What If The Titanic Never Sank?

In April 1912 the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage - but what if it didn't? In this episode I present a likely alternative history drawing from real-life events and the career of other ships similar to Olympic and Titanic.

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Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest ocean liners – from Titanic to Queen Mary but not forgetting the likes of Empress of Ireland or Chusan. Join Mike Brady as he uncovers the myths, explains the timelines, logistics and deep dives into the lives of the people and ships that we all know and love.

0:00 Disclaimer
0:20 Introduction
0:58 The Inception and Titanic's maiden voyage
2:10 Disaster almost strikes
3:23 1912-1913 Seasons and Britannic is completed
4:19 HM Troopship Titanic, 1915
5:30 HMHS Titanic, 1916
6:31 HM Troopship Titanic, 1917-1918
7:45 Carpathia rescue attempt
9:08 RMS Titanic, 1920s
10:45 Shifting fortunes
12:16 Final Word
13:18 Epilogue

FAQ:
1. Why make this video?
Titanic holds a strange place in popular culture; she was a mostly evolutionary ocean liner but has been mythologised almost beyond belief. By changing the story to save Titanic from the iceberg, she becomes just another ship and fades into history and we can see the ship in a slightly more honest light.
2. What is the Epilogue about? Are you a conspiracy theorist?
Definitely not. The Epilogue was a quick way for me to show how the imagery used in this video had been stitched together from snaps of Olympic and that her sister lived a full and varied career while Titanic sat rusting on the ocean floor.

Ship Ocean Liner Oceanliner Designs P&O Strathnaver Maritime History Naval Engineering Ship Engineering Famous Ocean Liners RMS Titanic Olympic Troopship Hospital Ship HMHS Britannic White Star Line Cunard What if Titanic didn't sink

[OceanlinerDesigns]

Thanks so much for watching and for the wonderful feedback!
^By popular demand I have created a page for you to get a closer look at the profile images I created for this video, as well as penning some notes on how I arrived at certain conclusions in making this alternate history. Enjoy!
~Mike

[BigOldBoats]

"A flop comedy called, A Night to Remember" This line alone deserves 100, 000 likes.

[vequiera]

This is so uncomfortable to watch in the best way possible. Something like an uncanny valley of historical documentaries!
Lovely renditions of Titanic, and the Olympic class as a whole as always

[Tgarnett-lbrh]

Great video. As a young man, my great grandfather worked as an electrician aboard Titanic. He said that First Officer Moody once said that the ship’s compliment had trouble working as a team until that 1912 iceberg incident. After that humbling experience communication improved vastly.

[brick]

I'm trying to imagine James Cameron's "Lusitania". It'd be a lot shorter I guess!

[rmsteutonic]

You mentioning titanic glancing off the iceberg, made me realise the immediate worry the crew would have felt. It puts into perspective how gutted they would have felt after knowing the ship would sink.

[calparton]

Fell asleep & woke up in the early hours to this on the autoplay. Video hits different when you're tired & confused, I thought I'd slept into alternative universe 🤣

[SilverHedgehogX]

My Great-uncle Albert served aboard the Titanic during the war. He always said that no U-Boat would risk wasting torpedoes on the Titanic because everyone knew she was "unsinkable".

[itsBonjo]

I love how the titanic saved the carpathia in this timeline it’s so ironic

[noelleelizabeth]

Ugh this is so nostalgic, James Cameron's "Carpathia" was my favorite move as a kid 🥲

[dustercat]

James Cameron's Titanic now makes sense where he told the fictional tale of the maiden voyage had it gone wrong. He used real interviews with the ships crew as to what they would have done had Titanic had a fatal blow. Its amazing to see his interpretation in film. Glad that didnt happen to the real Titanic.

[kaylab.]

I love this point of view, even though it makes me uncomfortably emotional. As someone who has tried to absorb as much info on Titanic as possible since I was a kid, I had to seriously focus to put myself in this timeline. But the way you just jumped into it as if THIS was the real story of Titanic instead of saying out loud “What if…” just drove the emotions and the “realism” of it home for me. Very well done.

[TmccreightGaming]

There's a small exhibit on Titanic at the Britannic Belfast museum. It's pretty interesting as not many people remember her. Lots remember Olympic for her military career and Britannic for her sinking. But I find Titanic fascinating too. I wish there was more content about her career!

[CoasterTeaFox]

This take on Titanic and her sister ships evokes a different emotion, one I can't place, but it's like a melancholy vibe over having another ship written about and remembered as legendary vessel, when the reality of what happened has been etched so deeply in our minds and way of life since that fateful night.
Splendid writing and recreation of this alternative story that never was, may your work prosper my friend.

[pepperVenge]

Titanic almost rescuing personnel from the doomed Carpathia was a really great touch to the story. In fact, the story as a whole was well written. It didn't seem overdone or campy at all. On the contrary, it seemed like a genuine telling of real history.

[ericmorang]

I've read Captain Edward Smith's autobiography, The Northern Sea. It's a blast to read as it shows what an adventurous life the old skipper led. His sober acount of what could have happened had Titanic been sunk by that iceberg is haunting.

[thunderwazp]

Viewing this video gave me the feeling of peaking into an alternate reality in a way I’ve never quite experienced before; the way you spoke of Titanic as “the unlucky and less famous sister of Olympic” really helped sell it. All in all, this was an awesome video to view and has genuinely become one of my favourite piece of worldbuilding media. I wish you good luck in your future endeavours!

[RV-N]

This video honestly left me speechless.

It's amazing how real you made this 'history' feel and surprising in hindsight that if not for that incident there is very little to draw attention to her. Hell for too many years I didn't even realise she had sister ships to begin with and I believe most of t he general public didn't either. That incident alone is enough for people to point at any old ocean liner with her livery and call it a titanic regardless of how big or small or accurate the ship is to that description.

[coastercreature]

My great great grandmother served as a nurse on the Titanic in both calls to war. She said it was a vessel unlike any she'd ever seen, she etched her initials into some of the decking and after it was decommissioned our family inherited it. Unfortunately my uncle Harold sold it in 1993 for beer money. But it's out there somewhere, full of memories of quite a journey at sea.

[tonycypriot]

Arguably I'd say that if Titanic hadn't of sunk, the loss on the Britannic probably would've been worse. Firstly she probably wouldn't of had the use of the electrified davits to launch boats quicker and be able swing out to launch those on the port side as the list became severe to use the regular davits, whilst her sinking rate would've been quicker given the design change in upping her bulkheads wouldn't of been a feature as this was only considered following the loss of the Titanic. So the damage caused by the mine no doubt would've caused her to of sunk quicker than 55 minutes.