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What Did Divers Discover When They Found the Wreck of Titanic?

The RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Titanic, the largest ocean liner in service, was carrying an estimated 2,224 passengers when she collided with an iceberg at around on Sunday, 14 April 1912. But did you know what divers discovered when they found the wreck of the Titanic?

Divers at the Titanic wreck discovered, in 1986, that there was no large gash in the hull, as had been expected. Instead, the iceberg is thought to have loosened or buckled seams in the hull of the “unsinkable” ship.

Was the Iceberg the Culprit in the Titanic’s Sinking? 

The iceberg ripped a 300-foot gash in the ship’s side. This fact was popular in the press and is one of Titanic’s most enduring myths. The iceberg caused intermittent damage in five significant locations, breaching six of the Titanic’s watertight compartments.

Based on damage reports and the rate and volume of water entering the breaches, Edward Wilding, one of Titanic’s designers, estimated at the inquiry that the iceberg punctured the Titanic’s hull in five main areas, with the total area of this damage being greatest about 12 square feet, at intervals along Titanic’s hull from her Forepeek Tank to as far back as Boiler Room number 4. (Source: Tim Maltin

What were the Conspiracy Theories Behind the Titanic’s Tragedy?

J.P. Morgan or John Pierpont Morgan orchestrated the disaster to assassinate his rivals. This theory holds that millionaire banker J.P. Morgan orchestrated the Titanic disaster to assassinate rival millionaires Jacob Astor, Isidor Straus, and Benjamin Guggenheim, all of whom perished on board.

The theory is based on Morgan’s decision to change his mind about sailing on the Titanic shortly before it set sail. However, it does not explain how he caused the ship to collide with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 people, let alone the three men he allegedly intended to kill.

The Titanic never sank. People seem to enjoy a good insurance fraud story, so it’s not surprising that this is one of Titanic’s most popular conspiracy theories. This theory holds that the Titanic was replaced by another White Star Line ship, the RMS Olympic.

It just doesn’t make any sense.

Paul Burns, Vice President and Curator of Titanic Museum Attractions

This theory begins with the Olympic being damaged while sailing from Southampton, England, to New York in September 1911 and returning to Harland and Wolff’s shipping yard in Belfast for repairs.

According to the conspiracy theory, someone or people decided that the Olympic was too badly damaged to be profitable, so they switched it with the Titanic at some point to intentionally ditch the damaged ship, reap the insurance money, and, it appears, kill a bunch of people in the process.

This theory has numerous flaws, but one of the most significant is that the Titanic’s insurance was insufficient to cover the Olympic’s loss. 

The switch conspiracy founders, quite literally, on its financial merits alone.

J. Kent Layton in Conspiracies at Sea. 

(Source: History

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