Cutting Corners To Save Money
Wikimedia CommonsThe Titanic ready for launch in 1911 after its construction.
Probably the most plausible Titanic conspiracy theory out there is that the builders of the doomed vessel used substandard materials while constructing the ship that paved the way for such a deadly disaster.
Harland and Wolff, the company that built the Titanic, opted to use low-quality iron rivets, as opposed to higher-quality steel rivets, on the stern and bow of the ship. The substandard rivets may have been less expensive, but the steel rivets were much stronger, and competing companies had fully switched to using steel rivets years before the Titanic was built.
“Scientists have argued that the storied liner went down fast after hitting an iceberg because the ship’s builder used substandard rivets that popped their heads and let tons of icy seawater rush in,” The New York Times said in 2008.
Analysis of the Titanic’s wreckage showed that Harland and Wolff did, in fact, use some steel rivets — but only in the central hull. Wrought iron rivets were used on the bow, where the Titanic struck the iceberg. And Timothy Foecke of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and co-author of What Really Sank the Titanic, said that the damage to the Titanic “ends close to where the rivets transition from iron to steel.”
This isn’t to say that the ship wouldn’t have sank after hitting the iceberg if steel rivets had been used throughout — but it could have potentially made the disaster less deadly. As The New York Times put it: “The scientists argue that better rivets would have probably kept the Titanic afloat long enough for rescuers to arrive before the icy plunge, saving hundreds of lives.”
Instead, the sinking of the Titanic was a historic tragedy caused by a perfect storm of unlucky circumstances and a fateful collision with an iceberg. And ultimately, the “unsinkable” ship was anything but.
After reading about the wildest Titanic conspiracy theories, check out these photos of the Titanic before and after it sank. Or, read about these 9/11 conspiracy theories that many people actually believe to be true.
