voyageur said:Is it not always the same? Twin Towers, Building 7, Titanic (Olympic) - destruction and sinking, great loss of human lives and of course Insurance payments, theft and other reasons like preludes to wars.
Maat said:If it's true, did they get their inspiration for the wreckage in the book of Morgan Robertson ??
joecombs said:Another so-called issue should be visited with the full facts — the so-called different number of portholes on port side (white painted) forecastle.
Both liners had 14 when launched. Olympic by the time of her trials sported 16, and Titanic had 16 from soon after being launched. On starboard side it seems the original number, 15, went unchanged on both ships.
Problem #1: The Titanic's H&W yard number (the project number assigned to her by her builders) was "401"; much like a car's VIN, it was deeply stamped into many of her key components - including her propellers. Olympic was hull #400. The starboard wing propeller has been photographed on numerous dives to the wreck, and clearly has a "401" etched into its brass. My question for you is: If White Star's plan was to sink the Olympic in mid-ocean, where no investigator could see the yard number, why would they bother to switch propellers (and the other items found on the wreck bearing the "401" yard number)?
Problem #2: Obviously, all 14,000 Ulstermen working on fitting-out the Titanic were not in on the conspiracy; otherwise, there's no way the secret could've been kept longer than a week! So the majority of the workers knew nothing of the scheme. However, if you concede this, then answer this question: Why is it that not one of the 14,000 workers thought it odd that the ship they had been working on before the weekend had been moved - during the weekend - to where the Olympic had been parked for her repairs, and the Olympic had been moved to where the Titanic had been fitting out? The only way this could have been avoided would be if, after switching the identities of the two ships, the sisters had then physically switched places in the shipyard, so that on Monday morning the re-branded Olympic would be where the Titanic had floated before the weekend? You would also have to answer why none of the workers rushing to complete the "Titanic" for her "maiden" voyage noticed that she suddenly seemed a lot more complete - unless you wish to suggest that as part of the switch they managed to complete Titanic's fitting-out in a single weekend with a skeleton crew of workers, whilst simultaneously gutting the Olympic to make her appear incomplete.
Problem #2 in summary:
• Switch every identifying trait/item from Olympic to Titanic, and vice versa (including propellers)
• Fully complete Titanic's fitting out so she can return to service immediately as Olympic
• Gut the Olympic's interiors to appear as if she still required several weeks of fitting out
• Physically switch the two ships' positions in the shipyard so as to not confuse the workers on Monday morning
• Do all this in a single weekend
• With a fraction of the men normally assigned to the project.
Problem #3: I have made this point in every "switch theory" thread that has come along since I joined this board in the late 1990s, and have never received an answer; perhaps you'll be the first. In order to make an insurance claim, the ship must be declared a total loss. Period. End of requirement. The insurance policy did not say the ship had to be sunk in deep water, beyond sight of land while engaged in passenger trade. In the insurance business, if the cost of repairing something exceeds a given percentage of the cost of replacing it (in the case of automobiles, for example, it is 60% of the replacement value), then it is declared a total loss. My (as yet unanswered) question is this: Why go to the trouble (and risk) of staging a wreck in mid-Atlantic, with paying customers and valuable officers and crew aboard, when the same goal - total loss of the ship - could be accomplished as the ship floated, unmanned, at quayside? All it would take is a few gallons of petrol and box of matches .....
Problem #4: The story of the letters M and P beneath the fallen letters on the wreck isn't true.
Problem #5: Various portions of The Olympic have been on display since its last voyage and can be identified as the Olympic, not the Titanic.
Jerry said:Some of the main objections to this theory that I’ve come across:
Problem #3: I have made this point in every "switch theory" thread that has come along since I joined this board in the late 1990s, and have never received an answer; perhaps you'll be the first. In order to make an insurance claim, the ship must be declared a total loss. Period. End of requirement. The insurance policy did not say the ship had to be sunk in deep water, beyond sight of land while engaged in passenger trade. In the insurance business, if the cost of repairing something exceeds a given percentage of the cost of replacing it (in the case of automobiles, for example, it is 60% of the replacement value), then it is declared a total loss. My (as yet unanswered) question is this: Why go to the trouble (and risk) of staging a wreck in mid-Atlantic, with paying customers and valuable officers and crew aboard, when the same goal - total loss of the ship - could be accomplished as the ship floated, unmanned, at quayside? All it would take is a few gallons of petrol and box of matches .....
Problem #1: The Titanic's H&W yard number (the project number assigned to her by her builders) was "401"; much like a car's VIN, it was deeply stamped into many of her key components - including her propellers. Olympic was hull #400. The starboard wing propeller has been photographed on numerous dives to the wreck, and clearly has a "401" etched into its brass. My question for you is: If White Star's plan was to sink the Olympic in mid-ocean, where no investigator could see the yard number, why would they bother to switch propellers (and the other items found on the wreck bearing the "401" yard number)?
Problem #4: The story of the letters M and P beneath the fallen letters on the wreck isn't true.
thorbiorn said:The question of paying customers, officers and crew, might have been taken into account if all that was said about the California waiting for the Titanic is true. It is a bit strange that the California was loaded with sweaters and had no problem finding coal in the middle of a period with coal shortage. And why would it wait out at sea? One explanation might be that they only had to be at the harbour at such and such date and only could take their return cargo then. Therefore they stayed out at sea to save money, but does this explain all?
Some of the main objections to this theory that I’ve come across:
Problem #3: I have made this point in every "switch theory" thread that has come along since I joined this board in the late 1990s, and have never received an answer; perhaps you'll be the first. In order to make an insurance claim, the ship must be declared a total loss. Period. End of requirement. The insurance policy did not say the ship had to be sunk in deep water, beyond sight of land while engaged in passenger trade. In the insurance business, if the cost of repairing something exceeds a given percentage of the cost of replacing it (in the case of automobiles, for example, it is 60% of the replacement value), then it is declared a total loss. My (as yet unanswered) question is this: Why go to the trouble (and risk) of staging a wreck in mid-Atlantic, with paying customers and valuable officers and crew aboard, when the same goal - total loss of the ship - could be accomplished as the ship floated, unmanned, at quayside? All it would take is a few gallons of petrol and box of matches .....