From 'the curse of a mummy' to 'it never sank': Titanic has spawned many conspiracy theories

The RMS Titanic, the biggest and most luxurious ship of its time, went down on its maiden voyage in 1912, killing about 1,500 people. Many songs have been sung about the liner that was thought to be unsinkable, many books written, and some movies made, including James Cameron’s 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic. With the ill-fated ship continuing to generate curiosity and becoming a part of popular culture, several conspiracy theories have surfaced over the years, claiming to have figured out what happened to the ocean liner. But, in the end, these conspiracy theories — some of the craziest are mentioned below — dwell in the realm of fiction. And the fact remains that the famous ship sank after hitting an iceberg.

Some of these conspiracy theories have come to the fore again on social media, particularly TikTok, after the tragedy involving a tourist submersible carrying five people to the wreckage of the Titanic. All of them are believed dead in a “catastrophic implosion”.

‘Cursed by a mummy'

One of the popular Titanic tales is that the ship — sailing from England to New York — was carrying the coffin lid of an Egyptian mummy when it started sailing from Southampton, England, in 1912. This theory states that the mummy board was cursed and caused the Titanic to hit the iceberg and sink. However, according to The British Museum, the object called “Unlucky Mummy” never left the museum until 1990.

‘It was sabotaged’

Another theory claims that the sinking of the Titanic was orchestrated by banker JP Morgan, who wanted to eliminate his rival millionaires - Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim and Isidor Straus. All three died in the tragedy. It is said that JP Morgan had planned to board the Titanic but changed his mind before the ship sailed. The wealthy banker wanted the establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank in the US while his three rivals opposed it, according to the theory.

While it is true that JP Morgan owned the Titanic and did not sail on its doomed voyage, there is no evidence to suggest he deliberately missed the trip because he knew the ship would sink, according to a Reuters fact check. It said historians have debated several reasons for Morgan to cancel his trip, but none is related to the Federal Reserve. Additionally, there is also no evidence that the three men mentioned in the conspiracy theory were against Morgan’s centralised banking ideas.

‘Titanic never sank’

On several occasions, videos have done the rounds on social media platforms claiming it wasn’t the Titanic that sank in 1912. According to this theory, the Titanic was swapped with its sister ship, the Olympic, by the company that built it. It is said that the builders wanted to get rid of the Olympic ship and claim insurance money by making it sink.

Irrefutable evidence exists to prove the Titanic is lying at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, and maritime historians agree it would have been impossible for the Titanic and the Olympic to have been switched, according to a fact check by the Associated Press news agency.

‘Titanic got attacked’

The infamous Titanic tragedy took place before the First World War started in 1914. However, conspiracy theorists believe that a German submarine attacked the Titanic, resulting in the death of thousands of people on board. According to a report in The Huffington Post, several passengers who survived by sailing away in lifeboats spotted “an unidentified vessel approximately 5 to 6 miles away until about 2 a.m., possibly a submarine that had surfaced to assess the damage it had caused, after which time it skulked off”. Needless to say, this, again, is just an unsubstantiated and wild claim.

‘Titanic had a secret message’

The Titanic’s hull number was 3909 04, and it appeared as “No Pope” in its mirror image, according to the proponents of this theory. This was a bad sign and a possible reason for the ill-fated ocean liner’s sinking, the theory argues. According to late Titanic historian Walter Lord, people in Ireland sent him letters insisting that the secret message was behind the accident. However, Walter Lord said in his 1986 book — ‘The Night Lives On’ — that no such number was written on the ship. The Titanic instead carried hull number 401, which was also its yard number, reported History.com.

The facts

Experts agree the Titanic's sinking was an accident, though they debate the finer details. One explanation, according to experts, is that the ship’s officers “mistakenly believed” that good visibility on the open sea would be an advantage for spotting any hazards, such as an iceberg, ahead in good time, the Reuters fact check cited above said. Reuters reported on another possible explanation in 2010 that suggested the boat hit an iceberg due to a basic steering error, and sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing.

The wreckage of the Titanic was found 73 years later in 1985 off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

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