Posted by Star Mariner
(here)
I am a self-confessed conspiracy theorist. I enjoy the challenge of analysing each and every possible angle to get at the truth. Or at least a hypothesis of the most likely truth. I think it’s important to go in with an open mind, but leaning on the slightly sceptical side, I think that’s important.
This topic has appeared a few times, and for me, after having read the books, heard the interviews, watched the documentaries, etc, I still believe in my original conclusion, that a switch did NOT take place, and the ship that sank really was
Titanic. I’m not saying that this conclusion is ultimately correct, because as with any historical conspiracy, the only way to be absolutely certain is to literally travel back in time and see for yourself. If only! But all we have is present day evidence to work with, and in this case it is actually not at all scarce. There’s a lot of it, and it all points to
Titanic really being
Titanic.
I think the thing that finally killed the theory for me, once and for all, was
Titanic's serial number of 401 being found
stamped (engraved permanently into the metal, and not riveted on) into the wreck in numerous places, on the outside of the hull, and under the water line, and even into the deep internal workings of the ship, such as on gear shaft. These have been found, and photographed. They read
401, a number unique to
Titanic. For any switch to occur, the amount of work required is unbelievable, bordering on virtually impossible to achieve, except for somebody insane, and with bottomless pockets.
There's a ton, ton, ton of evidence to plainly illustrate that such a switch did not and could not have occurred. A simple example might be Titanic's wheelhouse, which was flat, and significantly different to
Olympic's round wheelhouse (pictured). That would not be an easy 'switch'.
The insurance scam, which pretty much holds the whole theory up, has also
been disproved. It turns out
Titanic was in fact grossly undervalued.
Here's a list of just a few differences between the
Olympic and her sister ship, mostly internal, and cosmetic, which would all have to be addressed, changed, and swapped out. It would involve major refitting, with many suites, parlours and internal spaces being extensively altered and re-designed, re-painted, and re-carpeted, all taking a very long time to do, and at a huge cost, whilst holding to complete silence (forever) the Harlond and Wolfe workers (15,000 of them) consigned to do this work.
1. Forward half of the 1st class A-deck promenade on Titanic was enclosed with retractable glass screens; the Olympic's promenade was open all the way along.
2. The front of the wheelhouse in Olympic's bridge was curved, but on Titanic its flat.
3. The bridge wings (forward) and the aft docking bridge (stern) on Titanic extended over the ship's side by a couple of feet. On the Olympic, they were flush with the ship's side (prior to 1912/13 refit).
4. The 2nd class promenade area on the Olympic ran for the last quarter of "B deck", but on the Titanic it was truncated to extend the 1st class restaurant out to the port side, and on the starboard side, the cafe parisien was included.
5. B deck was also drastically different on both ships - Olympic had a first class promenade whereas Titanic had two private verandahs and suites that were plush with the sides of the superstructure.
6. The reworked accommodations on B and C Decks, dramatically altered the number and arrangement of the windows and portholes on both decks.
7. Titanic had an extended enclosure aft on C Deck.
8. Titanic had a different arrangement of ventilators, fans, piping and machinery on the Boat Deck.
9. Titanic had carpetting and floor tiles that were different in colour.
10. Titanic had Turkish Bath area on the starboard side of F deck that was different in layout.
11. Titanic's officers quarters were different, with the officers Deck House pushed out more on Titanic than Olympic.
12. On Olympic, the wireless cabin had an outside window, but this was changed on Titanic to allow more seaward facing cabins to be included.
13. On Olympic,the wireless room was on the port side of the officers deck house While on Titanic it was situated amidships.
14. The porthole on the D deck gangway doors was round on the Olympic; on the Titanic it consisted of two vertical rectangular windows.
15. The propellers on the two ships had different pitches and were therefore not interchangeable.
16. The reception room on Saloon Deck "D" was larger on Titanic than Olympic; Titanic had more columns than Olympic.
17. Titanic was 4 inches longer than Olympic.
18. Olympic's bridge roof was painted white while Titanic's was bare planking (or possibly painted gray).
19. The top of Olympic's breakwater was painted brown while Titanic's was white.
20. Olympic's outdoor forward stairs had covers while Titanic's did not
21. The porthole arrangements on Shelter Deck "C" between the two ships were different.
22. The lounge furniture on both ships had their ships own names on them.
23. Modifications would result in Titanic having 1,004 gross tons(or 100,400 cubic feet) more enclosed space than the Olympic.
24. The paintings in Titanic's smoke room was "Approach to Plymouth Harbour" while on Olympic Was "Approach to the New World."
25. Titanic had additional cabins on the Promenade Deck "A" around the aft staircase.
26. Olympic had open third class berths, Titanic did not
27. Another reception room was added to Titanic's Bridge Deck "B" next to the A la Ca rte restaurant.
28. Different air vent arrangement around the funnels
29. The steel plating arrangement on the two ships was noticeably different,
especially around the bow plating around the anchor; two plate-edges were welded together on Titanic, but left unwelded on the Olympic.
30. The iron gates of the three elevators were different on Titanic wreck than photos which show them on Olympic.)
In addition to keeping silent the thousands of workers (impossible), the Captain, the deck officers, and the huge crew would also have to be ‘in on it’. This is long before the days of ‘compartmentalization’ remember, by which official secrets are nowadays kept in check. Let us not forget the passengers either...many of whom (in 1st class at least) were regular Atlantic travellers, and would have voyaged on both vessels (the
Olympic having entered service in 1911, and in that first year alone carried 17,000 passengers). A switch of this kind, on this scale, would not only be immensely difficult to pull off, but be a tremendous risk, unless
everyone was ‘in on it’. Not possible. In addition to this damning point, the
Olympic continued to sail well into the late 1930s, carrying hundreds of thousands. There is not a hint of gossip, rumour, or speculation on this ‘conspiracy theory’ from that time. There is no mention at all of the
Olympic being possibly something other than the
Olympic. The switch theory is entirely a latter day theory (invention).
Many also seem to overlook another quite obvious flaw to the theory. The herculean effort (and cost) to make the
Olympic look like the
Titanic, doesn't take into account the same herculean effort and cost, at the very same time, to make the
Titanic look like the
Olympic.
All in all, nothing about the ‘switch’ reads as even slightly plausible. When the physical evidence is taken into consideration next to a non-existent insurance scam (the reason for a switch in the first place) it does not at all stack up.
(Source). In fact, everything from here falls apart.
I’ve never seen any conclusive evidence to suggest that Guggenheim, Strauss, and Astor were opposed to the Federal Reserve. It’s possible, of course, but I find it hard to believe that Ismay would’ve been against it as well, and he was a passenger too, and only pure luck saved him.
****
Regarding ‘The Wreck of The Titan’... yes, that is interesting. I always believed the comparisons were more than merely coincidental. A prophetic vision? Quite possibly.
The Wreck of the TITAN!
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