The 'Titanic' & RMS 'Olympic' Ships We're Switched Conspiracy Documentary Film

The 'Titanic' & 'Olympic' Ships We're Switched Conspiracy Documentary Film
Documentary about Titanic - Olympic Switch!

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May. 18, 2025. The Titanic, Olympic Ship, Conspiracy, Conspiracy theory, Documentary, Film, Movie, report, Investigation,

A reconstruction of the great decision to switch the two mighty vessels of the White Star Line...

Prologue: September 1911. The RMS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic (due to start her maiden voyage in March) had been seriously damaged in a collision with the Admiralty cruiser HMS Hawke off the Isle of Wight. An examination of the Olympic revealed the ship to be unseaworthy, and although she could be temporarily patched for a return trip to her builders in Belfast, it was clear that she was unsalvageable. Faced with ruinous costs, the White Star Line decided on a radical plan...

Bruce Ismay, the head of the White Star Line was worried. The Olympic, his brainchild to recapture the lucrative North Atlantic passenger trade from Cunard, had been seriously wounded. She was due into Belfast the next morning, October 6th, 1911 for "repairs". But he, and everyone else, knew that she was worthless and could never carry on her business as before.

He approached Thomas Andrews (Managing Director of Harland and Wolff, the builder) with a cunning, daring plan. Switch the Olympic with the Titanic (currently under construction), scuttle the "Titanic", have the passengers saved, claim the insurance money, and save the White Star Line from an impending financial disaster.

Ismay and Andrews had enjoyed a sumptious meal at the White Star Liner's owners palatial home: sat in his leather upholstered chair, a fat cigar protruding from the corner of his mouth, a whispy trail of smoke ensuing. Ismay swilled a glass of brandy as he asked Andrews what he thought of his plan.

Andrews stood in front of Ismay, his face white with surprise. He was simply astounded. "Don't you realise, sir, that public confidence in the White Star Line would be forever destroyed if the ship were to ram an Iceberg?"

"But Andrews," said Ismay between puffs on his cigar, "It'll be an accident. No-one will be to blame. Oh, of course the officers of the watch may face some probing for not avoiding such an accident, but I think the White Star Line will be, as we say 'off the hook'." He took a generous swig of brandy, the hint of a smile and an enquiring gaze on his face, as he waited for Andrews response.

"I think its ludicrous".

"But Andrews, its the only way. Olympic can't sail again - but we can make money out of a catastrophe."

The conversation continued thus for hours, Ismay wearing down Andrews under the condition that no lives would be lost. Ismay pledged his word.

"Alright," said Andrews, still not happy with the plan, "then its simply a matter of logistics; men, equipment, supplies to make the switch feasible."

Ismay slapped the arm of his chair, his voice rising to an excitable squeak, "That's it Andrews! What kind of things did you have in mind?"

Andrews paused for a minute or two, gazing into the warm glow of the fireplace, as his mind poured through his mental notes of the construction and out-fitting of both vessels. "Well, the obvious ones are the name plates. If we can get new plates ,the names cut in, and then switched, then that will be the first step."

"Good," Ismay said between generous puffs on his cigar, "What else?"

"I'm thinking of all the changes and differences between the ships. You recall the B deck promenade on the Olympic and how on the Titanic this would be passenger cabins?"

"Ah yes. My idea."

"Well, we've just about finished on the external and internal layout of the modifications. So, all that will need to be ripped put and transferred to the Olympic, er, I mean Titanic."

Ismay sat forward. "How hard would it be to switch these cabins?"

"I don't know," sighed Andrews, "we've never done retrofitting like this before. It might not be a big job. I imagine its all a matter of time."

"Well, I want 'Olympic' to resume her Atlantic run as scheduled for November."

"That means leaving here about November 20th to get to Southampton in time for the loading of provisions etc."

Ismay did some quick arithmetic, "Well, she dry-docked on October 11th so thats 40 days. That should be enough, surely?" Andrews nodded, trying to placate his customer.

You can divert some men to do the modifications? You have 15,000 men?"

"Quite true, Sir, but we are performing work on other ships for other lines, and, if you remember, we are due to be laying the keel for the Gigantic in November too?"

"Oh yes," Ismay sat back dejected, "I forgot. I could always delay the maiden voyage for the Titanic, er Olympic, from March 20th to April 10th. That gives you three weeks."

"That will help of course. A lot of that time will be used performing repairs on the Olympic/Titanic and keeping reasonably to schedule with the construction of the 'Titanic', to prevent anyone's suspicions being aroused about delays etc."

Ismay sighed. His plan was starting to come together. "So, what needs to be done to make this switch convincing?"

"As you know, Sir, the two ships differ significantly in construction, and not just B deck. For instance, the carpetting and floor tiles are different in colour. So every one of them will need to be changed to keep up this story."

"I have faith in you, Andrews" beamed Ismay.

Andrews pretended to smile. He didn't like his hard work for Ismay being belittled and abused in such a manner.
"The Turkish bath area on the starboard side of F deck is different in layout. And then theres the front of the wheelhouse. In the Olympic, its curved, but on Titanic, its flat."

invoking authoritative, & no one is going to check up on the preferred "facts" especially if the evidence sounds compelling. It is much easier to accept the arguments than spend hours verifying the data.

What would the White Star Line have to gain by deliberately sinking one of its own vessels? Nothing. It hardly instills confidence in the travelling public when a widely touted "unsinkable" ships founders on its maiden voyage. The marketing and sales impact would be horrendous. And scuttling a ship like the Olympic is a ridiculous notion. A few years beforehand, another White Star vessel, the Suevic grounded on the coast of England due to navigational errors whilst in fog. The bulk of the ship was pulled off the beach but the bow section remained. So what did the White Star Line do? Did they write off the ship? On the contrary, a totally new bow was built in Belfast, shipped to Southampton and reattached to the remaining stern. Repairs of such a magnitude were not beyond the ingenuity of Harland and Wolff. And the shipping magazines of the period have occasional references to vessels that had undergone massive overhauls. In one, a ship was cut in two and a new mid section added to lengthen her, a new funnel being added in the process.

So, the Olympic-Hawke collision was a major situation, yes, but not beyond the capabilities of the repair teams of Harland and Wolff. Let the Switch Theory rest in peace, R.I.P.