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In 1908, financier J.P. Morgan planned a brand new class of luxury liners that would enable the wealthy to cross the Atlantic in opulence. The giant vessels, the 'Olympic', the 'Titanic' and the 'Britannic'.
The Olympic, the first one to be completed was involved in a serious collision with the British Navy cruiser, HMS Hawke in September 1911 after its maiden voyage and had to be 'patched-up'.
*** Strange that Olympic, the first to enter service, was never given the publicity her younger sister, the Titanic, enjoyed the following year Why would that be?
A Royal Navy inquiry into the accident found the Olympic at fault and that White Star Line's insurance was null and void. The White Star Line was out of pocket to the tune of at least £800,000 (around $90m today) for repairs and lost revenues.
However, for JP Morgan and the White Star Line, there was even worse news.
The keel of the ship was twisted and therefore damaged beyond economic repair, and that meant the scrapyard. The White Star Line would have been bankrupted, given its precarious financial situation..
According to Robin Gardner's well-documented book, 'Titanic, the Ship that Never Sank?', credible testimonies, indisputable facts and evidence, both written and photographic, suggest that the two ships were switched with a view to staging an iceberg collision or other unknown fatal event.
According to Gardner, "Almost two months after the Hawke/Olympic collision, the reconverted Titanic, now superficially identical to her sister except for the C deck portholes, quietly left Belfast for Southampton to begin a very successful 25-year career as the Olympic. Back in the builders' yard, work progressed steadily on transforming the battered hulk of the Olympic into the Titanic. The decision to dispose of the damaged vessel would already have been taken. ... Instead of replacing the damaged section of keel, longitudinal bulkheads were installed to brace it".
How significant then in the light of this statement, that when the wreck of the Titanic was first investigated by Robert Ballard and his crew after its discovery in 1987, the first explorations of the wreckage reportedly showed (completely undocumented in the ships original blueprints) iron support structures in place which appeared to be supporting and bracing the keel.
This was never satisfactorily explained either at the time or subsequently but would certainly be significant if correct and there is absolutely no reason to believe that it is not correct, as it was reported by the puzzled Ballard himself who of course at that time knew nothing (and probably still does not even now) about the alleged switching of the two ships' identities.
The Olympic, the first one to be completed was involved in a serious collision with the British Navy cruiser, HMS Hawke in September 1911 after its maiden voyage and had to be 'patched-up'.
*** Strange that Olympic, the first to enter service, was never given the publicity her younger sister, the Titanic, enjoyed the following year Why would that be?
A Royal Navy inquiry into the accident found the Olympic at fault and that White Star Line's insurance was null and void. The White Star Line was out of pocket to the tune of at least £800,000 (around $90m today) for repairs and lost revenues.
However, for JP Morgan and the White Star Line, there was even worse news.
The keel of the ship was twisted and therefore damaged beyond economic repair, and that meant the scrapyard. The White Star Line would have been bankrupted, given its precarious financial situation..
According to Robin Gardner's well-documented book, 'Titanic, the Ship that Never Sank?', credible testimonies, indisputable facts and evidence, both written and photographic, suggest that the two ships were switched with a view to staging an iceberg collision or other unknown fatal event.
According to Gardner, "Almost two months after the Hawke/Olympic collision, the reconverted Titanic, now superficially identical to her sister except for the C deck portholes, quietly left Belfast for Southampton to begin a very successful 25-year career as the Olympic. Back in the builders' yard, work progressed steadily on transforming the battered hulk of the Olympic into the Titanic. The decision to dispose of the damaged vessel would already have been taken. ... Instead of replacing the damaged section of keel, longitudinal bulkheads were installed to brace it".
How significant then in the light of this statement, that when the wreck of the Titanic was first investigated by Robert Ballard and his crew after its discovery in 1987, the first explorations of the wreckage reportedly showed (completely undocumented in the ships original blueprints) iron support structures in place which appeared to be supporting and bracing the keel.
This was never satisfactorily explained either at the time or subsequently but would certainly be significant if correct and there is absolutely no reason to believe that it is not correct, as it was reported by the puzzled Ballard himself who of course at that time knew nothing (and probably still does not even now) about the alleged switching of the two ships' identities.
