One of the most controversial and complex theories was put forward by Robin Gardiner in his book,
Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank?. In it, Gardiner draws on several events and coincidences that occurred in the months, days, and hours leading up to the sinking of the
Titanic, and concludes that the ship that sank was in fact
Titanics
sister ship , disguised as
Titanic, as an
insurance scam by her owners, the International Mercantile Marine Group, controlled by American financier
J.P. Morgan that had acquired the
White Star Line in 1902.
Olympic was the slightly older sister of
Titanic, built alongside the more famous vessel but launched in October 1910. Her exterior profile was nearly identical to
Titanic, save for minor details such as the number of portholes on the forward C decks of the ships, the spacing of the windows on the B decks, and the forward section of the A deck promenade on
Titanic that had been enclosed only a few weeks before she set sail on her ill-fated maiden voyage. Both ships were built with linoleum floors, but shortly before she was due to set sail
J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line, inexplicably ordered the floors aboard
Titanic carpeted over. On 20 September 1911, the
Olympic was involved in a collision with the
Royal Navy Warship in the Brambles Channel in
Southampton Water while under the command of a
harbour pilot. The two ships were close enough to each other that ''Olympic's
motion drew the Hawke'' into her aft starboard side, causing extensive damage to the liner – both above and below its waterline (HMS Hawke was fitted with a re-inforced 'ram' below the waterline, purposely designed to cause maximum damage to enemy ships). An Admiralty inquiry assigned blame to the
Olympic, despite numerous eyewitness accounts to the contrary. Gardiner's theory plays out in this historical context.
Olympic was found to be at blame in the collision (which, according to Gardiner, had damaged the central turbine's mountings and bent the
keel, giving the ship a slight permanent list to port). Because of this finding, White Star's insurers
Lloyd's of London allegedly refused to pay out on the claim. White Star's
flagship would also be out of action during the extensive repairs, and the
Titanics completion date, which was already behind schedule due to
Olympics return to the yard after her loss of a propeller blade, would have to be delayed. All this would amount to a serious financial loss for the company. Gardiner proposes that, to make sure at least one vessel would be earning money, the badly damaged
Olympic was patched up and then converted to become the
Titanic. The real
Titanic when complete would then quietly enter service as the
Olympic. The
Titanic indeed had a list to port leaving Southampton. Inadequate trimming of cargo and bunkers would likely result in such and the crew seems to have demonstrated a lack of proficiency on several occasions. A list to port was noted by several
Titanic survivors including
Lawrence Beesley who wrote in his book about the sinking: "I then called the attention of our table to the way the
Titanic listed to port (I had noticed this before), and we watched the skyline through the portholes as we sat at the purser's table in the saloon." (The dining saloon windows were double rows of portholes covered on the inside with screens of leaded decorative glass with no clear view of the outdoors.) This was echoed by survivor
Norman Chambers, who testified that after the collision: "However, there was then a slight list to starboard, with probably a few degrees in pitch; and as the ship had a list to port nearly all afternoon, I decided to remain up." Gardiner states that few parts of either ship bore the name, other than the easily removed lifeboats, bell, compass binnacle, and name plates. Everything else was standard White Star issue and was interchangeable between the two ships, and other vessels in the White Star fleet. While all other White Star Line Ships had their name engraved into the hull, the
Titanic alone had its name riveted over top. In recent pictures of the wreck depicting a spot where two riveted plates that had spelled
Titanic fell off, the letters MP appear to be stamped into the hull. The plan, Gardiner suggests, was to dispose of the
Olympic, which had allegedly been damaged beyond economic repair in a way that would allow White Star to collect the full insured value of a brand new ship. He supposes that the
seacocks were to be opened at sea to slowly flood the ship. If numerous ships were stationed nearby to take off the passengers, the shortage of lifeboats would not matter as the ship would sink slowly and the boats could make several trips to the rescuers. Gardiner uses as evidence the length of
Titanics sea trials.
Olympics trials in 1910 took two days, including several high speed runs, but
Titanics trials reportedly only lasted for one day, with (Gardiner alleges) no working over half-speed. Gardiner says this was because the patched-up hull could not take any long periods of high speed. Perhaps this was due to the fact that
Titanic as a nearly identical twin sister of the
Olympic was expected to handle exactly the same, or perhaps the
Board of Trade inspectors were in on the scheme. Gardiner maintains that on 14 April, First Officer Murdoch (who was not officially on duty yet) was on the bridge because he was one of the few high-ranking officers other than Captain Smith who knew of the plan and was keeping a watch out for the rescue ships. One of Gardiner's most controversial statements is that the
Titanic did not strike an iceberg, but an
IMM rescue ship that was drifting on station with its lights out. Gardiner based this hypothesis on the idea that the supposed iceberg was seen at such a short distance by the lookouts on the
Titanic because it was actually a darkened ship, and he also does not believe an iceberg could inflict such sustained and serious damage to a steel double-hulled vessel such as the
Titanic. Gardiner further hypothesises 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). Gardiner's hypothesis is that the
Californian, another IMM ship, was not expecting rockets but a rendezvous. The ice on the deck of the
Titanic is explained by Gardiner as ice from the rigging of both the
Titanic and the mystery ship she hit. As for the true
Titanic, Gardiner alleges that she spent 25 years in service as the
Olympic and was scrapped in 1935. Researchers Bruce Beveridge and Steve Hall took issue with many of Gardiner's claims in their book,
Olympic and Titanic: The Truth Behind the Conspiracy. Author Mark Chirnside has also raised serious questions about the switch theory. == References ==