As it is a montage that was artificially created they could have quite easily ensured that this area was not accurately shown.? Also a sealed design would have restricted access to certain parts of the ship As to Gardiner's claim that ''Titanic -actually the Olympic - never travelled faster than one-half her designed top speed, as her damaged hull was too weak to endure the stresses of a prolonged high-speed run', there is absolutely no documented evidence to support this. Difference in tonnage 7. Difference in tonnage For example there are several photographs taken by newspapers aboard Titanic prior to its departure. Additionally, they were not "in the middle of a coal strike". Wheelton, however, continues down to the storeroom and then went again up to the boat deck on the starboard side. In this photograph we see Captain Smith and First officer Murdoch on Olympic's bridge and clearly see a curved wheelhouse behind them. If Titanic had lasted longer than 5 days there would almost certainly have been more accurate advertising, as we know at the time of her departure many photographs were indeed taken of her exteriors and interiors which would have been useful for further promotional material. There are two keys errors in this hypothesis. the Hawke collision that would supposedly justify a 'switch' scenario. 24. Lack of testimony. (Click image to enlarge). Patchwork and braces from Hawke collision in wreck photographs During her construction and in this particular photograph the name was not very clear so the photographer took the liberty of sketching it in, which was not an unusual practice of the day. Claim: More than fifty first class passengers cancelled at the last minute, many of them friends and business associates of JP Morgan, and Morgan himself (who had money tied up in the White Star Line) also cancelled claiming that he was ill. Morgan was found two days later by a reporter in good health at a French resort with his mistress. According to Bruce Ismay's testimony before the British Wreck Commission they planned to increase certainly not be unusual to discover a bulkhead in the stern of the wreck of Olympic, Titanic or Britannic and certainly does not prove a 'switch'. Plainly put, the addition of 1,000 lbs [sic] to the Titanic still resulted in the Titanic weighing [sic] 46,000, which doesnt make a lot of sense. Crewman refused to sail on Titanic Claim: While the wheelhouse of the Olympic was allegedly constructed in a bow fronted fashion, a photograph taken from the top of the huge steel gantry appears to show a straight fronted wheelhouse, exactly as it appeared on earlier drawings of the ship. such as Titanic's A Deck promenade which was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows, to provide additional shelter, and the promenades on Titanic's B Deck which were reduced in size, and the space used for additional cabins and public rooms, including two luxury suites with private promenades. keeping quiet all those years had taken a great toll on his health and the sanity It is very plausible that the 1,000 pounds[sic] of tonnage was added to the Olympic in order to meet the weight [sic] of the Titanic. Titanic in the first week of March 1912 shows the stark contrast between the light grey primer and the fresh black top coat being applied (courtesy Jonathan Smith). They were only just entering the icefield. This is one of several undocumented, unreferenced claims. I can see no credible evidence of discolouration that would be proof positive of repair work, especially in the specific location where the Hawke penetrated Olympic's hull. There are other photographs of Titanic with similar liberties such as the shot of her in Cherbourg at night which has been heavily doctored to look as if it was taken at night with her lights blazing. He had called The story come from Frank Finch, a retired seaman living in New South Wales, Australia, who wrote a letter to Claim: Survivors on B Deck described seeing lifeboats being lowered from above, theres no way they would have seen that on Titanic only on the ship Olympic. 47. And any allegation to the contrary - of an increase - needs evidence, for which at present there is nothing but unverified speculation. 4. 23. In 1979 he became a theatre critic for The Sunday Times, for which he also later served as a book critic. Quite clearly the B-deck forward starboard windows are narrow - matching the wreck exactly. And that there were not binoculars on the Titanic? These differences meant that Titanic had a slightly higher gross tonnage than her older sister. LET'S SEE THE "EXPERTS" DEBUNK THIS ONE." The longer they were at sea, the more money it cost. First and foremost is that the Californian would be a ridiculous choice as a rescue vessel. Some go as far as to state that 'Lloyd's paid out $12,500,000'. Most agree that the Titanic split just forward of the third funnel. 10. Dr Robert Ballard admitted it was the Olympic He always maintained that the iceberg alone did not sink Titanic, that it had a fire burning in the coal bunkers for a week and that the Captain and the company knew about it. Was this done deliberately to help with the switch? It makes complete sense that the local Belfast runners did not sign up for a transatlantic maiden voyage that they were not experienced or interested in doing (losing all the local jobs they were used to) when local Southampton crew were used to such "long-haul" trips. 2. Researchers Bill Sauder and Parks Stephenson have come to the conclusion that in fact the dining room was not carpeted. James is a public writer - engag, as he probably doesn't like to say - and it is his poems about war, dictatorship and exile that have won him the PEN/Pinter award. Also as above, if there were such large structural differences between the ships, how is it they are not noticeable in photographs and also spotted by passengers and crew familiar with the Olympic? Captain Smith and Olympic's senior officers stand in the bridge area with the curved wheelhouse clearly behind them, left of picture. One issue with this theory is that Mount Temple (50 miles) Canadian Pacific Steamship Company cargo ship, Westbound, London to St. John's, Newfoundland Claim: When James Cameron sent a robot in to Ismay's room it filmed a veined marble surround on the fireplace that exactly matches that shown in a photograph of the corresponding stateroom aboard Olympic, taken in 1911. The claim does not align with Ballard's writing on the matter. 5. This is demonstrably false information. The list is believed to be accurate, but may contain some errors. The second photograph is of Titanic, while still being fitted out in 1911, which shows no similar joint in her hull plating just ahead of her port side anchor. James J. Fenton, MD, is a pulmonologist at National Jewish Health. Or is the answer because there is nothing there anyway? Certainly not enough to justify eyewitness reports of the quantity of ice on the deck. Not to mention that the name Titanic was first filmed on the wreck in 1987 and it certainly does not look Difference in Titanic's name plate Secondly, it is true that the outline of each letter was incised into the hull, and then painted in with a golden/yellow shade. 19343. To prove this claim 1 2. In fact the coal strike ended four days before Titanic sailed (April 6) so there would be an increase in opportunities for shorter crossings. Their error is simple: actually Titanic would have been the same tonnage as Olympic i.e. So the public and media were certainly not barred from touring her prior to her voyage. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Accomplished through strategic, long term planning . However Southampton, (which had replaced Liverpool as a major international hub) was where transatlantic liners such as what White Star and Cunard operated were based, and hence the crew based in Southampton were experienced, international crew. However, CourtesySteve Hall and Bruce Beveridge's book Titanic or Olympic, Which Ship Sank? "It was a somewhat quiet affair.". Birma (70 miles) Russian East Asiatic Company Eastbound, New York-Rotterdam-Libau When the The "Olympic" is the Titanic's sister ship ("RMS Olympic"), and part of the conspiracy . Thirdly, the characteristics of the Olympic were already known so there was less of a learning curve to deal with. Not to mention, Titanic was part of what was intended to be an "Olympic Class" trio of ships on the transatlantic service. Proportionally less than Titanic!" 41. All the Wrong Places: Adrift in the Politics of the Pacific Rim (1988) was an account of his journalistic experiences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was Oxford Professor of Poetry for the . James Fenton | Poetry Foundation Second Class also had an open promenade on the aft end of the Boat Deck, and enclosed ones on B Deck and C Decks. Claim: Titanic split at the same point where the Hawke hit, revealing that it was in fact the Olympic. Why would it be there? Mark Chirnside reports the following: "The companys surplus on the profit 1)The well known (to some of you) James A Fenton, alias "Paddy the Pig", who in the early 1970s, hinted how the loss of the Titanic was not entirely accidental. would have remained in surplus. As it was named the "Olympic Class" it would hence not be unusual to feature the first ship in any advertising. Titanic prior to her departure on her maiden voyage. Olympic had an "overlap of the plates, or strakes" forward of the bow anchors (described as "the doubler forward at the bower anchors"), while Titanic was different in that "the strake butted up against the doubler and did not overlap it.". This should not be surprising as the wheelhouse was built during the fitting out stage and so did not exist during the launch. 7. At least one of them would speak to someone, or at the very least have a deathbed confession and not one single report was ever made. 6. 32. Additionally, especially as the ship was being labelled "practically unsinkable" how would they explain this 'mysterious' flooding to the inquiries that would no doubt take place afterward? overlook something as simple as the number of portholes on the outside of the ship? On the wreck, what remains of the base of the wheel house (right) is clearly straight revealing it is indeed the Titanic (right image courtesy of Ghosts of the Abyss -Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media). Difference in Titanic's windows on B deck "Olympic Class" referred to a set of three ships: Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. Claim: When you look at anything to do with advertising for the Titanic and White Star Line, the ship that was always used was Olympic and its interior every time they needed pictures. 29. Only a limited number of changes required for a switch 6. They also question why on the night of the collision the captain of the Californian decided to sleep fully clothed on a five and a half foot couch in the chart room and ordered that her boilers be kept fired up and the engines on standby. The Turkish bath spaces were different. 3. The Britannic, when launched, had 16 portholes, consistent with the later port side configuration of the Titanic and the Olympic. Due to the lack of media coverage Lack of publicity for Titanic One of the ships bells was According to Steve Hall and Bruce Beveridge's book "Titanic or Olympic, Which Ship Sank?" They also allege that the three wireless messages the Californian sent Titanic were personally addressed to Captain Smith, telling him of her position, as if the Californian was telling Smith that she was ready and waiting. Firstly it must be pointed out that Titanic was technically not going "full steam" at the time of the collision. 39. In regard to J.P. Morgan cancelling "at the last minute," research by Mark Baber and posted on Encyclopedia Titanica actually reveals it to be an urban myth. J.P. Morgan and 50 others cancel passage shelved 11,906 times Showing 30 distinct works. Fenton was also active in the theatre scene. When or where did he ever say he discovered this? Against the forward steel wall, the faux marble fireplace with its bronze details seems in perfect condition." Seacocks opened to hasten the sinking The highly imaginative claim that the Cunard ship the Carpathia was a planned rescue ship collapses not only as it is wholey without evidence, but the numbers are inaccurate and any logic absent. in a high position in the company, the other man was in a very high position Some have analysed the footage concluding for example that the X-shaped viewing field seen in the video is caused by the camera rig's lighting. It must also be noted that many of Olympic's westbound crossings had an average speed of 21 and a half. that when the crew joined Titanic there was [sic] rumours that the company By the time Titanic's maiden voyage came along Olympic had been operating for a year. Claim: Olympic was fitted with Titanics propeller. Titanic was at full steam but not achieving maximum speed How many crew and passengers were onboard prior to the rescue? The vessel which sailed out of Southampton on 10 April 1912 can only have been a 45,000 ton ship with the last minute addition of 1,000 tons of GRT in her B Deck public rooms and enclosed area on A Deck. This was the number that was given to Titanic when it was being built in Belfast, Ireland. He wrote most of them when. Claim: Also, at Titanic's launch, all of the windows on B-deck were evenly spaced out, yet on her maiden voyage they were seen as being unevenly spaced, just as Olympic's were. . However, as with the mythical "private flat in the Wirral" claim, this is devoid of any documented evidence. Gardiner further hypothesizes that the ship that was hit by the Titanic was the one seen by the Californian firing distress rockets, and that this explains the perceived inaction of the Californian (which traditionally is seen as failing to come to the rescue of the Titanic after sighting its distress rockets). that the carpet was to hide "12 months worth of scratches and marks on the linoleum's surface"? The wreck clearly has a flat wheelhouse and hence it must be Titanic. However, as discussed in point 36 (below), almost certainly James Fenton was not aboard Titanic as he claimed. And they were not the only ones. A man named James A. Fenton who was a construction worker for the construction of the Titanic said they were switched. from a Sky TV show entitled "Conspiracies", presented byDanny Wallace. B-deck window spacing on the wreck If indeed Titanic had been insured at the last minute at "$12.5 million," as is alleged by conspiracy theorists, would this not have raised serious alarm bells in the minds of the insurers at the time, especially if it was part of the public record that the value was "$7.5million"? Numerous ships were stationed nearby despite a coal strike Leading Fireman Frederick Barrett testified before the British Wreck Commission that on the day of the collision It is clearly in a different area. However, it is definitely not logical. form near me in the afternoon and had questioned the library steward how he should declare his patent) said, "Well, I am accustomed to estimating distances and I put it at Take a look at the two photographs and compare for yourself. But for arguments sake let's take the larger of the two - the certified capacity number of both passengers and crew. So higher or sealed bulkheads would not necessarily have prevented Titanic from sinking, For those who have read this website, they will realise that there is certainly no evidence of a 'switch', all the claims have been exposed to reveal nothing but misinformation or fiction and most importantly that there is conclusive evidence to prove that it is Titanic that sank. Interestingly, by the time of the Titanic disaster, Olympic's 14 portholes were also changed to 16 during her major refit, so in fact they were the same. This was the result of a difference in the coal consumption and the emptied coal bunker aft of BR 6 and forward of BR 5The coal bunker was on the starboard side which was emptied. Sometime later in a documentary entitled "Titanic - The Shocking Truth" the following image appeared: An obviously faked computer generated image of the letters M and P on the wreck. This is completely false. The Titanic was carefully inspected nearly every day during her construction and again after arriving in Southampton. The ship photographed departing Southampton has 16 bow portholes. Again no mention here that lifeboats were seen from B Deck. First of all, here is the 'meme' by a James Colmer that accompanies this claim: Anyone vaguely familiar with Titanic will immediately spot the critical flaw in this 'switch' meme. Quite simply Titanic was underinsured, the main reason being that the White Star Line actually insured its own ships. It was only when she collided with an iceberg in a freak set of circumstances that she was suddenly thrust back into the media spotlight. But what do the 'experts' think? Damage to the Olympic due to its collision with HMS Hawke. But according to Titanic researcher Ioannis Georgiou "none of Titanic's boats were reused by the White Star Line. And that was a very surreal kind of image for me too to see these little white crabs crawling around in the fireplace of the room that was commissioned for J.P.Morgan. According to Britannica.com "on April 11, 1912, the Carpathia departed from New York City for Fiume, carrying some 740 passengers." Claim: Titanic's lifeboats had small brass I.D plaques screwed on them and they all said "RMS Olympic". Seacocks opened to hasten the sinking, 30. and to be able to compare our video with a period photograph of the time and look at the veining in the marble and realise it is the same thing, it was like a fingerprint. This was standard White Star Line practice. This claim is often mentioned alongside the above claim about the apparent discrepancy in the number of portholes on Titanic's port side bow. Corrections? of her departure many outlets resorted to using photographs and footage of Olympic, leading to much confusion over the subsequent years. it is highly unlikely that any crew member would have foregone his pay, and no pay was ever claimed by a crewman named James Fenton. Titanic 's insurance was increased 5 days before sailing 2. In 1912 Paddy [claimed he] was a 22-year- After studying at the Chorister School in Durham, where he performed with the cathedrals renowned choir, he attended the Repton School and the British Institute of Florence. 20. The full speed of the ship is 78 revolutions. 'The Olympic Room' After the Titanic disaster this all changed. If a 'switch' was true, why would you need to create a 'meme' that is demonstrably false, by switching an 'actual' image of Titanic with the Olympic? Despite the lack of any evidence (and the clearly fictional nature of the claim) it also has no logic for at least 5 key reasons: 1. Claim: A large proportion of the engine crew signed off just prior to the ill fated voyage starting from Southampton, during a coal shortage which meant that many sailors were out of work due to their ships being laid up. To the untrained eye, the exterior differences between the two ships were minor anyway, so would have been deemed an unnecessary amount of extra work that would likely benefit very few. The fact that the Olympic went on to serve 24 years is simply because the damage was repaired. Claim: Olympic had a vertical joint in her hull plating immediately forward of the port side anchor hawse pipe, while Titanic during her construction did not. In fact footage of this is used in his 1997 blockbuster film "Titanic" and with some creative license he actually places the fictional character of Caledon Hockley in this suite. There were closer ships that would be more feasible. We asked them the height of the berg and some said one hundred feet, others, sixty feet; one of the onlookers a motor engineer travelling to America with a model 100 cubic feet equals 1 "ton" of internal volume. Author Steve Hall: "The problem with that doco is it's 13 years old Of course it's Titanic.". Florence Ismay (wife of J Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star) also cancelled along with their children, and just like Morgan she said she was ill, and instead went on a motoring holiday! 45,324. The Titanic's design used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and the ship was popularly believed to be . But of course there is overwhelming evidence it was the Titanic that sank, which places this particular claim as purely conspiracy conjecture, for which there is no logic, let alone evidence. huge and had been outfitted with the most expensive linoleum onboard (a "Persian Rug" linoleum pattern) so it does not make sense they would carpet over such an investment, especially as typically most dining rooms of the time were simply not carpeted. Titanic advertising used photographs and artwork of the Olympic. Claim: The surviving crew were detained overnight and forced to sign a pledge under the 'Official Secrets Act', promising to keep secret forever, the actual events of the night of 14th / 15th April, 1912. Titanic advertising used photographs and artwork of the. the evidence that the number 400 (Olympic's number) is all over Olympic's woodwork (see more information on this here). https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Fenton, The Poetry Archive - Biography of James Fenton, Poetry Foundation - Biography of James Fenton. 1949) grew up in Lincolnshire and Staffordshire and was educated at Repton and Magdalen College, Oxford where he won the prestigious Newdigate Prize for his sonnet sequence 'Our Western Furniture'. In fact, White Stars profit So by April 1912 both ships had 16 portholes. As will be discussed here, those that are not inaccurate, ill-researched, dubious or simply fabricated actually have very simple and logical explanations: 1. Some also claim that the reason some crew did not sign up was specifically because 'the only thing that could not be made to look new were the ship's boilers, having already been used for 12 months on Olympic before the switch' and noticing this on the Belfast to Southampton crossing they decided to 'get off' at Southampton. Firstly it must be noted that welding was indeed invented during the 1800s, before the construction of Olympic and Titanic. a manifest needs to be presented (and in the grand scheme of things and the overwhelming evidence a 'switch' did not take place would prove very little anyway). Titanic's insurance was increased 5 days before sailing 2. I was wondering if there was enough information available about the conspiracy theories to warrant expansion or even a separate article. However, in December 1911, during Titanic's fit out, she had 2 added to light the crews galley and wash room which resulted in a total of 16 as seen in the maiden voyage photographs. The bulkheads were not actually sealed at the top, this oversight allowed water to flow over, filling each compartment, one at a time. 1 were never lit at all. was 60 years old at the time of the sinking, and was examined on Day 17 of the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. Above: Titanic, left and Olympic, right. Without further information or documentation on this "private flat in the Wirral" -even a photograph - Fentons poems ranged from narrative to nonsense. Olympic had a 2 degree list to port, as did Titanic 5. Thirdly, in a picture of Olympic, taken during her 1912/13 refit following the Titanic disaster, this allegedly shows this vessel not to have the 'tell-tale plating' joint, which to 'switch' proponents proves 'conclusively' that the hull pictured is that of Titanic although the name Olympic is clearly visible on both sides of the bow. and would never get a job when they got out. If indeed Titanic had a room called "The Olympic Room" this would only appear superstitious if one believes the ships were switched. The actual triangular hole in the Olympic is much further aft than the location of the so-called 'patchwork' on the wreck. ", Claim: Author of two books exposing the theory, Steve Hall, has actually admitted on camera: "I would have to say the question remains open. Even if that simple fact is not enough, the other alleged details regarding the Californian are being misrepresented. We need to know which accounts precisely are being referred to here. Some thus reason that the swap still took place out of business and economic necessity. 46. Firstly, they had been postponed for a day due to bad weather. Gardiner bases this hypothesis on the idea that the supposed iceberg was seen at such a short distance by the lookouts because it was actually a darkened ship. There is not one occasion in which he drive the ship at full speed.. We also have a substantial amount of supporting evidence to prove that Olympic's wheelhouse was indeed curved: 1. However, this is not unusual, even for modern ships, and can be due to several factors. 1,496 people are believed to have died when the Titanic went down. 'The Olympic Room' 8. Secondly, and rather importantly, the names were not engraved on the lifeboats. These above images are used by conspiracy theorists alleging a difference in the windows on B-deck -which should not be surprising as two private verandahs and suites were added to this section of the ship after its launch. (Click image to enlarge). single-ended boilers in Boiler Room No. other images of Olympic and Titanic, this post-disaster image has the anchors stowed, thus obscuring this area of interest. Titanic's sea trials were shorter than Olympic's 3rd-class: 2,250. name on it. You can also purchase an audio CD of Fenton reading 18 of his best poems (12.99) Steve Hall's answer was actually responding to this question: "Does the wreck provide absolute proof it's not Olympic?" However, there are several large issues with this theory. Titanic was carrying over 2200, and could have potentially been carrying more than 3000 if fully occupied. I saw a child who will never sleep. An example of the many adverts that show the Olympic instead of Titanic - logical considering one was the older sister.

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