Conspiracy Corner: The Titanic

Conspiracy+Corner%3A+The+Titanic

Azrael Woody, Staff Writer

As the last flair is shot a red streak runs through the thick, cold air. Screams of mothers, men, children, and even animals are heard echoing against the iced waters. A large crack sounds through the crisp air as the ship slowly snaps in half, killing hundreds with it. As the ship crumbles apart the screams become louder. The ship pieces sink slowly down to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.

On the day of April 15th, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. Now there are many different museums who host the history of the Titanic, but there are some that also host the theories. Instead the stories that have been told go over what has been confirmed. The Titanic had many theories about what could have actually happened on the day the Titanic set off.

On the day of the Titanic’s departure, there was a last minute switch. David Blair, the key holder for the binoculars and an officer on the Titanic, resigned to another ship last minute. In his act of taking his resignation he had also taken the key with him. This in turn left the binoculars locked away instead of in the crow’s nest. If David had still been on the ship before the crash the access to the binoculars would have still been available. Due to the locked away binoculars the captain and his crew were not able to see the iceberg up ahead. With the binoculars the crew would have been able to see the iceberg ahead, but because there was no access to them the opposite happened. The binoculars would have been one of the keys to the Titanic’s complete voyage. This is only the start of many theories.

While the ship was sailing for days, there was a coal fire burning in the hull of the ship. There is a theory that the coal fire was the original reason for the Titanic’s sinking. The crew couldn’t stop the fire. In the exact spot where the iceberg had hit was the area the coal fires were burning. The metal from the ship was specially made to resist any hits from objects. Although the metal was strong it did have one weakness: with fire. When fire comes in contact with the metal it weakens. Since the iceberg hit exactly where the weakened metal was, the ship was vulnerable. But, if the iceberg had hit anywhere else on the ship then it would have never sank. The metal was powerful and strong enough to resist hits such as an iceberg. If the iceberg had hit any other spot on the ship, including head on, it would not have sunk. This leads on to the next theory.

Even though the ship had a fire continuously going on in the hull the captain had kept sailing. The captain’s name was Captain Edward Smith RD RNR. Many of the captain’s competitors were believed to have been on that ship. The captain was said to have known that they were on the ship. It is known that he, the captain, had gone down along with the ship. Yes, it is questionable as to why he would commit suicide, but it is also an important part of the theory. Did the captain commit suicide to kill his competitors, or was it all just a coincidence? There is a theory that his intentions could have been to murder his competitors. The Titanic has always been labeled as an accident, but what was truly the cause of Titanic’s descent.

Now, the captain had gone down with the ship. But if you think about it, why would he let the Titanic sink? The Titanic had a twin, the RMS Olympic, that had been taken out of service on April 12th, 1935. The two ships looked identical. So the theory is, the captain could have switched out the ships so that the original Titanic never went on that deadly voyage. If you think about it a captain would never purposely sink their ship, but they would sink someone else’s if that person wasn’t of importance to them. The ships were identical in looks, and in functions. One reason this theory is suspected is because if you pay close attention to the windows on both the Titanic and the Olympic before they set off you can see there is a width size difference. Images of the Olympic and Titanic before consideration of setting off prove to show that the Titanic had wide windows while the Olympic had Thin windows. In images before they set off it is shown that instead the Titanic then had thin windows while the Olympic had thin. These ships could have been very well switched in order to keep the RMS Titanic from going on the soon to be murderous voyage.

Aside form the theories of whether the Titanic was a murder story instead of a freak accident, the Titanic has many museums to visit. This includes the one in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This specific museum is called the Titanic Museum Attraction. They have affordable admission prices; along with this they teach you more about The Titanic. It is a great learning experience, and maybe they will even teach you about their own theories.