Just When I Thought There Was No More Mileage Left In The Titanic Story

I've always been fascinated with the story of the Titanic. I practically grew up on it. When Dr. Bob Ballard discovered the wreck, I made my parents buy me a copy of his book as soon as it hit the shelves. I even watched and sort of liked James Cameron's movie, although for the historical perspective, not the fictional love story.

I recently came across a Titanic conspiracy video, and watched it. I wasn't sure what to expect. Even if there's nothing to it, I think it's fascinating. The ship that sank was Olympic, and the sinking was a deliberate act of insurance fraud by White Star Line:


This video can fit all of its claims into the official timeline.

I've known about Capt Smith being a horrible ship driver. He had three shipwrecks while in command of Olympic. The last one damaged the keel, and would have cost White Star Line more to fix than the ship was worth. And since the collision was with a Royal Navy ship, Smith was at fault no matter how you cut it, hence, no insurance payment. Smith was apparently a worse ship driver than the Captain of the Costa Concordia. That guy was showing off.

So the video proposes that:

• Olympic and Titanic were virtually identical. All but their painted name and a bronze plate were the same. The two ships were switched.
• During the middle of a coal strike, Californian set sail empty with full coal bunkers, and sat in the ice field. A Titanic survivor claimed an officer made a comment that Californian would rescue them.
• When the iceberg was sighted, Titanic had the turn radius to avoid it. But by putting the engines into full astern, the ship's stern was swung around to starboard, which caused the collision.
• The real Titanic, under the name Olympic, served for 25 years.
• White Star upped the insurance premium on Titanic prior to the voyage. They were paid out more than the value of the ship.

It's an interesting analysis.