![]() “Every scrap of paneling, which took months to install in each of those two ships, would have had to have been taken off both ships and switched in just a couple of days, which makes no sense,” Layton said. Multiple artifacts bearing the number 401 have been raised from Titanic and items auctioned off after the Olympic was retired in 1935 feature the number 400. It is well documented that the Olympic’s yard number was 400, while the Titanic’s was 401. Each had a distinct construction identification number, also known as a yard number, that appeared on many of their parts, including their wood paneling. One key piece of evidence can be found in the construction of the ships. Kent Layton, who has published multiple books about the Titanic. “There’s a mountain of evidence against this switch conspiracy,” said J. A memory trick: The words port and left both have four letters.But maritime historians told The Associated Press that switching the RMS Titanic and the RMS Olympic would not have been possible. Different names were chosen for right and left to avoid confusion because when you turn around aboard ship, the left is on the right and vice versa. Sailors refer to the right and left sides of a ship as starboard and port, respectively. The White Star Line intentionally sinking Olympic would be impressive, but when you take a closer look, it’s clear that this would have been nearly impossible. There are myriad conspiracy theories surrounding the sinking of Titanic, but when considering such theories, it’s important to fact-check. So, if The White Star Line sank Olympic, but masqueraded it as Titanic, the insurance money the White Star Line allegedly would have received wouldn’t have covered Olympic. And, Titanic was insured for less than the value for which Olympic was insured. It was worth $7.5 million (in 1912 dollars), but insured for only $5 million. When wreckage belonging to the ship itself was pulled from the water, it was properly labeled 401.īut-most importantly-Titanic was underinsured. Second, Titanic’s construction number was 401, and Olympic’s was 400. So, even if the ship sank slower, how would everybody evacuate without the promise of another ship coming to their rescue? There were roughly 2,200 passengers aboard the ship. There was a total of 20 lifeboats aboard the Titanic-designed to accommodate about 1,200 passengers. The first hole in this conspiracy is the plan for everyone to evacuate the ship. The actual Titanic, is said to have sailed under the Olympic name until 1935 when it was retired. Nobody was supposed to die as result of the sinking-it was supposed to sink slowly enough that everyone could evacuate in time. The conspiracy theorists suggest that the ship’s crew were supposed to sink the damaged Olympic during the voyage, so that the White Star Line would be able to collect the insurance money. Īccording to the unlikely conspiracy, since the damage to Olympic was extensive and expensive to repair, the owner of both ships-the White Star Line-swapped the two vessels, so Olympic masqueraded as Titanic during its maiden voyage in 1912. During this voyage, the Olympic became damaged on the rear, starboard side. While the Titanic was still dry-docked and under construction, its sister ship-the Olympic-was sailing from Southampton, England, to New York City in September 1911. ![]() Titanic-thought to be unsinkable-struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912-109 years ago.īut, have you heard the insurance-fraud conspiracy theory related to the sinking that some people have been known to believe? While there are plenty of holes (pun intended) in this conspiracy, it’s a fascinating tale. We know what really happened on this day in history: the R.M.S. ![]()
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