Facts About The Titanic

I. There has been evidence collected that the Titanic was not the ship that allegedly hit an iceberg and killed hundreds of passengers and crew members. Physical evidence on the boat has been observed. Research has shown cancellations of people who may have known about the organized plan of the switch and that the switch was part of an insurance scam. a. It is said that the Titanic was switched out with its sister ship, the RMS Olympic before its departure on April 14, 1912. Being sister ships, they were virtually identical, the structure, designs and layout. The Titanic and Olympic “were moored side by side in dry dock; the swap would entail nothing more elaborate that swapping a few nameplates and plaques.” () Previously, the Olympic had been in a serious collision with another ship, the damage was pretty
bad and had wrung out many expenses for the White Star Line, the parent company. The essential plan was for the Titanic to be switched with the Olympic and then sunk in a staged accident. The Titanic, disguised the Olympic would then continue service.

b. The Titanic was not in fact the boat that sank, but it was switched out for one of its sister ships, the RMS Olympic before it departed. c. Proof of the switch between the two ships was actual evidence on the boat, the paint color, the lettering and plaques and the accents of the ship. There was also suspicious activity with the crew and cancellations from important people before the ship left the dock. Lastly there is reason to believe that the switch occurred so the White Star could eliminate expenses that the Olympic racked up from its previous collision.

II. Arguments- There is physical, testimonial and circumstantial evidence of the two sister ships being switched.

a. i. It is believed that the bottom of the Olympic was painted black so it would look even more identical to the Titanic. The Olympic originally had an undercoat of grey paint. “Corrosion has done its relentless work, but where the original black paint of the hole has flaked away it is still possible to see spots of grey paint which form the undercoat.” (0.23 Plimplam) The Titanic had an original black undercoat, not grey. The RMS Olympic was the only ship to have that grey undercoat. ii. There is a White Star tradition where the names of the ships were engraved into the ship's bow. When researchers went to the bottom of the ocean the found that there were iron letters riveted onto the original bow plates that spelled out Titanic. “With the passage of time, two of the letters have dropped off and been lost forever in the sediment of the seabed. At the place where they once were, engraved into the hull are the letters m and p.” (2.07 Plimplam) The letters could have been the two letters used to spell put “Olympic”. iii. There are pictures of the Titanic that were taken while it was moored. They showed fourteen portholes. When researchers looked at the ship on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the sunken ship had sixteen. “Photographs taken of the Titanic in dry dock show it with 14 portholes. But by the time of its doomed maiden voyage it now had 16, just like the Olympic.” () The only reason for the Titanic the acquire two more portholes would be the aesthetic of the ship. b.
Some crew members had known about the switch and there was talk all about the switching of the ships. Many important people had cancelled their reservations on the ship, as if they knew there was a risky plan. i. There was crew members who helped fix the ship up to be switched. There were also people who had found out about the switch. At this time, working on the Titanic was their only source of income. This job was how they supported their families. “Under the threat of unemployment and not being able to support their families, the workers who knew of the switch remained silent.”()

Ii. The plan for the Titanic and Olympic to be switched and intentionally sunk was a decision made by the White Star Line. The word could have been spread that a dangerous, unsafe proposition was made to save money and destroy the Olympic disguised as the Titanic. “Several last minute cancellations from high profile passengers certainly suggest some kind of foreknowledge.” () The odds of more than a couple last minute cancellations of important people could be very suspicious evidence that they had prior knowledge of the horrible disastrous accident that
occurred. iii. Many rich and prestigious names were booked to be on the Titanic during its voyage. The owner of the White Star’s parent company cancelled his reservation three days before the departure declaring an illness. People had reportedly seen him walking around with his wife in France, not looking the least bit “sick”. He could have known about the switch and the accidental sinking or even organized the switch himself. He must have been protecting himself, guaranteeing that he will be safe. Good thing he made that decision, the wreck was more of a disaster than expected. c. In 1911 the RMS Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke, badly damaging both ships. After the collision there were two large holes in the stern of the Olympic. The repairs were expensive and on top of those, the blame was on the Olympic, giving the White Star large legal bills. ii. During the launch of the Titanic, there was a “nationwide coal strike” leading to many people short of work. Work on the ships were available, as crew members, the Titanic was in need of workers but they still struggled to find it. “Rumours were circulating amongst the workers at Harland and Wolff that the ships had been swapped as part of an insurance scam, and Titanic was to be sunk” Men were rejecting the jobs no matter how much money was offered to them. iii. After all the trouble and expenses the Olympic had caused the White Star, JP Morgan, the owner, could have organized a plan to sink the Olympic, disguised as the Titanic to ditch the actual Olympic ship. Doing this would guarantee that insurance companies would cover the fully functional Titanic that had accidently crashed into the iceberg. There was “pressure on the White Star to make up the cost of the damage to the Olympic... which the insurance company would not cover” (Waite) since it was decided that it was the Olympics fault.

III. The most believed story is that it was actually the Titanic that sunk and it was a complete accident. The lookouts spotted an iceberg at the last minute and the Titanic was not able to steer clear of it in time. a. The switch would have been an extensive amount of work. Even though the ships were “sisters” there were still many differences that would have to be changed so the Olympic would pass as the Titanic. “there were numerous differences, many structural, that meant any switch would have been a huge, extensive, time consuming and not to mention very expensive undertaking.” It is said that it would take more time and money than the crew had to change all of it. b. The RMS Olympic was the ship that sank April 15, 1912, not the titanic. There is evidence on the actual boat in the ocean, talk between the crew and people and the switch happened as part of a money scam