Leading Fireman Frederick Barrett testified before the British Wreck Commission that on the day of the collision Not to mention the difficulty in changing the shell-plating at the bow and stern which bore the ships names - the names were not just painted on the plates, they were cut into the plates in letters four feet high and one-half inch deep that were then filled in with paint. Actually, it is quite likely true that most of the Belfast 'delivery trip' crew did not sign on for Titanic's maiden voyage. Take the dining saloon. J.P. Morgan and 50 others cancel passage ", Claim: Author of two books exposing the theory, Steve Hall, has actually admitted on camera: "I would have to say the question remains open. Difference in Titanic's name plate You do not need to be an expert to see that it certainly does not. Difference in Titanic's windows on B deck then they absolutely need more than this very doubtful photograph to prove that Olympic's "doubler" is not overlapping and hence it is actually Titanic. and would never get a job when they got out. The Olympic deck plans show a curved wheelhouse: 2. However, it is definitely not logical. Another set of poems was published by Fullers press as the broadsheet Put Thou Thy Tears into My Bottle (1969). There is nothing here on which to base a 'switch' theory. In 1973 Terminal Moraine (1972), his first full-length collection of poetry, won the Eric Gregory Award. (Click to enlarge). Clutch my hand. anything like this. In this close up of the post-disaster image of Olympic, Carpathia (58 miles Cunard Line, Eastbound: Left New York Tuesday, Gibraltar and Mediterranean ports Above right: Titanic , while still on the stocks and while fitting out in 1911, allegedly shows that there was no similar joint in her hull plating just ahead of her port side anchor. Even more conclusively, a New York Times newspaper article of Thursday 28th March 1912 reveals that in March "J. Pierpont Morgan has written a cordial letter to Claim: Numerous ships were stationed nearby, despite a coal strike, to take off the passengers, which is why the shortage of lifeboats would not matter. Surviving crew signed the Official Secrets Act Well, let's look at the image with and without the multi-coloured scribbles: Left: the original wreck image scaled up and rotated to match the 'meme'. Ice on the deck was not from an iceberg, 26. One issue with this theory is that Lack of documentation - there is a noticeable lack of specific documentation or references to prove this claim. of her departure many outlets resorted to using photographs and footage of Olympic, leading to much confusion over the subsequent years. Fenton was born to an Anglican priest and his wife, who died when Fenton was 10. 15. aware she never exceeded 75 revolutions. This is one of several undocumented, unreferenced claims. The Government man read the crew the Official Secrets This is consistent with the damage previously sustained by Olympic. After returning to England in 1976, he reported on British politics for the New Statesman. the shadows of the butt lap is still discernable." Fenton was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1983. bivalve shell layers 2020-11-29 23:19 . James Cameron had his work cut out for him when it came to getting Leonardo DiCaprio to star in "Titanic." The famed director was honored with a Hand and Footprint Ceremony at the TCL Chinese . a lifeboat, keeping older hands on deck for lowering boats. Difference in port side joint plating Titanic 's insurance was increased 5 days before sailing 2. Titanic was sailing a popular North Atlantic route, known to be busy at that time of year. This is another one of those inaccurate claims that more importantly does not make any sense even if it was accurate. One of the ships bells was Mr Harold Arthur Sanderson, Director of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company (not from Harland and Wolff as claimed), They would not be interested in the transatlantic route as it would mean not returning to Belfast or Southampton for several weeks. - Yes. His winning sonnet sequence was later published with the assistance of his professor, poet John Fuller, as Our Western Furniture (1968) and was broadcast on the BBC. Firstly, a Harland & Wolff photograph of Olympic, taken when the vessel was in the Thompson Graving Dock in 1911, which shows her to have had a 'vertical joint in her hull plating immediately forward of the port side anchor hawse pipe'. Captain Smith on Titanic The closest we have is when he is questioned about the binoculars and is asked: 19342. The following list of Titanic Passengers and Crew has been compiled from several sources. Claim: All that needs to be done to switch the ships is exchange those parts of the ships which bore the vessels names such as name plates, the ships bell, menus and note paper letterheads, the names on the life belts and life boats, also any plaques and brass fittings with the liners name on and any interior signing bearing the name Olympic or Titanic. Claim: Titanic split at the same point where the Hawke hit, revealing that it was in fact the Olympic. Updates? Thomas Newman, Per l'obra Skyfall (2013) Steven Price, Per l'obra Gravity (2014) Alexandre Desplat, Per l'obra The Grand Budapest Hotel (2015) El BAFTA a la millor msica s un premi que atorga la BAFTA ( British Academy of Film and Television Arts) en una cerimnia anual, en reconeixement a la millor banda sonora . Mr Reginald Fenton Butler was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England over the summer months of 1886. 20. Lack of publicity for Titanic I have contacted Steve Hall directly (November 2018) to clarify this and there are 4 important points to be considered: 1. Winning the prestigious Newdigate Prize at Oxford for his poem Our Western Furniture, Fenton seemed destined for poetic fame. Corrections? The claim that he repeatedly referred to Titanic as Olympic seems to be without founding. 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. Secondly, and rather importantly, the names were not engraved on the lifeboats. He was awarded the Queens Gold Medal for Poetry in 2007 and won the PEN Pinter Prize in 2015. 38. 3. "It was a somewhat quiet affair.". Order. - Yes. Olympic had a 2 degree list to port, as did Titanic Gardiner of course claims that all documentary records indicating otherwise were falsified in order to perpetuate the insurance fraud which was about to take place. Paddy also said Olympic had a 2 degree list to port, as did Titanic 5. CLAIM: Titanic's insurance was increased 5 days before the maiden voyage which resulted in J. P. Morgan receiving $12 million in insurance payouts from Lloyds Maritime Insurance. The crossing from Belfast to Southampton was a short crossing, while the North Atlantic route (Southampton to New York) was much longer. I think it is impossible that the Olympics keel was damaged in the collision, as Robin Gardiner speculates in his 1998 book Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank? According to the documentary "Titanic Breaking New Ground", James Cameron sends a robot submarine into the sitting room of the promenade suite on B deck and films not go to sea as Titanic with Olympic written on the bells. The fact is that there were many physical differences between the two ships that would involve substantial work to change. The lifeboat was wrecked in a collision with the Gosport Ferry at Portsmouth and taken by the Royal Navy to Haslar for demolition. (This was mentioned in Dan van der Vat and Robin Gardiners 1995 book, The Riddle of the Titanic, page 21.) There are two key issues with this story. White paint on the wreck It was written in response to an article By that time Olympic was at Belfast and underwent a major refit which also included new davits and new lifeboats which were larger than the previous lifeboats.". the newspaper Northern Star that was published on the 31 July 1996. The Turkish bath spaces were different. They were only just entering the icefield. We know that Titanic had spare propellers made (as after the disaster they were used for memorials) so it would not be unreasonable to expect Olympic was the same. Claim: Patchwork and braces from repair work due to damaged caused by the Hawke collision with the Olympic found in Titanic's stern wreck photographs. This claim is of course connected to the previous claim that the ship hit, instead of an iceberg, an IMM rescue ship that was drifting with its lights out. Mark Chirnside writes regarding the bell in his dissertation: "The absence of a name on this bell does not prove that the ship was LET'S SEE THE "EXPERTS" DEBUNK THIS ONE." Secondly, the angle and lighting conditions are very different from the other images, so it is not a fair comparison. Stick to the path. In 33 von 66 Fllen wurde der Preistrger spter mit einem Oscar ausgezeichnet, zuletzt 2022 geschehen, mit der Preisvergabe . However the way in which it is painted to look part of a conspiracy theory Claim: The ship was going full steam, but was achieving only 21 knots, rather than its theoretical maximum of 23, despite the Atlantic being exceptionally calm on the night of the sinking. Olympic's name is on the wreck Ballard has nothing to gain from keeping it a secret - it would be huge publicity for him. Act explaining that if they told of the real reason for the sinking, or the As will be discussed here, those that are not inaccurate, ill-researched, dubious or simply fabricated actually have very simple and logical explanations: 1. Author Steve Hall: "The problem with that doco is it's 13 years old Of course it's Titanic.". exploded and caused the fatal damage. Ice on the deck was not from an iceberg Excerpt from the documentary "Titanic Breaking New Ground" when director James Cameron explores B-52 during his 1995 dive. Hence post-Titanic-sinking images of Olympic also have this 16 porthole configuration. The Titanic's design used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and the ship was popularly believed to be . 12 was lowered a French man jumped in from B Deck. This claim is often mentioned alongside the above claim about the apparent discrepancy in the number of portholes on Titanic's port side bow. In 1910, IMMs net profit was a mighty $4,849,580, The reality is that the Californian's cargo manifest does not exist. - Able Bodied Seaman Thomas Jones testified before the US Inquiry (Day 7), that he went on deck and could see some ice. in the Government. ", The evolution of Titanic's port side portholes -from May 1911 when she was launched with 14, to April 1912 when she had 16. Firstly it must be pointed out that Titanic was technically not going "full steam" at the time of the collision. - Able Bodied Seaman Edward John Buley also reported a couple of tons of block ice (British Inquiry (Day 16). However both RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic had their names riveted oncovering something up perhaps? 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. 4. Titanic being towed out to her sea trials. 30. Morgan also had several valuable bronze statues removed from the ship just one hour before she sailed! The answer to this is very simple: The name during her building and her sailing are in partly different positions because in the first construction image it was written over on the negative. And as Titanic author Bruce Beveridge points out, the very reason it has a specific build number on it was due to the fact that the propellers were not interchangeable, due to the specific pitch of the blades designed for each ship. (for more information see here). After a million men had walked out for 37 days the government intervened and ended the strike by passing a minimum wage law. 22. Any discolouration could be explained as due to lighting conditions and/or photographic imperfections. Most agree that the Titanic split just forward of the third funnel. Hence it is Olympic, not Titanic. 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. 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. The full speed of the ship is 78 revolutions. At present I have found no evidence of a room named "The Olympic Room" on Titanic, however it would not be surprising. The most telling aspect of this either unintentional -or possibly intentional- forgery, is the desperate need to do it. Or is the answer because there is nothing there anyway? First and foremost there is no documented evidence to verify it. seemingly confuses the two in name. Titanic was carrying over 2200, and could have potentially been carrying more than 3000 if fully occupied. by Burgess alone, with no collaboration from other eyewitnesses. Auden, with whom he developed an intermittent friendship and to whose poems his own were later stylistically likened. 4. This image allegedly shows 'hull plating from the wreck showing white and light grey paint showing through the black top coat'. 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. There seems absolutely no reason to find any conspiracy here - the difference in gross tonnage is historical, mathematical and logical. Californian was not expecting rockets, but a rendezvous This particular picture was a fake and I have an email from the producer of the film confirming this. About This Item. Why would it be there? As in the previous points, we know that damage to the Olympic did not include a 'warped keel'. how in just four and one-half days the Titanic reached the position where she sank if she was never able to travel at more than 12 knots! Then there's the furniture: so heavy you could hardly lift it. Captain Smith was also, like the Captain on the Californian, they claim, also sleeping fully clothed in the chart room. 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. 3. The story come from Frank Finch, a retired seaman living in New South Wales, Australia, who wrote a letter to So conclusively, with no 'expert' opinion required, the Olympic's damage does not match this so called 'proof.' by passengers and crew familiar with the Olympic? And the Olympic is actually the Titanic. But they were cut short for several good reasons. James Fenton, in full James Martin Fenton, (born April 25, 1949, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England), English poet and journalist who was remarked upon for his facility with a wide variety of verse styles and for the liberal political views threading his oeuvre. Steve Hall and Bruce Beveridge investigated this account in their book 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). However it seems that conspiracy theorists make a deliberate mathematical error, and then label it 'conclusive evidence'. 42. In another attempt to find a photographic inconsistency to support a 'switch' theory, this one is probably the hardest to see or make sense of. The difference in windows on B-deck between the time of her launch and her maiden voyage is explained by one of the key differences between the two ships: He wrote most of them when. Some go as far as to state that 'Lloyd's paid out $12,500,000'. For more information on the conspiracy theory that J.P. Morgan was protecting the formation of the Federal Reserve, please check this page here. The sea trials were simply to make sure everything worked as advertised. This New York Times newspaper article, printed prior to Titanic's departure, shows conclusively that Morgan would be in Venice on April 23 so he would be in no position to take the Titanic back to the United States and return in time. Take a look at the two photographs and compare for yourself. 3. Far from the wisdom of the brain. Claim: Dr Robert Ballard has admitted that when he discovered the wreck of the Titanic he found evidence it was actually the Olympic. but would have perhaps slowed the rate of sinking. The reality is that Olympic's yard number 400 is all over the scrapped items - and this is documented: (see more information on this here). But according to Titanic researcher Ioannis Georgiou "none of Titanic's boats were reused by the White Star Line. between eighty and ninety feet.". Cross-checking with Encyclopedia Titanica website, which has extensive passenger and crew lists, the number of crew aboard the Carpathia exceeded 300 (it lists 307, but it is not necessarily a complete list). Since they both essentially had the same dimensions, the difference is simply due to revised interior configurations Quite simply, while the photograph of the wreck is correct, the image of the "actual Titanic" is not - it is of the Olympic. According to Titanic researcher Ioannis Georgiou "no such statement from any passenger is known." Nor does it prove Gardiners speculation that the name had been ground 3 additional double-ended boilers were lit up about 8 a.m. (although they take 12 hours before they are put online) and he was sure that the ships five auxiliary He claimed also that the crew had been ordered to sign the official secrets act. Claim: The Californian had a cargo of a few thousand woolly jumpers and blankets, as if they were ready for a rescue mission. Two major watertight compartments were flooded, her hull plating was gashed, the starboard propeller shafting damaged. If a number of people had cancelled because of some sort of fear of a switch or insurance scam going on, it seems very likely that they would have spoken out after the disaster. performance, only two miles shy of Olympics best ever maiden voyage daily run, and she did that with only 21 But for arguments sake let's take the larger of the two - the certified capacity number of both passengers and crew. A man named James A. Fenton who was a construction worker for the construction of the Titanic said they were switched. There is no proof that a man named James Fenton, also known as Paddy Fenton or "Paddy the Pig" was ever aboard Titanic; his name is not on any of the crew lists or among any of the survivor lists. Where is the photograph? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 45,324. it is difficult to examine the evidence (if there is any) but needless to say it does sound like hearsay and an attempt to offset TITANIC SAILOR'S DEATHBED CONFESSION OF 'SWITCH' In 1912 Paddy claimed that he was a 22-year- old ordinary seaman aboard Titanic. While there is some slight confusion over which ship he is referring to "coming from Belfast to Southampton" there is certainly no evidence here of trying to conceal the identity of the two ships. Not to mention that the name Titanic was first filmed on the wreck in 1987 and it certainly does not look Dr Robert Ballard admitted it was the Olympic But unsurprisingly in 2019 a new 'meme' appeared on the internet claiming to show evidence from the wreck site that repair work done to Olympic caused by the Hawke collision can be seen in wreck photographs, captioned with "YOU NEED PROOF? Titanic, although only just superceding her sister in size, was no longer big news and so the public and media were not as interested in her maiden voyage as that of her sister. This is where it landed, just on that forewell deck. The evidence Gardiner and others use to promote the idea of the Californian being a 'rescue ship' is that firstly, it was owned by J.P. Morgan (a "major figure at White Star"), left London in a hurry (as it could only do 12 knots and had to get there first) and was mysteriously sailing during a coal strike (when coal would have been more expensive) . Toggle navigation. The wind blows through his silver hair. Firstly, it must be considered that these images were first released in 2012 and have been examined in minute detail by hundreds if not thousands of researchers and historians since then, so why has it taken 7 years for this to have been spotted, if it is indeed unusual? Damage to the Olympic due to its collision with HMS Hawke. Claim: Olympic was fitted with Titanics propeller. If not, it is a moot point. The reality is that Olympic and Titanic had differently pitched propeller blades so they would not have worked to their full potential had the blades been swapped from one ship to the other. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. If not insurance, a switch would keep the company operational According to a Mirror article about Southampton entitled "The City That Lost a Generation to the Titanic Disaster" (March 24, 2012) "17,000 men were without work that April" due to the coal strike. It is the Olympic, not Titanic. Deck plans 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! previous 1 2 3 next sort by previous 1 2 3 next * Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. distribution for 1910 being 30 percent after depreciation. Titanic's speed was investigated by Mark Chirnside and Samuel Halpern in their article entitled "Speed and More Speed" from which the following information is taken. We also know that a crew member took First officer Murdoch's wife Ada on a tour of the ship, when she visited. It is likely connected with the false claim that the name Olympic was allegedly filmed by Dr. Ballard during his 1986 dive to the wreck -proven to be false in point no.38 here. We have been told by the look-out people that there were binoculars on the Olympic? their attention to it, and they all watched it disappear, but had then at once resumed 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. Cameron's expedition showed it matched Titanic." Fenton, F. -Saloon steward Ferrary, Auto -Trimmer Ferris, W. -Leading fireman . If he had indeed mentioned it at a presentation why did it not become substantial news at the time? Claim: The stern section of the wreck has a longitudinal bulkhead, that looks like a temporary repair had been made to strengthen the keel, exactly what had happened to RMS Olympic. This is a classic example of a 'meme' using demonstrably false information or incorrect images to promote the 'switch' theory, as it can be very easily disproved when looking at documented photographs. There were no plates or anything that could be swapped over- the name was literally engraved into the ship, then filled in with paint. The fireplace filmed in 1995 and which partly was shown in the "Titanic" movie at the beginning were actually the fireplace of sitting room B 51 which was occupied by Mrs. Cardeza and her son. And those occasions he returned early were in June - never as early as April. It seems those intent on proving a 'switch' have mistaken the missing bridge enclosure, the rectangular gap in the forward bulwark (painted white) for the wheelhouse. Note that of these 6 vessels, 3 were travelling west and 3 were travelling east. name on it. 1 2. Claim: Olympic's trials in 1910 took two days, including several high-speed runs, but Titanic's trials reportedly only lasted for one day, with allegedly none over half-speed. It is, however, agreed that crew returning to England were under instructions to give evidence at the Board of Trade Inquiry and not to talk to the media beforehand. other images of Olympic and Titanic, this post-disaster image has the anchors stowed, thus obscuring this area of interest. Was this to hide 12 months worth of scratches and marks on the linoleum's surface? If not insurance, a switch would keep the company operational, 12. James Fenton was born in Lincoln in 1949 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford where he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. Quite simply Titanic was underinsured, the main reason being that the White Star Line actually insured its own ships. They would only be interested in shorter crossings. Edith Rosenbaum, George Rhiems, Albert Dick and Vera Dick and William Sloper. 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. It involves 3 photographs. 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. According to Gardiner, the original plan to pull off the sinking after the switch was to slowly flood the ship by opening the seacocks. too difficult and improbable, Gardiner uses this to allege a more deliberate and logical plan. On the panels the number 400 is stencilled, but on the frames the number 401 is clearly visible. The bulkheads were not actually sealed at the top, this oversight allowed water to flow over, filling each compartment, one at a time. 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. 'The Olympic Room' 8. Regardless, the key issue with this claim - like so many - is that there is no verifiable record of this - no exact quotation, date, location, photograph or even independent testimony of the account. Sorry, no evidence of conspiracy here, just a touched up photograph. 37. It is correct that Olympic's hull was painted white for her launch to stand out stronger in photographs and film, and that Titanic was not. Titanic advertising used photographs and artwork of the Olympic. The number 401 on Olympic woodwork As far as I am Damage from Olympic 's collision with Hawke was more significant 3.