The “third” ship
The Californian may not have been the only ship that ignored the Titanic’s distress signals. A Norwegian ship, the Samson, may have been nearby as well. In fact, some believe that the Samson was closer to the Titanic than the Californian but ignored her distress signals in order to avoid prosecution for illegal seal-hunting. This is a popular theory among defenders of the Californian’s captain, but whether it’s true remains a mystery.
Did J.P. Morgan plan the whole thing?
Some who believe the Titanic took the place of the damaged Olympic blame financier J.P. Morgan, who was one of the owners of the company that owned both ships. Morgan was one of the wealthiest people on the planet at the time, and he wielded considerable power. In addition, he was a last-minute no-show on the Titanic’s sole voyage. Why did Morgan – and his entire family – not end up on the ship? Did he know what was going to happen? Did he plan it?
Was it a murder plot?
Some believe the sinking had nothing to do with insurance money, but rather that J.P. Morgan engineered the sinking to kill off his rivals, Jacob Astor, Isidor Straus and Benjamin Guggenheim, all of whom perished aboard. But how did Morgan plan to pull it off? Neither the insurance theory nor the murder theory takes that into account. What else would Morgan have needed to do in order to ensure his plan’s success?
