Titanic sunk by U-boat?

[nyx]

I saw the Titanic Exhibit at the local museum when it came this past Christmas. I believe the captain was due to retire, the exhibit said, and they talked him back into this one voyage. No wonder he was trying to get it over with quickly!

The exhibit was wonderful, by the way, if you get a chance to see it. They give you a ticket for a real passenger at the beginning. At the end, you find out if you survived or not. I did! (First class, baby!)

 

[Alan Eardley]

Hence the White Star Line enforced new saftey laws that changed the way of ships from that point forward after the intensive inquiry.

'...the White Star Line enforced...'? No, it was the Board of Trade that enforced new safety measures. One of the bodies to benefit from the new regulations was Harland and Wolff, the builders of the WSL ships, which received a number of contracts to install the mandated safety equipment on existing liners. It was H&W's drawing office, of course, which famously decided to reduce the number of lifeboats to the bare minimum required by the current BoT regulations. Indirectly, it could be said that they benefited from the tragedy.

Alan

 

[Alan Eardley]

The only Titanic conspiracy theory I ever heard was..... that it wasn't the titanic that sank at all. I only discovered this one last year myself, but then when the whole Titanic fever hit big time when Ballard found the wreck in 85/86 I was still very young.... Apparently it was a well known rumour in belfast back at the time. The story goes that the Sister ship, the Olympic, was involved in a collision with a Royal Navy ship in England somewhere (I don't recall the location, maybe it was Southampton itself, traditionally a navy base?). The boat was structurally severely compromised due to the impact, but as it was a military vessel that caused the damage, the insurance wouldn't have paid out, and the State at the time offered no recompense. In order to be able to recoup their losses, the story runs, the White Star Line switched the ship with the Titanic - the two liners were rebranded as each other, and the Olympic was sent out as Titanic on that fateful "maiden" voyage. Supposedly had it really been the titanic, it would not have been so badly damaged by the iceberg, and therefore not sunk so easily.

I've seen no conclusive proof of this one, though if the White Star Line could have been assumed to have been ruthless enough to send out a ship that they knew was flawed and would eventually sink at some point, it doesn't seem totally incredible as a theory.

The other one was the Mummy's Curse, though that's even more of a stretch!

Edward,

The theory you are refering to is by Robin Gardiner. As wacky theories go (and here I'm speaking as a professional researcher) I've seen worse. The 'proof' that he offers that it is the Olympic on the sea bed is based on the build records and photographs in the Harland and Wolff records. Without going into a detailed critique of his reearch, in my opinion, he doesn't recognise sufficiently that mistakes can be made in production paperwork and particularly in labelling photographic records. His 'proof' is not convincing for this reason. Irrespective of this, his 'theory' has, of course, been partially refuted by recent undersea exploration.

The Royal Navy vessel was the cruiser Hawke and the collision took place in the Atlantic. A RN enquiry attributed the accident to the fact that the helm orders to turn to port and starboard had recently been changed, and the helmsman of the Hawke hadn't got used to them yet. Therefore, although the Hawke went about sharply and ran into the Olympic, it was the liner's fault for being there in the first place!

Alan

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Me too!

I saw the Titanic Exhibit at the local museum when it came this past Christmas. I believe the captain was due to retire, the exhibit said, and they talked him back into this one voyage. No wonder he was trying to get it over with quickly!

The exhibit was wonderful, by the way, if you get a chance to see it. They give you a ticket for a real passenger at the beginning. At the end, you find out if you survived or not. I did! (First class, baby!)

I saw this exhibit in Phoenix a few years back. I was facsinating! My Mother was born the year the Titanic went down, so my entire life, before the wreck was discovered, I had a chronology of it's hidden years. I was always entranced by the story of the Titanic and it's deep water tomb.

At the exhibit was a piece of the hull that had been excavated. Through a tiny hole in the plexiglass, viewers were permitted to touch it. After some eighty years, my Mother's entire lifetime, to be able to touch that ship was exhilarating. The layout of the exhibit was well planned and very clever.

It is my understanding from what I've read was that the damage caused by the berg wasn't a tear as we had come to believe, but more of a buckling of the hull plates and failure of the inferior rivets that held them together. The water rushed in through the gaps greated between the buckled plates.

Did anyone ever see the Jason Robard's film, "Raise the Titanic"? For it's day, a pretty fascinating idea!

-dixon cannon

P.S. I know a guy named Buckley. His namesake was the gent whom legend tells us, dressed as a woman in order to escape on a lifeboat. In actual fact, he fell into a lifeboat, being thrown off balance by the crowd. A woman already in the boat threw her shawl over his head as he sat up in the boat. He always claimed it was Lady Astor, but history seems to prove him wrong. Daniel Buckley survived the Titanic, only to be killed in battle a few years later in WWI.

 

[Smyat]

Submarine Involvement...or an unknown third ship...-dixon cannon

Titanic is only a minor specialty of my interests, but as far as I know the 'third ship' has been discounted as a figment of reporting error. The most recent theory, created when older ones were, er, sunk, was that it might have been an illegal Norwegian sealing or whaling ship. This has proven unlikely. At least one knowledgeable author has established from the known facts plus some skilled inference that there was no third ship.

 

[Smyat]

At the exhibit was a piece of the hull that had been excavated. Through a tiny hole in the plexiglass, viewers were permitted to touch it. After some eighty years, my Mother's entire lifetime, to be able to touch that ship was exhilarating.

Seconded. I saw the Titanic exhibit in Chicago and being able to run a finger over that fragment of iron was incredibly moving.

 

[thebadmamajama]

'...the White Star Line enforced...'? No, it was the Board of Trade that enforced new safety measures. One of the bodies to benefit from the new regulations was Harland and Wolff, the builders of the WSL ships, which received a number of contracts to install the mandated safety equipment on existing liners. It was H&W's drawing office, of course, which famously decided to reduce the number of lifeboats to the bare minimum required by the current BoT regulations. Indirectly, it could be said that they benefited from the tragedy.

my mistake...the joys of exhaustion reap their benefits once again

 

[J.B.]

I'm sorry. I just had to take a minute out from reading this thread to have a laughing attack...

Ey! Duntutchthat. Smyat.

...There. I'm okay now.

Please continue...

 

[Diamondback]

Did anyone ever see the Jason Robard's film, "Raise the Titanic"? For it's day, a pretty fascinating idea!

Cussler's novel, which the movie was based on, was much, much better IMO. The movie's so forgotten today that, when I had to write a screenplay based on a not-previously-adapted novel, the instructor let me do RTT anyway. (Of course, mine was true to the book, other than shaving the "adult content" down a lot, and would have been long enough to be a TV-miniseries.)

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Cussler's novel, which the movie was based on, was much, much better IMO. The movie's so forgotten today that, when I had to write a screenplay based on a not-previously-adapted novel, the instructor let me do RTT anyway. (Of course, mine was true to the book, other than shaving the "adult content" down a lot, and would have been long enough to be a TV-miniseries.)

It may also be Cussler's only readable novel.

 

[Diamondback]

I dunno, I've read some God-awful stuff--and I thought Cussler was better than Fleming... No at-peak Dale Brown, but...

 

[thebadmamajama]

Hahah, I loved the dramatic, longing looks of the main character in the film...so..DRAMATIC.

 

[dhermann1]

Grandma's poem

Well, I wouldn't call it God-awful, but it's definitely off. My grandmother had great proclivity of thou-ing and wouldst-ing and ere-ing (anyone for Tennyson?) so this is a little hard to read. It really expresses a strange sentiment, which requires a moment of thought to get, I think. Anyhow, here is my grandmother's reaction to the sinking of the Titanic, April 22, 1912.

 

[HungaryTom]

Script for Titanic 2

I meant to post this couple weeks ago, seeing a book on the Titanic reminded. Anywhoo... I saw a special on PBS that the Titanic could of been sunk by a U-boat. Has anyone else heard of this theory? I only caught the last 10 to 15 minutes of it but it was really interesting. Wonder how long this theory has been around...

Jun

You have the genial solution for remake.

Curious when Ocean's 1912 will come in the movies....

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_doh: :eusa_doh: :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_doh:

 

[thebadmamajama]

Hey, made me laugh...:eusa_clap

 

[Diamondback]

Curious when Ocean's 1912 will come in the movies....

[voice=whining art-critic]"But will it be vintage?"[/voice]

 

[HungaryTom]

Hey, made me laugh...:eusa_clap

That's good to hear.
Legends based on the loss of History education...Sad to hear.


Diamondback: 1912-13 that is 1899 episodes. By the time it will be done all actors will be mighty vintage---

Tom

 

[Alan Eardley]

Cussler's novel, which the movie was based on, was much, much better IMO. The movie's so forgotten today that, when I had to write a screenplay based on a not-previously-adapted novel, the instructor let me do RTT anyway. (Of course, mine was true to the book, other than shaving the "adult content" down a lot, and would have been long enough to be a TV-miniseries.)

Lew Grade (a sort of British Sam Goldwyn), who financed the movie, is reputed to have said whan presented with the schedule of costs, 'Raise the Titanic? It would be cheaper to lower the Atlantic!

Alan

 

[Story]

(Sept. 22) -- A novelist whose grandfather survived the Titanic's sinking has revealed a long-held family secret: that the man behind the ship's wheel turned it the wrong way, crashing into an iceberg and causing the ship's demise.

Louise Patten's grandfather Charles Lightoller was second officer on the Titanic's maiden -- and only -- voyage when it sank in April 1912. He was in his cabin when the boat struck the iceberg, and vowed to stay with the ship rather than go to a lifeboat. As it sank, he jumped into the water and was sucked down into the depths -- but then miraculously thrown back to the surface by an underwater explosion, and picked up by a lifeboat.

http://www.aolnews.com/world/articl...ring-error-sank-titanic/19643621?ncid=webmail

 

[Undertow]

(Sept. 22) -- A novelist whose grandfather survived the Titanic's sinking has revealed a long-held family secret: that the man behind the ship's wheel turned it the wrong way, crashing into an iceberg and causing the ship's demise.

Louise Patten's grandfather Charles Lightoller was second officer on the Titanic's maiden -- and only -- voyage when it sank in April 1912. He was in his cabin when the boat struck the iceberg, and vowed to stay with the ship rather than go to a lifeboat. As it sank, he jumped into the water and was sucked down into the depths -- but then miraculously thrown back to the surface by an underwater explosion, and picked up by a lifeboat.

http://www.aolnews.com/world/articl...ring-error-sank-titanic/19643621?ncid=webmail

Very interesting, thanks for the article!