John Hamer is a historian and author who has written extensively on the Titanic and how it was switched with its sister ship, the Olympic. His book, RMS OLYMPIC, is fascinating.

The official story

The Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the northern Atlantic in 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The ship was operated by the White Star Line and was considered to be one of the most luxurious and technologically advanced ships of its time. 

It struck an iceberg close to midnight, causing massive damage to its hull. As the ship was not equipped with a sufficient number of lifeboats to save all the passengers and crew, the evacuation process was chaotic and a lot of people died.

The Titanic‘s distress signals were picked up by nearby ships, most notably the RMS Carpathia, which arrived on the scene several hours later and rescued the survivors. However, despite the efforts of the Carpathia and other vessels, more than 1500 people drowned.

The unofficial story

John, meanwhile, argues that the official story is false, saying that the Titanic’s sister ship, the RMS Olympic, was intentionally damaged and then switched with the Titanic before its maiden voyage.

The plan was that the White Star Line, the operator and owner of both ships, would exploit their extreme similarity to trick passengers and the insurance company.