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Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank?
Did the Titanic really sink? Or was it sister ship Olympic ? Was it a massive cover-up or an insurance scam? These and many other questions are raised in Robin Gardiner’s brilliantly entertaining read which reveals a fascinating version of what really happened on that terrible night in April 1912.
- GenresNonfiction
384 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 1998
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317 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 23, 2022
"Thirty-five minutes after the first one had been launched, rockets still hurtled up from the bridge wing and exploded high overhead, adding their eerie light to the dance of the damned being played out below."
President of the British Seafarers’ Union, Mr Thomas Lewis, and the Secretary, Mr Cannon, had requested to join for union protection for the workers who'd survived, but were denied by the government. It ended up with them both hiring a small boat and heading for the rescue ship the workers were on (Lapland), using a megaphone to advise Titanic’s crewmen not to make any statement until they had union representation. Instead the workers were once more locked up by the quayside in a large waiting room not knowing for how long, with dockyard police and contingent from the local constabulary ensuring division between crew members and the outside world. Before the crew could be out from enforced imprisonment, they were interviewed by representatives from the White Star Line itself (!), only to spend another night in custody to appear before the Receiver of Wrecks – given no indication of when they’d be allowed to leave. Government officials then made the survivors sign off the Official Secrets Act ... The Seafarers' Union could not get through.
Not to mention the British Inquiry, performed by parties whom all had interest in Titanic/White Star Line. Representatives of the Californian (an important piece of this puzzle, and presumably Titanic’s ordered rescue ship) were not allowed to take active part in proceedings. The Seafarers’ Union was also here excluded counsel. Incredible to think about. The Board of Trade was in essence investigating themselves.
‘Under the circumstances it is only too obvious why the Board of Trade was so keen to conduct this inquiry. One of the main issues was bound to be its own regulations. What safer way to cover up its own shortcomings than to investigate them itself, although such an inquiry could hardly be called impartial. How could it, when the same Board of Trade had certified as safe as a ship that ha to spectacularly proves itself otherwise on its maiden voyage?' The man to chair the Inquiry Committee was John Charles Bigham, Baron Mersey of Toxteth - previously a party to the cover-up of the infamous Jameson raid that sparked off the Boer war.
Marconi was the company providing Titanic with its wireless system aboard. Representing the Board of Trade was Attorney General, Sir Rufus Daniel Isaacs KC, who even while the inquiry was in process was insider-dealing in Marconi Company shares, which had gotten a considerable boost by the part wireless had played in the disaster. Interestingly enough, Isaacs offered Marconi shares to his brothers on April 9th 1912 – as “luck” would have it, there was a fortune to be made after Titanic’s flounder five days later. Various coincidences come in clusters leading up to the fatal night. Even Baron Mersey bought a lot of Merconi shares just in time to make a lot of money off it - the media buzz elevated the price during an inquiry he himself orchestrated. The word conspiracy has this air of something just too wild to have taken place, but here one is rather left with an almost frustrating, tired indignation – as to how wasn’t any of this equitably inquired? There are too many missing (and deliberately avoided) pieces of information for the event to be taken at face value no matter what the truth would end up being.
Californian’s captain, Stanley Lord, repeatedly asked his crew to check for coloured flashes off a ship at a certain time and position from where they stood at a standstill. He was at the position from where Titanic wasn’t too far away, firing her rescue signals, but in between was a mystery ship – firing only white rackets. Lord was set on there having to be coloured flashes, red, blue or green in order to rescue– and so Californian did not go towards rescuing the mystery ship. It is argued Captain Lord waited for his signal through a predetermined arrangement with White Star Line, to pick up survivors from Titanic as she would intentionally sink to avoid major financial losses after the insurance fallacy of Olympic. Though it didn't go according to plan. Titanic didn’t sink intentionally, but came across a grazing iceberg perhaps, though the damage to her hull suggests that of a ship. Mystery ship number two has been recorded by several survivors and crew – but to no avail. During the British Inquiry, the seal was set: representatives of the Californian were not allowed to take active part in the inquiry to begin with.
It’s not that this is an unbelievable story – the same charade has happened to other ships when it came to insurance debacles, particularly around this time period. Several sections of those in power colluded to cover such events of various magnitude.
‘There can be no doubt that Mersey was being selective as to what testimony he was prepared to hear because he then allowed Scanlan to ask if eight men would have been necessary for the safety of the boat in a storm, even though there had only been two crewmen in Number 14 and no storm.’ (Life boat).
To digest this book takes time. All the names, dates, disappearances before boarding, timing down to the very minutes, the mapping of the sister ships design, the days recorded for fixing Olympics hull, erased testimonials that depicts the exact same picture independent of each other … I had to go back several times just to keep track of all the information. Incredible work by R. Gardiner. Even if you have a completely different perspective on this, I recommend reading this book for the research alone.
President of the British Seafarers’ Union, Mr Thomas Lewis, and the Secretary, Mr Cannon, had requested to join for union protection for the workers who'd survived, but were denied by the government. It ended up with them both hiring a small boat and heading for the rescue ship the workers were on (Lapland), using a megaphone to advise Titanic’s crewmen not to make any statement until they had union representation. Instead the workers were once more locked up by the quayside in a large waiting room not knowing for how long, with dockyard police and contingent from the local constabulary ensuring division between crew members and the outside world. Before the crew could be out from enforced imprisonment, they were interviewed by representatives from the White Star Line itself (!), only to spend another night in custody to appear before the Receiver of Wrecks – given no indication of when they’d be allowed to leave. Government officials then made the survivors sign off the Official Secrets Act ... The Seafarers' Union could not get through.
Not to mention the British Inquiry, performed by parties whom all had interest in Titanic/White Star Line. Representatives of the Californian (an important piece of this puzzle, and presumably Titanic’s ordered rescue ship) were not allowed to take active part in proceedings. The Seafarers’ Union was also here excluded counsel. Incredible to think about. The Board of Trade was in essence investigating themselves.
‘Under the circumstances it is only too obvious why the Board of Trade was so keen to conduct this inquiry. One of the main issues was bound to be its own regulations. What safer way to cover up its own shortcomings than to investigate them itself, although such an inquiry could hardly be called impartial. How could it, when the same Board of Trade had certified as safe as a ship that ha to spectacularly proves itself otherwise on its maiden voyage?' The man to chair the Inquiry Committee was John Charles Bigham, Baron Mersey of Toxteth - previously a party to the cover-up of the infamous Jameson raid that sparked off the Boer war.
Marconi was the company providing Titanic with its wireless system aboard. Representing the Board of Trade was Attorney General, Sir Rufus Daniel Isaacs KC, who even while the inquiry was in process was insider-dealing in Marconi Company shares, which had gotten a considerable boost by the part wireless had played in the disaster. Interestingly enough, Isaacs offered Marconi shares to his brothers on April 9th 1912 – as “luck” would have it, there was a fortune to be made after Titanic’s flounder five days later. Various coincidences come in clusters leading up to the fatal night. Even Baron Mersey bought a lot of Merconi shares just in time to make a lot of money off it - the media buzz elevated the price during an inquiry he himself orchestrated. The word conspiracy has this air of something just too wild to have taken place, but here one is rather left with an almost frustrating, tired indignation – as to how wasn’t any of this equitably inquired? There are too many missing (and deliberately avoided) pieces of information for the event to be taken at face value no matter what the truth would end up being.
Californian’s captain, Stanley Lord, repeatedly asked his crew to check for coloured flashes off a ship at a certain time and position from where they stood at a standstill. He was at the position from where Titanic wasn’t too far away, firing her rescue signals, but in between was a mystery ship – firing only white rackets. Lord was set on there having to be coloured flashes, red, blue or green in order to rescue– and so Californian did not go towards rescuing the mystery ship. It is argued Captain Lord waited for his signal through a predetermined arrangement with White Star Line, to pick up survivors from Titanic as she would intentionally sink to avoid major financial losses after the insurance fallacy of Olympic. Though it didn't go according to plan. Titanic didn’t sink intentionally, but came across a grazing iceberg perhaps, though the damage to her hull suggests that of a ship. Mystery ship number two has been recorded by several survivors and crew – but to no avail. During the British Inquiry, the seal was set: representatives of the Californian were not allowed to take active part in the inquiry to begin with.
It’s not that this is an unbelievable story – the same charade has happened to other ships when it came to insurance debacles, particularly around this time period. Several sections of those in power colluded to cover such events of various magnitude.
‘There can be no doubt that Mersey was being selective as to what testimony he was prepared to hear because he then allowed Scanlan to ask if eight men would have been necessary for the safety of the boat in a storm, even though there had only been two crewmen in Number 14 and no storm.’ (Life boat).
To digest this book takes time. All the names, dates, disappearances before boarding, timing down to the very minutes, the mapping of the sister ships design, the days recorded for fixing Olympics hull, erased testimonials that depicts the exact same picture independent of each other … I had to go back several times just to keep track of all the information. Incredible work by R. Gardiner. Even if you have a completely different perspective on this, I recommend reading this book for the research alone.
May 9, 2017
Two stars simply for the entertainment value. I couldn't help myself - I was giggling my way through the book. I'm not saying the author didn't bring up some good points. He did. I just think the vast majority of them, and the conspiracy theory itself, well, doesn't hold water (if you'll pardon the pun).
August 2, 2010
Interesting take on Titanic's history, but just another conspiracy theory. Titanic buffs only. Age 10 up.
August 22, 2014
This is an interesting idea - plausible. Reawakened my interest in the Titanic.
March 7, 2016
Controversial theory that some have claimed to "debunk." But it fits with the first rule of investigation: follow the money.
Want to read
September 15, 2020Nice book
April 20, 2023
Zajímavá teorie o tom, že se Titanic možná vůbec nepotopil. Velmi zajímavé, vřele doporučuji.
August 11, 2023
This was an excellent read. So much so my brain hurts but it all makes so much sense.it's backed with testimonials from survivors as well as both the British and American inquiries into the disaster. If you're a fan of the story of the Titanic, I highly recommemd giving this a read - it will make you question everything you thought you knew. Was it really an iceberg the Titanic struck? Furthermore, was it even the Titanic?
April 16, 2010
Enjoyed the detail of reading about the ship, the events of the night etc, but didn't like the author's style of commentary about what did or didn't go wrong that night. Also, not sure where he was going with the theory that the ship's owners planned the sinking!
Want to read
October 2, 2013i think its a grat book about titanic
Want to read
January 13, 2018Good
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews