Was Titanic breaking in half intentionally covered up by The White Star Line?

Despite the overwhelming physical evidence left on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean after the sinking, as well as countless and convincing eye witness testimonies from survivors, it wasn’t acknowledged and accepted as part of Titanic’s story that she had broken in half on April 15th 1912 - not until her wreck was discovered in two separate pieces on September 1st 1985.

Why was this? What would cause an Inquiry into the sinking to completely overlook this major factor in the sinking and death of 1500 people, completely disregarding the accounts from many survivors for over 70 years?

In this video essay, I attempt to explain and illustrate the multiple reasons The White Star Line and British Wreck Commission wanted to silence the reports of the ship breaking, and how one survivors narrative alone might have shaped the worlds perception of the sinking for all those years until 1985. But is his account even as reliable as it appears?

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I own none of the images or videos used. All rights and credits go directly to their rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended. #titanic #history #videoessay

[The_Future_isnt_so_Bright]

I searched for this particular subject and your video was first and really only video on the subject. It was very well done, facts were presented and the decision is up to the viewer. I guess the 5 thumbs down were people who like others to make decisions for them. Keep up the good work!

[Randomstuffs]

Honestly, I'm really impressed with the quality of videos you've been producing, thanks so much for putting in the time and effort to make them :)

[fancycheesesauce]

Aaron you need to upload these as just podcasts they are top quality! 👌

[TheBrister]

Such a compelling video here! I can understand why the senior survivors would avoid saying the ship broke during the sinking. Saying so would raise concern into the ships construction. And that would have made the white star line look even worse than they already looked.

[martinsvoboda]

OK, I'll say it: I just think Lightoller lied. Maybe not in a sense he said the opposite of what he knew, but by claiming to be sure when he absolutely could not have been. He seems to be the man loyal to his employer at any cost. I don't even think it was a thing of keeping job, I think it was a thing of duty and principle for him to say what his commanders and employers need him to say. He seems to me to be the guy with a set of principles that can in one situation produce a hero, like in Dunkirk evacuation, and in other case... something else. Like causing unnecessary death of many men of the Titanic.

[donted]

Fantastic video easy I must say. Especially after reading the break up appendix in On a Sea of Glass. This was really well researched. I agree with the conclusion. I think there wassn't a covered up, I think Lightoller and the other officers were simply not in the right position or angle to observe the split and hence decided rumours of the ship being torn in two were an exaggeration meant to further damage White Star's reputation. After all, the four had a lifeboat with people to look after, especially Lightoller that was in a very extreme situation.
However, I feel you should have mention that Harland and Wolff's naval architect and one of Titanic's designers, Edward Wilding also claimed during the British Inquiry that the Titanic couldn't have broken apart, since I think this also was a key factor to why the conclusion was that she sank intact was. Also, I think Archibald Gracie should have also been mentioned since he also said Titanic sank intact when she went down, since his claimed is as famous and well known as Lightoller's.

[sepper]

6:47 points for mentioning the 96 miniseries as i feel i gets over looked, and also one i like for having a danish character in it XD as i feel like we often get overlooked in overall history. That aside very nice podcast!

[Just_Charly]

I wonder what happened to that big poster/picture of Titanic used during the inquiry...

[happyjmc]

Great video, Arron! Why not take this further and talk to some historians? I'd love to hear from Ken Marschall especially! Great conversation starter!!!

[stevecallum]

This kind of corporate cover ups still goes on today. Corporate Directors of white star at the time had a lot to answer for, just as many today. Its sickening to think that such protection of corporate elitism still goes pretty much unchecked and unpunished.

[siobhannolan]

Very good. Can you find out about the law suits filled by passengers. And did any families from Ireland file suit for loss of life of a family member?

[TheNotverysocial]

I for one don't see why buckling under its own weight should take precedent over a thousand and a half men, women and children freezing to death or being crushed by the ocean water. And it's a pity that that is what *Titanic* is best known for beyond all else, including that. It shouldn't be.

[MarcStollmeyer]

The highest ranking survivor says it did not break in two. No other large liner had broke in two by this point. The Britannic later did not break in two. About half of the survivors thought it had stayed intact, those who thought it had broke disagreed with each other.

It may have been swayed by the idea that the WSL’s reputation, along with her two other brand new flagships of the same design, was on the line, but both inquiries independently came to the conclusion that it was more likely that the ship stayed intact with the above information.


Also, a big question they likely had was “If it had broke in two why didn’t the stern section stay afloat?” This type of thing happened to other ships that had broke in two, like the Suevic just 5 years earlier.
(This question was answered by my models, which showed that if the engine room had stayed watertight the stern section would have survived, and with the wide engine room flooded the stern section became unstable, with the remaining bulkheads being much narrower, the stern rolled over as she sank.)

[ThunderClawShocktrix]

I think it was more that the britsh government didn't want anyone knowing the ship broke intwo rather than whitestar

[Cenindo]

There was hardly any very intentional cover-up, but obviously White Star Line already had a publicity disaster at their hands. They really didn't need stories to the effect that people had even seen the great ship literally falling apart right in front of their eyes. Also, the romantic imagination does kick in, whether we like it or not. Somehow the whole thing is more of a "noble tragedy" if Titanic finally went under with her dignity, and indeed hull, intact. But as the discovery of the broken-up wreck finally demonstrated, many had quite underestimated the enormous powers at work. Titanic did not slide intact into the water only to gently settle like a snowflake on the seabed. The ship was twisted apart, the stern imploded on the way down, and was finally effectively flattened by the sheer force of the downward current created by the descending stern itself. The bow fared at least slightly better, but is far from the perfectly preserved time-capsule people spent a lifetime dreaming about until the finding of the wreck dispelled the illusions.

[nathanhudson-young]

I'm pretty sure Aaron1912 is the only person who believes the V Break.

He altered survivor accounts to make the theory seem plausible.