The Titanic, still probably the most famous shipwreck ever, set a record for being the longest and one of the largest cruise ships to sink. And while the world is still fascinated by the incredible story of the unsinkable liner, new information about the event keeps surfacing – with some researchers now questioning the veracity of the iconic shipwreck tale.
The myth of the unsinkable Titanic was perpetuated in James Cameron’s 1997 movie, which was based on Walter Lord’s account of the sinking in his book, The Night Lives Of The People Who Worked On The Titanic. The tale of the Titanic is certainly amazing; after selling thousands of tickets to view the ship sink, the desperate passengers and crew were forced to put their lives at risk in order to make it to New York alive. It’s one of the most epic stories of survival imaginable, and it inspired a generation of followers – myself included.
Yet, as fascinating as the Titanic story is, there are many details surrounding the sinking that still remain a mystery. Did the iceberg really cause the shipwreck? Was there an actual body of water, or was it just a clever marketing ploy by the White Star Line to garner more interest in their fleet? Even now, a century after the disaster, we’re still not sure if the water was ever, truly,
“unstoppable” or “frozen” at the time of the crash. Was there radio contact during the ordeal? Did the crew and passengers wear life vests? Did some of them escape the ship before it sank? These are just some of the questions that have plagued the minds of Titanic enthusiasts for the past century – with many conspiracy theorists even believing that the crash was actually an inside job carried out by the White Star Line).
The wreck of the Titanic was recently the subject of a popular podcast, What Happened To The Titanic? which covered the many mysteries still surrounding the iconic shipwreck. One of the main theories posited by the podcasters is that the body of water that damaged the Titanic originally belonged to another vessel.
“There are some who believe that the ship did not sink in the ocean, but was, instead, deliberately wrecked by someone on board,” host John Curran said in the podcast’s introductory episode. “This person or persons may have thought they could make a lucrative claim to this amazing story by passing it off as an accident. And we, at least, have four verified crashes in the twentieth century that support this theory.”
These are just some of the intriguing theories surrounding the Titanic; if you want to read more, the podcast’s transcripts are available for free from What Happened To The Titanic?‘s website. Alternatively, you can listen to What Happened To The Titanic? on iTunes or Google Play – just search for “Titanic” and “What Happened?”.
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New Information About The Titanic
While Walter Lord’s 1997 book about the Titanic was hailed as the definitive account of the legendary shipwreck, many details about the vessel were still obscure – especially concerning the nature of the water that flooded the ship and caused its ultimate demise. Since then, new information has continually emerged, changing our understanding of the Titanic and the events surrounding its tragic end.
It’s now known, for instance, that the body of water that flooded the Titanic was not, in fact, saltwater. According to a 2015 paper published in the Marine Invertebrate Paleontology journal, a portion of the ocean that covers the present-day North Atlantic was once under five to ten meters of freshwater. This was, in part, due to an Ice Age that began around 12,000 years ago and continued for thousands of years.
During the last glacial period, sea levels were significantly lower than they are today – which means that much of the coastline of the Northeastern United States, including New York and Boston, was actually dry. The only bodies of water that existed were fresh-water lakes, and the climate was much colder, too. As a result, the crew and passengers of the Titanic were actually traveling over land – completely unaware of the oncoming ice wall that would eventually claim their ship.
This is interesting, of course, because it means that the water that damaged the Titanic did not come from an iceberg as originally thought. It also complicates our understanding of what happened that fateful night in April – altering, in some ways, the iconic image of the great shipwreck.
The Truth About Life Vests
The Titanic came equipped with rudimentary personal flotation devices (PFDs) for the crew and passengers. Yet, it’s now known that this was not enough – especially since many of the ships that sank prior to the Titanic had much better-equipped life vests. While it’s not exactly known how many people died because of the lack of sufficient PFDs, it’s clear that many more could have survived if they’d used life vests.
The crew and passengers of the Titanic had, at the very least, fifty-two life vests aboard – yet, several sources estimate that only twenty-three of those survived the shipwreck. This underscores the importance of wearing a life jacket, even to this day. While you may think that safety equipment such as life vests is a thing of the past, the 2017 edition of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) Annual International Awards recognized Helvetica as Graphic Designer of the Year for designing a swimwear collection that incorporated safety gear into a trendy fashion piece.
Did Some Of The Crew And Passengers Escape The Ship Before It Sank?
It’s now known that a small number of the crew and passengers aboard the Titanic did, in fact, escape the doomed ship before it sank. The exact number is still uncertain, but it’s estimated that anywhere from sixteen to sixty-three people may have managed to get off before the ship went down. Interestingly, several of these people were high-ranking officers assigned to protect the ship’s millionaires from any accidents or injuries that may have occurred during the cruise. One such officer was Harold Lowe, the Assistant Purser – a member of the crew who took charge of the ship’s evacuation and ensured that everyone got off safely.
Harold Lowe was lauded for his bravery in the face of certain death, receiving a memorial service at the White House following his death in 1949. Several other members of the crew and passengers who survived the wreck were also honored – including Billy Bullock, who was awarded the Carnegie Medal for his role in the evacuation.
It’s now also known that some of the passengers aboard the Titanic had collected bags of cash before the ship set sail from England. These individuals may have escaped the sinking ship and abandoned the money – some even using it to pay off debts. While the amount of money that was on board the Titanic is uncertain, it’s believed to be in the region of £500,000 – $1 million ($1.79 million today).
Many rumors and urban legends surround the famous wreck of the Titanic, with some even suggesting that the body of water that caused the shipwreck didn’t, in fact, belong to the ocean at all. New information continues to emerge about the tragic shipwreck as more than a century has passed – changing our understanding of what exactly happened on that fateful April night in 1912. With more than a dozen verified incidents of maritime accidents in the twentieth century where ships collided with underwater objects, some researchers suggest that the real cause of the Titanic’s ill fated voyage may have been an alien attack, as well as the murder of American businessman, Jack Phillips.