Post by RaditzSoldier on Mar 18, 2006 16:38:25 GMT -5
One of the most controversial and complex theories regarding the sinking of the Titanic was put forward by Robert Gardiner in his book 'TITANIC: The Ship That Never Sank?' (published 1999).
In it, Gardiner draws on several events and coincidences that occurred in the months, days and hours leading up to the sinking of the Titanic to form his theory. Put simply, his theory is that the ship that hit the iceberg on 14 April 1912 was in fact the Titanic's sister-ship the Olympic, disguised as the Titanic. All this was part of an insurance scam of huge proportions by the White Star Line.
The Olympic was the older sister to the Titanic, built alongside the more famous vessel but launched much earlier, in October 1910. She was to all purposes identical to the Titanic, save for small detailing such as the promenade deck windows. These were not glazed in the Olympic. In the Titanic the front half of the promenade deck was fitted with smaller glazed windows to protect passengers from spray.
On September 20, 1911, the Olympic was involved in a collision with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke near Southampton. The cruiser smashed its ram into the side of the Olympic, seriously damaging both ships. The inquiry (an internal Royal Navy one) found its ship free of all blame. This set in motion Gardiner's theory.
He proposes that:
With a verdict against them, the White Star Line was left without an insurance claim to cover the cost of fixing the serious damage caused to the Olympic in the collision (so serious that the central turbine's mountings were damaged). The ship would have to be returned to Belfast, dry-docked and repaired. The Titanic was at the time being fitted out in the same dock. This would mean the White Star's flagship liner was out of action, and the Titanic's completion date would be delayed. All this amounted to a serious financial loss for the company (Estimated at £10 million in today's money). The worst fears were realised when it was found that some keel damage had occurred during the collision.
Gardiner proposes that, to get at least one vessel out and earning money, it was decided to turn the 95% complete Titanic into the Olympic. Very few parts of either ship bore the name. Most that did (lifeboats, bell, compass binaccle and, of course, name badges) were all easily moved over to the Titanic.
The conversion was done in two months and the Titanic (now the Olympic) returned to Southampton and spent the next 25 years in the line's service.
Work would have continued on the hull of the original Olympic. The decision to dispose of the vessel would have been taken early on. The repair bill was huge and the ship's immense build costs were barely paid off. Repairs were done as quickly as possible, with added bracing being used to strengthen the damaged keel plating. The windows and detailing was converted to 'Titanic' using the panelling taken from the original when it was converted into its elder sister.
At this time, the ship now working under the name 'Olympic' returned to the yard yet again, this time under the pretence of having a damaged propeller blade replaced. Gardiner says that this was in fact so that the conversion could be completed with more structural components.
Gardiner uses as evidence the Titanic's sea trials. When the Olympic was trialled in 1910, these took two days, including several high speed runs. When the Titanic went out for trials, they were over in one day, with no working over half-speed. Gardiner says this was because the patched-up hull could not take any long periods of high speed.
The plan to dispose of the ship and collect the insurance money was hatched as follows. The Titanic (ex-Olympic) would steam out into the Atlantic, where the sea cocks would be opened and the ship slowly flooded. Numerous ships would be stationed nearby to take off the passengers. The shortage of lifeboats would not matter as the ship would sink so slowly that the boats could make several trips between the sinking Titanic and the rescuers.
This could be achieved easily as the White Star Line was part of the vast International Mercantile Marine Co. (IMM) group, owned by J.P. Morgan. This group included the Leyland Line, owners of the SS 'Californian' that features so prominently in the events of 14th/15 April. The Captain of the Californian had proved in service in the Boer War that he could manage such an operation, disembarking large numbers of troops from troop ships to shore in small boats.
On the 14 April Officer Murdoch was not officially on duty, yet he was on the bridge. Gardiner says this was because he was one of the few high-ranking officers that knew of the plan, and was keeping a watch out for the rescue ships.
Gardiner then makes one his most controversial statements — that the Titanic did not strike an iceberg, but one of the IMM rescue ships that was drifting on station with its lights out. Gardiner based this theory on the facts that the supposed iceberg was seen at such a short distance by the lookouts on the Titanic (a darkened ship is much harder to see), and that he does not believe an iceberg could inflict such sustained and serious damage to a steel double-hulled vessel such as the Titanic.
This also explains the actions of the Californian (which traditionally is seen as failing to come to the rescue of the Titanic after sighting its distress rockets). The ship that was hit by the Titanic was the one seen by the Californian, firing distress rockets because it had been seriously damaged. The Californian did not act because it was on duty to rescue the passengers of the Titanic, which was not expected to send up rockets. At the Inquiry, the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord, was forced by the owners of White Star and IMM to give false information to cover up their scam, which is why he said he was in the area of the sinking, when in fact he was further west, waiting for the Titanic to rendezvous with him.
The ice on the deck of the Titanic is explained by Gardiner. He is not convinced that any part of the Titanic could have collided with an iceberg, had it existed, to form such shattered ice. He says the vibration of the collision and the engines going astern shook ice from the rigging of both the Titanic and the mystery ship it hit which fell onto the deck. The Titanic also dragged one of the other ship's lifeboats with it, which explains the mysterious accounts of one passenger, who says she saw a half-submerged boat floating in the water just after the collision.
The Titanic took a great deal of distance to slow down and stop, and the mystery ship limped away to put distance between itself and the disaster (if found, it would indicate something other than a simple iceberg collision).
As it happened, the already fragile structure of the ship gave way and the Titanic sank. According to the theory, the cover-up was that the ship had hit an iceberg. The vast majority of the crew were not aware of the scam, and both Captain Smith and First Officer Murdoch died in the sinking, as did 1,503 passengers and crew. The owners of IMM/White Star effected a cover-up, with Captain Lord of the Californian as the scapegoat. That concluded Gardiner's theory.
The theory has proved highly controversial, and indeed largely debunked by other Titanic experts. Like most conspiracy theories seemingly 'conclusive' evidence can be produced to both prove and disprove the theories. Gardiner has produced two books to back up his theory, producing evidence from both British and American Inquiries.
The main points against Gardiner's claims are:
The Olympic and Titanic, whilst essentially identical, differed in more than mere window design. The internal structure of the Titanic was very different to accommodate several new features, including two B-Deck luxury suites, with private promenade decks. It would be in no way a simple job to convert the two. However this would not have been obvious to passengers, or to investigators as the ship was lying at the bottom of the ocean. And if the the issue was ever arisen, white star could claim that they upgraded the Olympic
If White Star really wanted to commit insurance fraud, there were many better ways of doing it than gambling with the lives of passengers in mid-Atlantic. A fire started on purpose in a coal bunker whilst the ship was empty and at dock (not an uncommon occurrence) would have suited such a purpose. However the burned wreckage would have exposed the broken keel of the ship which is the whole point of the scam.
Since the wreck of the Titanic was found in 1986 many surveys have been conducted. The ship's yard number (401) has been found on every part expected to bear it — propeller blades, rudder, anchors, and so on. However these are not incredibly difficult things to switch, especially given the potential financial losses that are implicated for white star it is likely that they would do the switch properly.
In it, Gardiner draws on several events and coincidences that occurred in the months, days and hours leading up to the sinking of the Titanic to form his theory. Put simply, his theory is that the ship that hit the iceberg on 14 April 1912 was in fact the Titanic's sister-ship the Olympic, disguised as the Titanic. All this was part of an insurance scam of huge proportions by the White Star Line.
The Olympic was the older sister to the Titanic, built alongside the more famous vessel but launched much earlier, in October 1910. She was to all purposes identical to the Titanic, save for small detailing such as the promenade deck windows. These were not glazed in the Olympic. In the Titanic the front half of the promenade deck was fitted with smaller glazed windows to protect passengers from spray.
On September 20, 1911, the Olympic was involved in a collision with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke near Southampton. The cruiser smashed its ram into the side of the Olympic, seriously damaging both ships. The inquiry (an internal Royal Navy one) found its ship free of all blame. This set in motion Gardiner's theory.
He proposes that:
With a verdict against them, the White Star Line was left without an insurance claim to cover the cost of fixing the serious damage caused to the Olympic in the collision (so serious that the central turbine's mountings were damaged). The ship would have to be returned to Belfast, dry-docked and repaired. The Titanic was at the time being fitted out in the same dock. This would mean the White Star's flagship liner was out of action, and the Titanic's completion date would be delayed. All this amounted to a serious financial loss for the company (Estimated at £10 million in today's money). The worst fears were realised when it was found that some keel damage had occurred during the collision.
Gardiner proposes that, to get at least one vessel out and earning money, it was decided to turn the 95% complete Titanic into the Olympic. Very few parts of either ship bore the name. Most that did (lifeboats, bell, compass binaccle and, of course, name badges) were all easily moved over to the Titanic.
The conversion was done in two months and the Titanic (now the Olympic) returned to Southampton and spent the next 25 years in the line's service.
Work would have continued on the hull of the original Olympic. The decision to dispose of the vessel would have been taken early on. The repair bill was huge and the ship's immense build costs were barely paid off. Repairs were done as quickly as possible, with added bracing being used to strengthen the damaged keel plating. The windows and detailing was converted to 'Titanic' using the panelling taken from the original when it was converted into its elder sister.
At this time, the ship now working under the name 'Olympic' returned to the yard yet again, this time under the pretence of having a damaged propeller blade replaced. Gardiner says that this was in fact so that the conversion could be completed with more structural components.
Gardiner uses as evidence the Titanic's sea trials. When the Olympic was trialled in 1910, these took two days, including several high speed runs. When the Titanic went out for trials, they were over in one day, with no working over half-speed. Gardiner says this was because the patched-up hull could not take any long periods of high speed.
The plan to dispose of the ship and collect the insurance money was hatched as follows. The Titanic (ex-Olympic) would steam out into the Atlantic, where the sea cocks would be opened and the ship slowly flooded. Numerous ships would be stationed nearby to take off the passengers. The shortage of lifeboats would not matter as the ship would sink so slowly that the boats could make several trips between the sinking Titanic and the rescuers.
This could be achieved easily as the White Star Line was part of the vast International Mercantile Marine Co. (IMM) group, owned by J.P. Morgan. This group included the Leyland Line, owners of the SS 'Californian' that features so prominently in the events of 14th/15 April. The Captain of the Californian had proved in service in the Boer War that he could manage such an operation, disembarking large numbers of troops from troop ships to shore in small boats.
On the 14 April Officer Murdoch was not officially on duty, yet he was on the bridge. Gardiner says this was because he was one of the few high-ranking officers that knew of the plan, and was keeping a watch out for the rescue ships.
Gardiner then makes one his most controversial statements — that the Titanic did not strike an iceberg, but one of the IMM rescue ships that was drifting on station with its lights out. Gardiner based this theory on the facts that the supposed iceberg was seen at such a short distance by the lookouts on the Titanic (a darkened ship is much harder to see), and that he does not believe an iceberg could inflict such sustained and serious damage to a steel double-hulled vessel such as the Titanic.
This also explains the actions of the Californian (which traditionally is seen as failing to come to the rescue of the Titanic after sighting its distress rockets). The ship that was hit by the Titanic was the one seen by the Californian, firing distress rockets because it had been seriously damaged. The Californian did not act because it was on duty to rescue the passengers of the Titanic, which was not expected to send up rockets. At the Inquiry, the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord, was forced by the owners of White Star and IMM to give false information to cover up their scam, which is why he said he was in the area of the sinking, when in fact he was further west, waiting for the Titanic to rendezvous with him.
The ice on the deck of the Titanic is explained by Gardiner. He is not convinced that any part of the Titanic could have collided with an iceberg, had it existed, to form such shattered ice. He says the vibration of the collision and the engines going astern shook ice from the rigging of both the Titanic and the mystery ship it hit which fell onto the deck. The Titanic also dragged one of the other ship's lifeboats with it, which explains the mysterious accounts of one passenger, who says she saw a half-submerged boat floating in the water just after the collision.
The Titanic took a great deal of distance to slow down and stop, and the mystery ship limped away to put distance between itself and the disaster (if found, it would indicate something other than a simple iceberg collision).
As it happened, the already fragile structure of the ship gave way and the Titanic sank. According to the theory, the cover-up was that the ship had hit an iceberg. The vast majority of the crew were not aware of the scam, and both Captain Smith and First Officer Murdoch died in the sinking, as did 1,503 passengers and crew. The owners of IMM/White Star effected a cover-up, with Captain Lord of the Californian as the scapegoat. That concluded Gardiner's theory.
The theory has proved highly controversial, and indeed largely debunked by other Titanic experts. Like most conspiracy theories seemingly 'conclusive' evidence can be produced to both prove and disprove the theories. Gardiner has produced two books to back up his theory, producing evidence from both British and American Inquiries.
The main points against Gardiner's claims are:
The Olympic and Titanic, whilst essentially identical, differed in more than mere window design. The internal structure of the Titanic was very different to accommodate several new features, including two B-Deck luxury suites, with private promenade decks. It would be in no way a simple job to convert the two. However this would not have been obvious to passengers, or to investigators as the ship was lying at the bottom of the ocean. And if the the issue was ever arisen, white star could claim that they upgraded the Olympic
If White Star really wanted to commit insurance fraud, there were many better ways of doing it than gambling with the lives of passengers in mid-Atlantic. A fire started on purpose in a coal bunker whilst the ship was empty and at dock (not an uncommon occurrence) would have suited such a purpose. However the burned wreckage would have exposed the broken keel of the ship which is the whole point of the scam.
Since the wreck of the Titanic was found in 1986 many surveys have been conducted. The ship's yard number (401) has been found on every part expected to bear it — propeller blades, rudder, anchors, and so on. However these are not incredibly difficult things to switch, especially given the potential financial losses that are implicated for white star it is likely that they would do the switch properly.
