Did Titanic really sink?

THE SHIP THAT NEVER SANK?

One of the most controversial theories surrounding the sinking to have come to light in recent years is that Titanic never sank at all.

In his books The Riddle of the Titanic and Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank, Robin Gardiner puts forward a theory that turns accepted beliefs on their head.

It hangs on an incident that involved Titanic's sister ship, Oceanic, the year before.

Outbound from Southampton on September 20, 1911, Olympic was in a collision with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke.

The cruiser smashed into Olympic's starboard side with such force that both ships were seriously damaged.

A Navy inquiry held after the incident exonerated the cruiser, leaving the White Star line unable to recover the cost of repairs from its insurance companies and facing serious financial problems.

With Olympic beyond economic repair, the decision was taken to attempt a deception on a grand scale.

The owners, with the help of the builders, disguised the brand new Titanic as her older sister in a bid to dispose of the damaged ship and claim the insurance.

Captain Smith was to take what was now passing as Titanic to an agreed point in the Atlantic and purposely sink the liner.

The crew of a ship placed at the rendezvous - the Californian - would take passengers off the liner when the "accident" struck.

But the fake sinking was never able to happen as the plan went disastrously wrong.

Instead, Titanic hit a mystery ship - probably there to help with the pre-planned rescue operation - and suffered a hole in the starboard bow below the waterline.

To get as far away from the collision scene as possible Titanic also moved away from the waiting Californian, too far to be seen, thus sealing the fate of 1,523 victims.

And the band played on?

For years, it was believed the ship's band played on during the Titanic's final moments.

As the great vessel floundered, legend has it that the bandsmen played the old hymn, Nearer My God to Thee.

But some researchers have raised questions not only about what was on their play list in those final moments but also whether they were even playing right to the end at all.

They quote two witnesses who claim the bandsmen put their instruments down shortly before the sinking itself.

Yet so many survivors reported hearing music being played at the end that it seems likely they only abandoned their instruments temporarily - perhaps to retrieve their lifebelts.

Were third-class passengers kept below?

One of the more distressing scenes from the blockbuster film Titanic was when those in steerage were locked in as they tried to make their way to the deck.

Certainly, of all the classes of passengers, it was the third class that bore the brunt of the losses.

But despite rumours of a lock-up, it seems unlikely that such a distasteful act happened.

Indeed, several crewmen directed the passengers to the deck and the lifeboats and some even had difficulty finding anyone willing to accept help - believing as they did that the Titanic could not possibly sink.

As the situation worsened, however, access to the deck was necessarily restricted, with only women being allowed on to the boat deck.

By the time the men were allowed up, it was too late - most of the lifeboats had already been launched.

The man who dressed as a woman

One story often dismissed as legend is that, in order to save his own life, a male passenger dressed as a woman in order to get a place in a lifeboat.

Evidence suggests the story is indeed based on a handful of true incidents.

It is known that Irishman Daniel Buckley, who was travelling in steerage, jumped into the sixth lifeboat as it was being prepared for lowering.

Two officers ordered all the men in the boat to get out to make room for more women.

But a crying Buckley won the pity of a woman in the lifeboat who threw a shawl over his head, allowing him to be overlooked by the officers.

Elsewhere an unidentified Italian sneaked into lifeboat 14 with a shawl over his head, only to be discovered by an officer as he asked for volunteers to go back with him to the wreck to pick up more survivors.

Another Irishman, Edward Ryan, threw a towel around his head, letting it hang down at the back as he made his way to a lifeboat.

Dressed in a waterproof overcoat, he walked stiffly past officers who had declared they would shoot the first man to try and pass.

He then grabbed hold of a girl standing nearby and jumped 30 feet into a lifeboat.

DID FIRST OFFICER MURDOCH REALLY TAKE HIS OWN LIFE?

Following the sinking, it was widely rumoured that the ship's First Officer, William Murdoch, shot himself before Titanic went down.

For years those rumours were dismissed by researchers, who claimed they had been sparked off by the more sensationalist newspaper reports of the time.

In the 1997 film, however, Murdoch is shown taking his own life with a revolver, a scene which caused furore among his surviving relatives.

The truth itself may forever remain unclear.

Certainly, various passengers and crew say they saw Murdoch shoot a man who was trying to get into the last boat.

Others claim he only fired a warning shot into the air.

It was Murdoch who was on the bridge when the Titanic struck the iceberg and so many believe he may have been wracked with guilt.

If he did shoot someone trying to board the lifeboat, it is likely that action may have added to his troubled mental state.

But his body was never recovered and there were never any corpses discovered with gunshot wounds, leaving a question mark hanging over the claims of a suicide to this day.

- Originally published April 2002.