Titanic: Solving the Mysteries

Book excerpt: The sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912 is one of the best-remembered, and most-scrutinised, moments of the twentieth century. Yet ever since the disaster, there have been lingering mysteries, questions that seemed utterly impossible to answer. In recent years, a string of allegations have also been made to the effect that the Titanic was suffering from a fire in one of her coal bunkers during the maiden voyage. Televised programmes, media broadcasts, and even a new book would have the public believe that Titanic was all but a blazing inferno before she even struck the iceberg, and that it was the fire that actually doomed the ship. Then there is the question of the time difference between ship's time and time on shore on the night of the disaster - a complex navigational mystery that has a direct bearing on understanding key aspects of how events played out on that fateful night.Now follow an international and world-renowned team of Titanic and maritime historians and researchers as we attempt to solve two of the most important, and most publicized, mysteries of the Titanic disaster.