Luckily, to find out, you only need to look at one of the few situations that fall into this category. Which incident? The sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Almost everyone knows the story of the “unsinkable” ship that met its tragic fate in the Atlantic off the coast of Canada. Even if they can’t remember all the details, they know of the ship, the iceberg, and the catastrophe that followed.
But what if the public hasn’t heard the whole story? What happened that night has been played out and examined by experts since April 15, 1912. Every note taken and move made by crew members analyzed and scrutinized to help solve the mystery of that tragic night. How could such an event take place? What would cause such a tragedy to occur?
Is There More to The Story?
What if there was more to it than an iceberg and a faulty assumption that the ship was unsinkable? What if the “accident” was orchestrated to remove the powerful and wealthy rivals of JP Morgan, one of the men that owned the Titanic? If this were true, what could possibly be worth the lives of more than 1500 people? Why would he do such a thing? Is there evidence that points to such a plot?
It is essential to understand everything that was happening behind the scenes and all the facts before deciding whether or not this could be true. The level of influence and wealth involved is staggering, and the more questions you ask, the stranger the facts become. So, is there more to the story about the Sinking of the Titanic?
Who Are the Players and What Are the Facts?
JP Morgan was a strong proponent of the development of an organization that had yet to be built, the Federal Reserve. He believed that the Federal Reserve was not only a good idea but a necessary one. He and his bank had personally had to organize and oversee the bailouts of many smaller banks and businesses, using his leverage and clout to convince others to go along with his plans. He believed that a central bank system would ease the stress of the large banks that were at the mercy of bank runs caused by smaller banks and market forces.
JP Morgan wanted a private version of the Federal Reserve instead of a government-controlled Federal Reserve, which was being proposed at the time by progressives in Washington. Only professionals and expert bankers should be in charge of the central bank, not government bureaucrats, thought Morgan. So he was in favor of and a vocal proponent for the private Federal Reserve option.
Other wealthy and influential members of society were opposed to the development of the Federal Reserve in opposition to JP Morgan. Three of these people were Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isidor Strauss.
- Isidor Strauss was co-owner of Macy’s Department store with his brother Nathan.
- Benjamin Guggenheim was a wealthy Jewish-American businessman.
- Jacob Astor IV was the fourth generation of wealthy Astors who dealt in real estate, among other business concerns spanning the United States. Jacob Astor was the richest person on the Titanic when it sunk and was, in relation to GDP, one of the wealthiest men to ever live.
These men, and many others, were opposed to the development of the Federal Reserve Bank, thinking that the system would give the bankers too much power. The bankers, including JP Morgan and the Rockefeller family, already had far too much power in their opinion, and they did not want to give them any more leverage. The Federal Reserve would do just that, and they were in vocal opposition to the idea.
Where the Story Gets Interesting…
Having wealthy business rivals and strong personalities with differing viewpoints isn’t uncommon in the world of high finance. However, the fact that these disagreements exist isn’t enough to imply that the crashing and sinking of the Titanic was planned and coordinated by JP Morgan.
Interestingly, when you dig deeper, you find coincidence, incredible luck, and stories that don’t quite line up, particularly when it comes to JP Morgan himself. What kind of coincidences and luck you may ask?JP Morgan
- JP Morgan was scheduled to be on the Titanic for her maiden voyage. He abruptly canceled his trip last minute. Why was he not taking this momentous and grand voyage? He was supposedly ill. While the reason for the cancellation of his trip was an illness, JP Morgan was reported to be seen mere days later with his mistress, shopping in Europe for luxury goods. By all reports, he seemed in good health and as his usual self while out shopping.
As you can imagine, with all the pomp and the fanfare with the Titanic, it would have been a great opportunity to get his face out there and promote his ideas and plans. Would a businessman of his caliber avoid such a potentially beneficial opportunity because he was feeling ill? - As an avid art collector and connoisseur, he treasured and valued beautiful art pieces. Just hours before the departure of the Titanic, it is reported that he removed multiple bronze statues that belonged to him from the Titanic. It seems an odd thing to do since the Titanic’s destination was New York, where Morgan lived at the time. Couldn’t the statues be delivered once they arrived? Regardless, the statues were removed from the ship, hours before her scheduled departure.
- JP Morgan’s friend, Milton Hershey, also canceled his booking on the Titanic. He instead returned to New York on the Amerika on April 7. Milton Hershey went on to build the Hershey’s Chocolate empire that is known worldwide today.
- White Star Line is the name of the company that built and operated the Titanic. This company was owned by a trust company called International Mercantile Marine Co., better known as IMM. This trust was organized and financed by JP Morgan himself. The entire project was put together as a way to monopolize the shipping industry and its competitors. By being the financier and the organizer of this trust, it put JP Morgan in the position of owning not only IMM but also White Star Lines, which owned the Titanic.
The Inspection
The Titanic was a huge vessel. Enormous, in fact. It was one of the biggest ships ever built at the time. It was an astounding 882 feet long and 92 feet wide at its widest point. You can imagine that a ship of this size and complexity would need a thorough inspection to ensure she was in good shape for her maiden voyage.
An inspection on this vessel would typically take 2-3 days. This would allow enough time to inspect all of the necessary components and systems. Considering that the wealthiest and most influential people on the planet would be on that ship, the inspections should be even more thorough and take more time.
However, on the day of Titanic’s inspection in Belfast, Ireland, it only took a few hours to inspect the entire ship. It is reported that the inspectors didn’t even go to see the engine before giving the Titanic an official, final thumbs up.
The Insurance
Any ship that sails the seas needs insurance. Especially when you consider the cost of building a gigantic vessel like the Titanic, the owners would like their investment protected. But, interestingly, when it comes to the Titanic, it seems that the insurance was increased only 15 days before the departure for New York.
In today’s dollar, the Titanic cost $200,000,000 to build. That is a hefty price tag. The insurance was increased to include the total loss of the vessel and the owners were insured for the price of $5,000,000.
Not only were they insured for the total loss of the vessel at full price, but the owners also received their check for the $5,000,000 a mere 30 days after the Titanic had sunk. As for the survivors, they sued the White Star Line. This settlement took four years to be resolved in court. The final settlement was for $665,000. That is roughly $430 for every life lost.
The Lifeboats
Lifeboats are the final defense against the unlikely event that a ship the size of the Titanic sinks. By law, it is required that vessels the size of the Titanic have lifeboat capacity for 1060 passengers, and while the Titanic was meant to have 32 lifeboats, it only had 20 because they felt the “deck would be too cluttered” by more lifeboats.
With a maximum capacity of 3547 passengers, the Titanic would have needed more than double the number of lifeboats that it had on deck the night it sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. With only 2208 passengers, it was over 1000 people shy of its maximum capacity.
Also, the crewmen were not well trained in the use of the lifeboats or the mechanisms that lowered them into the water. On top of that, many of these boats left only partially full, leaving many others to die on the Titanic. Was the lack of lifeboats a mistake or a conscious decision? Is it a coincidence that the crewmen weren’t trained on the use of the mechanisms meant to be used in an emergency?
The Fire
How is it possible that an “unsinkable” ship be sunk on its maiden voyage? How is it that the engineer who deemed the ship unsinkable, who was on the ship, even after hearing about the damage, assumed that the ship would be fine? Could it be that something made the ship more vulnerable than they had originally expected it to be?
If such a thing were true and the ship wasn’t in proper order, the logical thing to conclude is that it would be reported to the proper authorities and dealt with before departure. Now, while this seems like the normal course of action, this is not what took place on the RMS Titanic.
What could weaken such a large vessel, making it more vulnerable to danger from external forces such as an iceberg? FIRE.
In the coal cellars of the ship, it was reported that an out-of-control coal fire had been raging for weeks. Smoldering coal fires weren’t particularly rare in large steam liners, but this fire was apparently enough to cause many of the engine workers to quit. More than half of those that worked in the coal cellars quit before the Titanic left the harbor.
This happened in the middle of a coal shortage and there was not much work to be had for the men that quit. These men knew this and still chose to quit rather than sail on the Titanic. What did they know that the other passengers didn’t?
The question then becomes, “If there is a fire in the coal, how do you solve that problem?”. The typical solution was to load as much coal into the engine as possible to burn away the excess material before it could light on fire. Could this explain the speed at which the Titanic was speeding through the night in iceberg-infested waters?
It is well known that the side that was struck by the iceberg was on the same side as the coal cellars. Could it be that a raging fire weakened the hull, allowing the iceberg to tear through the ship? If there was such a disastrous fire burning, why weren’t the passengers notified and the trip canceled?
The Captain
Captain Edward Smith was one of the most decorated and experienced captains that worked for the White Star Line. He had commanded vessels for over a decade. He had successfully moved from ship to ship, growing in ship size and responsibility in his roles until he was the commander of the largest and most prestigious vessels at White Star Line.
Many passengers would only go on ships that he was commanding. He was well known for inspecting the ship daily and was widely respected and even admired for how he managed his vessels and crew.
It seems odd then that so many things could go wrong on his watch. An admired, seasoned sea veteran had so many missteps in one evening. How many missteps?
- He ignored six iceberg warnings from multiple different ships that had crossed in the waters they were heading into.
- They were cruising at almost full speed, 22.5 knots (her max was 24 knots). To be cruising at full speed in ice-infested waters seems foolhardy, to say the least.
- As Captain, he would have known about the fire in the coal cellar yet didn’t say a thing about it to the passengers.
- His crewmen weren’t trained to properly shoot off distress flares in the case of an emergency. While flares were shot off, they were meant to be shot in 1-minute intervals, indicating to any ships in the area that they were in distress. Instead, they shot off 8 in one hour, approximately 6-7 minutes apart. This conveyed nothing meaningful to any ship in the area, some of which continued on to their destinations, even after seeing the flares being shot.
- There are many differing accounts of the Captains behavior that night as the evacuation was happening. It is reported that he was ineffective and did not give clear orders to his men. Other reports say that he was decisive and helped direct the rescue efforts. Unfortunately, the Captain lost his life when the Titanic sunk that evening.
The Prediction
Perhaps the most mysterious part of the entire event is that it was almost predicted, in great detail, 14 years earlier in a book called “The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility.” The similarities are uncanny.
- The name SS Titan seems very similar to the RMS Titanic.
- The Titan was described as the largest vessel afloat at the time, so was the Titanic.
- Both the Titan and the Titanic were considered to be “unsinkable” ships.
- The Titan was 800 feet long; the Titanic was 880 feet long.
- The Titan was sunk by striking an iceberg going near full speed, 25 knots. The Titanic sank after striking an iceberg at near full speed, 22.5 knots.
- The Titan sank 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The Titanic sunk 400 miles off the coasts of Newfoundland, Canada.
- The Titan sunk in April. The Titanic sunk in April.
- The Titan was extremely low on lifeboats (24), leading to the unnecessary deaths of many of the passengers. The Titanic was extremely low on lifeboats (20) which led to the unnecessary deaths of many of the passengers.
While this does not necessarily implicate JP Morgan and the creation of the Federal Reserve, it does seem like an incredibly unlikely coincidence, another one, that is related to the sinking of the Titanic.
The Federal Reserve
Fast forward one year. The year after the sinking of the Titanic, the Federal Reserve was created. With much squabbling in Washington about the details of the Federal Reserve Act, it passed, and the Federal Reserve was born.
JP Morgan’s vision of a Federal Reserve bank, controlled by bankers, was not exactly as he would have wanted it. There was some federal government control wielded by the appointees to the Federal Reserve board but their control of the actual operation is limited.
Some elected representatives were critics of the Act and stated as much after it had been passed by Congress. President Woodrow Wilson himself, who helped form the bill and used much of his political capital to get it passed, eventually came to regret signing it. He said this near the end of his life.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”
Was JP Morgan the Mastermind Behind the Sinking of The Titanic?
It would seem JP Morgan got his way after all. The Federal Reserve was created with minimal oversight from the federal government. He would never live to see the Federal Reserve in action as he passed away in 1913, the same year the bill had passed.
The question remains, did he have a direct hand in making sure that the opposition to this massive change in US financial policy was silenced? Would he go to such lengths to ensure the completion of this institution? Was it a string of coincidences and bad luck that led to one of the worst maritime disasters in history, or were their more sinister motives at work?
The truth to these questions may never be fully clear. The only certainty is this. Deep at the bottom of the ocean lies the wreck of one of the most beautiful ships ever to be built. An “unsinkable” ship that met its fate one frigid April evening, taking with it 1500 souls and a mystery that can never be solved.