FAKE NEWS & CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Titanic: Have We Been Told The Truth?
We've all seen the film. Kate and Leo clutching each
however, were the issues experienced by the Olympic.
other at the prow of the ship, falling in love, his tragic
In 1911, the Olympic was involved in a collision with a
and unnecessary death (there was definitely room for
Royal Navy warship at Southampton Water (where our
two on that door, Kate). In reality, we all know the story
boat balls do their cruises). It sustained a lot of damage
of the Titanic to be a tragic one; the 'unsinkable' ship
and was left permanently leaning slightly to the left. The
proving to be sinkable after all, leaving 1500 dead in the
Olympic was blamed for the accident, meaning that their
freezing North Atlantic ocean. Studying in Southampton,
insurance company would not cover the necessary repairs.
it all feels a little closer to home, as this was where
This was a disaster for White Star Line, as this meant that
the voyage set off, where the passengers kissed their
the Titanic's completion date needed to be delayed and the
loved ones goodbye with no idea of how permanent
company would experience a devastating financial loss.
that 'goodbye' would be. Many of the crew were local to Southampton, so the effects of the disaster were felt
The theory claims that J.P Morgan hatched a plan to
intensely in this area, hence the memorial in the city.
switch the two ships, meaning that it was actually the Olympic that embarked on that famous journey from
But what if we weren't told the truth? What if a huge
Southampton to New York. The plan was for the Titanic,
secret has been covered up? What if the 'Titanic'
which was now actually the Olympic, to sink deliberately,
wasn't really the 'Titanic' at all? Research conducted
either inevitably due to its damage or due to tampering
by Robin Gardiner led him to write a book in 1998,
by crew members in on the plan. The passenger ship,
Titanic: The Ship that Never Sank, arguing as such.
the SS Californian, which famously failed to respond to the distress signals of the Titanic, was allegedly
The Titanic was owned by the International Mercantile
arranged to be there on standby to rescue the passengers
Marine Group, which was under the control of financier
and respond to these distress signals. However, the
J.P Morgan, alongside the White Star Line shipping
communications officer fell asleep. The fact that, despite
company. It was him who commissioned the Titanic,
being a passenger ship, the SS Californian's cargo was only
as well as two other boats called the Olympic and the
3,000 woollen blankets and jumpers - but with no onboard
Britannic, as luxury liners for his company. The Titanic
passengers - does point to it being there on purpose.
and the Olympic were almost identical, other than slight differences such as the number of portholes and the
But why do this? What could be gained by risking the lives
spacing of the windows. What set these two boats apart, 6
FAKE NEWS
