I just finished Brad Matson’s Titanic’s Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler). This well-researched book is about a theory that explains the rapidity of the sinking of the Titanic. The book goes into great detail of the construction of the Titanic and her sister ships the Olympic and the Britannic as well as the the economic and political climate during that time.
Matsen argues that all three Olympic class ships were poorly designed. They were the largest ships at the time and simply scaling up smaller ship designs was not sufficient. Matsen claims that the shipbuilder, Harland and Wolff, knew that there were problems noted in the sea trials and early service of the Olympic, and that modifications were made to the design of the Titanic and Britannic to strengthen their hulls. Modifications were confirmed by looking at archives and even doing a dive on the wreck of the Britannic off of Greece.
Matsen makes a convincing argument that the ship broke up on the surface and sank much faster than any of the crew or the designers expected. If the ship would have stayed intact for just a few more hours, partially filled lifeboats could have returned to the Titanic’and taken off more passengers and rescue ships could have arrived before the ship sank.
If you are interested in the Titanic, this book is definitely worth a read. It’s an interesting tale of how the ship was built, as well as a glimpse into the legions of Titanic aficionados who constantly debate one of the world’s most famous disasters. Also, if you are interested in nautical mysteries, be sure to check out Matsen’s fantastic earlier book, Shadow Divers
