A Conspiracy Theory- The Titanic
The Titanic was the world’s largest most luxurious cruise liner, and ironically the world’s most unsinkable ship. It hit an iceberg on its first voyage on 15th April 1912. Within three hours, it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, killing 1500 of the ship’s 2224 passengers and crew.
The Titanic was one of three Olympic class ocean liners built in Belfast, the other two being the RMS Britannic and the RMS Olympic.
The Olympic was launched a year before the Titanic. Within months of its launch in 1911, it had had two serious collisions, the second with Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke caused serious structural damage to the Olympic’s keel and steel beams.
Some authors have suggested that the damage to the Olympic was more serious than admitted. In fact, it was virtually a write-off. To repair the ship would be too expensive, running into millions of pounds. The already troubled White Star Line was facing a potential financial disaster. Could White Star and its owner JP Morgan have thought up a daring insurance scam to try and recover their investment in the troubled Olympic?
The Olympic, the theory goes, would be swapped with the Titanic and sunk in a staged accident. The Titanic, now disguised as the Olympic, would then carry on in service. The two ships were essentially identical apart from some minor differences and were moored Side by side in dry dock; the swap would require just changing a few nameplates and plagues.
EVIDENCE FOR?
Portholes
The olympic had 16 and the Titanic had 14 photographs taken of the Titanic in dry dock shows it with 14 portholes. But by the time of its doomed maiden voyage it now had 16, “just like the Olympic”. Was this evidence that the ships had been swapped or just that they had added two extra portholes as part of aesthetic changes to the Titanic?
List to port- (lean to the left)
The damage to the Olympic after its collision with the Hawke gave the ship a noticeable and permanent two degree list to port. The undamaged Titanic had no such list. However, one second-class passenger who survived the sinking- Lawrence Beesley, later reported the “Titanic” did, in fact, list to port.
Rumours amongst crew
There was a nationwide coal strike during the launch of the Titanic. This had led to thousands of ship workers short of work yet many men refused to work on the ship at any price.
Rumours were circulating amongst the workers that the ships had been swapped as part of an insurance scam, and the Titanic was to be sunk. Did foreknowledge of the sinking of thee Titanic frighten men off from wanting to work on the ship?
Last minute cancellations
Many of the richest and most prestigious names in early 20th-century society were booked onto the Titanic. JP Morgan — the international financier who owned the White Star’s parent company, was due to travel on the Titanic but cancelled his trip a few days before the departure. Industrialist Henry Clay Frick and his wife, banker Horace J. Harding and billionaire George Washington Vanderbilt — all connected to Morgan, were amongst several other prominent figures who cancelled at the last minute due to “illness”.
Californian
The SS Californian, also owned by JP Morgan, was blamed for the loss of the life on the Titanic. It behaved somewhat oddly around the time of the Titanic’s voyage. Carrying no passengers, it sailed into the middle of the Atlantic, stopped and waited. It’s only cargo was 3000 woolen blankets and sweaters. What was the purpose behind this strange behavior and cargo? Was the Californian intended to rescue the Titanic’s passengers after its deliberate sinking?
Survivors
Edith Russell, a survivor of the sinking, was adamant that Titanic officers assured her the Californian was on its way. Author Robin Gardiner suggests serious navigation errors lead to the Californian stopping in the wrong area some 12 miles away from the Titanic.
Archaeology
What appear to be the letters M and P can also be seen on the side of the wreck. Could that be the remains of the ship’s original nameplate — ‘OLYMPIC’, covered over with the Titanic’s as part of the scam?
The wreck appears to show some evidence of the grey paint used on the Olympic. The Titanic used black paint.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Many sceptics of the insurance swap theory have pointed out that even if an insurance scam made financial sense to the White Star Line, the loss of reputation would be devastating. Losing the Titanic on its maiden voyage would be a publicity disaster for White Star and lead to a loss of confidence in the company amongst passengers.
The intention behind the Olympic class liners was the attract rich first class passengers and offer them the finest in luxury. With image paramount, a sinking would prove to be a catastrophe for the company.
The olympic post-Titanic
The Olympic, or, if the insurance swap theory is true, the Titanic disguised as the Olympic, continued to serve for many years. It acted as troop transport in WW1 and resumed service as a luxury liner in the 20s and 30s before been finally retired in 1935. In all of that time, no evidence that the ship was really the Titanic was ever discovered. Even when it was dismantled in 1936 there was no indication that the ship was anything other than the Olympic.
Deliberately sinking a ship
The Titanic was infamously described as ‘unsinkable’. Whilst this proved to be incorrect, only a freak set of circumstances managed to sink it. Could plotters really have engineered something so complex as the sinking of the world’s largest vessel, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? With so many variables and so many things that could go wrong how could they be sure they would succeed?
If their plan was discovered the consequences would have been dire. The perpetrators would be blamed for the deaths of 1500 people, perhaps even charged with their murder. Would the likes of White Line and JP Morgan — a billionaire who could afford and potential losses on the Olympic, really risk the gallows for an insurance scam?
