The legend of the Titanic will forever remain embedded in society’s consciousness. Although not the worst maritime disaster in history she will forever be the most famous. Plug Titanic into any search engine and you’ll get over 3,000,000 hits. Her sister ship Olympic carried on, surviving World War I, and after 35 years of service, was retired and uneventfully dismantled. It has been posited by some that this unspectacular end was really that of Titanic and it was the Olympic that broke apart in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg over 80 years ago.

In 1998 author Robin Gardiner published his book “Titanic: The Ship that Never Sank?”. In it Gardiner posits that the White Star Line, the company that owned both ships, switched the sister ships prior to Titanic’s maiden voyage. The reason for this supposed switch, insurance fraud. In September, 1911 the Olympic was damaged in a collision with the HMS Hawke. Both ships remained afloat but the Olympic required 6 weeks of repairs, done by workers transferred from the Titanic. The official inquiry found the Captain of the Olympic at fault. The captain was none other than Edward J. Smith, who would go on to become captain of the Titanic.

According to popular theorists the White Star Line deliberately switched the name plates on the ships prior to Titanic’s maiden voyage. The damaged Olympic was sent out into the North Atlantic in place of Titanic to be purposely rammed into an iceberg and sunk. The rational being that White Star line could then collect the insurance on the already damaged Olympic and later launch the brand new ship, under a false name. Several points that have fueled belief in this theory are the fact that wealthy American J.P. Morgan, whose company owned White Star Line, refused to board Titanic. Theorists, also, find it convenient that passenger and White Star Line President, J. Bruce Ismay, was, somehow, saved from drowning, while so many others perished.

It has also been purported that Captain Smith was in on the fraud explaining why he deliberately ignored the many ice warnings received prior to the sinking. The fraudulent plan was foiled by Smith who hit the iceberg at the wrong place and time compiling the damage and loss of life. This theory also attempts to explain why the Californian did not respond to the Titanic’s distress call maintaining that the Captain of this vessel was also in on the plan. Captain Lord didn’t respond believing that the plan was in action and that the prearranged White Star Line vessels would soon be to the aid of the ill fated Titanic.

What do you think? Were the Titanic and Olympic switched? Or is it a lie?

 

[Delirious]

How many conspiracy threads must there be! Two?!?

Dunno.

 

[Zardoz]

What do you think?

I think there was A Secret Third Ship that located and tracked a huge iceberg, secretly radioing its location to the Captain of the Titanic so he could could precisely navigate his way to it in the total darkness of that night.

I mean, otherwise, how could he have found the 'berg and nailed it on the first pass at 22 knots on a pitch-black-dark night, right?

And of course all the conspirators cared little about the fact that the lifeboats would not hold even two-thirds of the people on board. Certainly all of them would be callous and greedy enough to have no qualms whatsoever about murdering hundreds of people to collect on an insurance claim.


What a crock of fresh, warm, steaming rhino droppings...

 

[Duke]

And of course all the conspirators cared little about the fact that the lifeboats would not hold even two-thirds of the people on board. Certainly all of them would be callous and greedy enough to have no qualms whatsoever about murdering hundreds of people to collect on an insurance claim.

But ask yourself... who were the conspirators? Rich fat white guys! And as history (not to mention this very forum) has proven, rich fat white guys will stop at nothing to satisfy their evil greed for almighty money.

 

[Zardoz]

But ask yourself... who were the conspirators? Rich fat white guys! And as history (not to mention this very forum) has proven, rich fat white guys will stop at nothing to satisfy their evil greed for almighty money.

Dang! I forgot about that!

I guess it's all true then...

 

[MugenVTEC]

So what, you're telling that the Titanic incident was planned ??

 

[s0nny80y]

Switched at birth for an insurance claim?
Crazy

 

[Famine]

The Olympic was much narrower than the Titanic... So a switch would be kind of obvious.

 

[daan]

So what, you're telling that the Titanic incident was planned ??

Yep. They attached an engine and a GPS system to a big iceberg so that it was in the right place at the right time.

 

[Flerbizky]

But ask yourself... who were the conspirators? Rich fat white guys! And as history (not to mention this very forum) has proven, rich fat white guys will stop at nothing to satisfy their evil greed for almighty money.

Spot on...

As to whether the conspiracy holds any water, so the speak, I have NO idea... But merely agree it's a possibility.... Any conspiracys on the Britannic now we're at it ?..

 

[MugenVTEC]

Yep. They attached an engine and a GPS system to a big iceberg so that it was in the right place at the right time.

sheit, thats crazy stuff...

 

[eliseracer]

And then the Brits and ze Germans also were secretly allied to help build the Bismark and purposely not sink it at war, then once the battleship stopped moving, the gunsmen in the Brittish surrounding fleet who weren't in on the secret alliance couldn't be dimwitted enough to miss, so the big mother sunk. That's what happened, folks.

And the Titanic theory is also pretty interesting.

 

[Fairlady240zg]

DOOOOOD. I was on the Titanic. No seriously. I was....

 

[MugenVTEC]

DOOOOOD. I was on the Titanic. No seriously. I was....

Please, stop the ****ing pointless comments...

 

[Duke]

sheit, thats crazy stuff...

Only if you do too.

 

[James2097]

Man all these different constipations of titanic proportions are really doin' my head in! Maybe I need an asprin.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Good to see you around TVR

Nope, they werent switched. I also read that book you refer to, but submersible dives after Bob Ballard originally found the ship disproved Gardiners theory. The Titanic's serial number was found stamped on the starboard propellar at the bottom of the Atlantic, still attached to the broken off stern.

According to popular theorists the White Star Line deliberately switched the name plates on the ships prior to Titanic’s maiden voyage.

If my memory serves me right, the Titanic, although the sister ship of the Olympic, was slightly wider amidships in order to cater for a more luxurious first class dining area.

The damaged Olympic was sent out into the North Atlantic in place of Titanic to be purposely rammed into an iceberg and sunk.

Unlikely. The reputational damage caused by the loss the of life due to lack of lifeboats and poor design ultimately caused White Stars bankruptcy.

wealthy American J.P. Morgan, whose company owned White Star Line, refused to board Titanic.

He gave up his place due to illness. His room was instead taken by the ships designer, Mr. Andrews.

Theorists, also, find it convenient that passenger and White Star Line President, J. Bruce Ismay, was, somehow, saved from drowning, while so many others perished.

His decision to save himself cost him dearly in the eyes of the press and world. He ultimately became a depressive recluse as a result of it and died at a young age.

The fraudulent plan was foiled by Smith who hit the iceberg at the wrong place and time compiling the damage and loss of life.

Again, incorrect. Smith left the bridge in the hands of his second in commander, Murdoch, whilst he retire for the night. The lookouts having not been issued with binoculars (they were left in England) spotted the iceberg too late due to a calm sea cloaking the icebergs existance ahead of them. Murdoch sealed the fate of the Titanic by reversing the engines whilst trying to port round the berg. Titanic's (as with Olympic and Britannic) rudder was inherently too small, and its effectiveness was further lessened by the decrease in speed of waterflow over it - caused by reversing the engines.

Captain Lord didn’t respond believing that the plan was in action and that the prearranged White Star Line vessels would soon be to the aid of the ill fated Titanic.

The SS Californian was a Leyland Line ship - unrelated to White Star and thus impossible to be "in on the plan".

 

[niky]

Aww... poop... you had to spoil everything...

I was just going to say that it would have been relatively easy to find out whether they were switched just days or weeks after the sinking... by checking to see that the Olympus was still the Olympus.

 

[TVRKing]

Good to see you around TVR

Nope, they werent switched. I also read that book you refer to, but submersible dives after Bob Ballard originally found the ship disproved Gardiners theory. The Titanic's serial number was found stamped on the starboard propellar at the bottom of the Atlantic, still attached to the broken off stern.

Hey Mike.

Some interesting stuff there, and strong evidence to suggest that it was the Titanic that sank, and not the Olympic.

However, I've quoted this bit as there also another part of the conspiracy concerning it.

Just before Titanic was completed, the Olympic had to have a replacement propellor. Could it not be possible that they could have taken one of Titanics propellors to save time and money?

Edit - Another thing I've thought of. Could the ship have survived if it rammed the iceberg head on?

 

[niky]

I doubt it. It's rather difficult to take propellers off unless you put the ship in drydock.

And yes, consensus among ship designers is that the Titanic would have survived the collision if it were head on. A head on collision would likely have damaged the first bulkhead, instead of letting water into a number of holes like the glancing collision did.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Another thing I've thought of. Could the ship have survived if it rammed the iceberg head on?

Yeap, as niky said, engineers after the accident said that if Murdoch had steered the ship directly into the iceberg, the first steerage and crew compartments would have been crushed killing about 150-250 people but saving the ship. This because the cause of the sinking was the gash puncturing 6 watertight compartments.

Just before Titanic was completed, the Olympic had to have a replacement propellor. Could it not be possible that they could have taken one of Titanics propellors to save time and money?

The number on the propellar was in fact the keel plate number, not the serial number I said earlier. Moreover, the propellars on the ships actually had different pitch - because the Titanic was slightly heavier then the Olympic due to the extra luxury items fitted in the first class sections. Fitting props of different pitch would lead to the inability to steer 'straight' ahead.

Physically speaking, on Olympic, the wireless room was on the port side of the Officers' Deckhouse whilst on Titanic it was amidships. Also Bridge Deck "B" was drastically different on both ships. Olympic had a first class promenade whereas Titanic had two private verandahs and suites that were flush with the sides of the superstructure. The extra interior room on Titanic were used as rooms for a passenger's personal help.

 

[Zardoz]

...the propellars on the ships actually had different pitch...wireless room was on the port side of the Officers' Deckhouse whilst on Titanic it was amidships. Also Bridge Deck "B" was drastically different on both ships. Olympic had a first class promenade whereas Titanic had two private verandahs and suites that were flush with the sides of the superstructure...

All this proof, and yet the dumb myth persists. We seem to be hard-wired as a species to be susceptible to conspiracy theories.

Is the truth just too boring for us? Do we come up with crap like this because we don't have anything better to do?

 

[Famine]

Anyone fancy changing the title of this thread to "Switched at Berth"? It'd be much funnier.

 

[Zardoz]

Anyone fancy changing the title of this thread to "Switched at Berth"? It'd be much funnier.

I was waiting for Touring Mars to come up with that one.

I would've posted it, but we witty, sophisticated Americans would never stoop so low as to offer a pun...

 

[daan]

Anyone fancy changing the title of this thread to "Switched at Berth"? It'd be much funnier.

I've been harbouring thoughts of doing that....

 

[eliseracer]

This place wouldn't stay afloat with that kind of satire. Our reputation would keel over.

 

[daan]

First person to do that gets shipped right out.

 

[Famine]

Give us our props... we're known for our dry(dock) humour here - more than any rudder site...

This post has assured me a one way ticket to hull*


*Note: Hull is actually a real place, and a far worse fate than going to Hell.

 

[daan]

I'll have to bow down to pressure and give you a stern warning for that.

 

[eliseracer]

Hull is boring, I sea it every time I pass through Ottawa.