Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "BuzzFeed Unsolved Network" channel.

  1.  @Embracing01  It is unwise to take any notice of what Mr. Hamer alleges.
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  2. Unfortunately, for the conspiracists, Titanic's insured value was always £1 million. It was never increased, and remained at £500,000 less than her building costs.
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  3. The collision actually occurred when Olympic was under the command of a Southampton harbour pilot, who had taken her into and out of Southampton on a number of previous occasions. At the Court of Inquiry, no blame at all was attached to Captain Smith.
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  4. Morgan never intended to sail in Titanic. There are even newspaper reports from March 1912 stating what he intended to do instead. More people cancelled from Olympic's maiden voyage than did for Titanic's. Astor was never a vocal opponent of the Fed. Neither he nor Guggenheim had ever expressed any opinions at all. Straus had, however. He was a supporter. Insurance job? Not a smart one, White Star received £1 million for a ship which cost £1.5 million to build, and lost their reputation for safety at the same time. Do try harder!
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  5.  @purplehearts2565  Indeed. Personal beliefs always trump actual facts where conspiracists are concerned.
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  6. 'I truly believe is the Irish used the wrong screws I’ll call them, or bolts or what have you.' Before you post drivel like this, perhaps you should read a little about the history of Harland & Wolff, and more particularly about their record as a shipbuilder.
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  7. Don't be silly. Olympic had had one collision, and had been repaired in late 1911. Both ships were not in dry dock. Harland & Wolff only had one dry dock. During the time the two ships were together in Belfast, 1-7 March, 1912, Olympic used the dock because of the need to fit a replacement propeller blade. This work had been completed by 3 or 4 March, but strong winds prevented tugs from moving Olympic out, and she left Belfast on 7 March. The insurance value was not increased. This is yet another unsubstantiated switcher falsehood. White Star received $5 million for a ship which had cost $7.5 million to construct. There was no rescue ship. For the simple reason that the sinking was not planned.
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  8. Well, this one certainly hasn't.l
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  9.  @Corteggy  Does 'keeping an open mind' involve ignoring all known evidence, as the conspiracists feel the need to do?
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  10. As such details do not exist, perhaps it is just as well the video didn't go into them.
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  11. Titanic wasn't steaming through a known minefield. She was in an area where, POTENTIALLY, there MIGHT have been icebergs. Smith did what any other liner captain of the time would have done, which was to maintain course and warn his lookouts to be vigilant. You should read the evidence given by several other liner captains at the British Inquiry for confirmation of this fact.
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  12. Nonsense. Captain Smith had an excellent record since becoming a Master Mariner in 1887. Why else had he been made White Star's csenior captain in 1904, and had taken every new liner on her maiden voyage since then? Who described Olympic as a 'write-off?' Certainly not the joint Admiralty/Board Of Trade/White Star damage inspection report of November, 1911. Certainly not Harland & Wolff, who had fully repaired her by late November, 1911, and certainly not White Star, who returned he to her Atlantic service after that day. In fact, nobody at all, until Robin Gardiner came up with his imaginative switch nonsense in the late 1990s.
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  13.  @pellenyberg  Yes. You are wrong. Why would Harland & Wolff sabotage one of their own products, and why would White Star deliberately wreck their own reputation as a shipping line?
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  14.  @pellenyberg  Don't be silly. Moreover, as Olympic's minor damage had been repaired by 20 November, 1911, why destroy a perfectly good ship for $2.5 million less that she cost to build?
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  15. If Olympic was a 'write off' how is it that both ships of the class were engaged in Atlantic crossings on the day that Titanic sank? Moreover, how is it that the 'write off' had been repaired after her collision with HMS Hawke, and had been regularly carrying out Atlantic crossings since late November, 1911, when Titanic was several months away from completion? Moreover, how do you explain the photographs of Titanic and Olympic close together in Harland & Wolff's yard in November, 1911? Titanic is the one which is semi complete, and has only one funnel in place, by the way.
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  16. You would lose you bet. What 'secrets' could possibly be involved?
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  17. Yes. The large number of ventilation cowls are proof that she is a Lusitania class liner.
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  18. He didn't. Why have you even bothered posting such idiotic nonsense?
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  19. No, she wasn't. That was a myth created by Robin Gardiner in a rather silly book in 1995.
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  20. Olympic was not badly damaged in the collision. Certainly nowhere near enough to even suggest that she was irreparable.
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  21. If you are going to obsess about conspiracy theory nonsense. At least have the good manners not to confuse two different ones.
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  22. There are very few genuine photos. of Titanic. Her older sister was the glamorous one which attracted the cameras.
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  23. In view of the quality of your comments, I doubt that you 'think' at all.
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  24.  @thetruth5483  Would you care to supply a source that confirms your claim? Guggenheim and Astor had never expressed any opinions about the Fed., whilst Straus supported the idea. I can provide you with details of two articles in the New York Times from October 1911 supporting this fact. Can you provide any contemporary source which contradicts it?
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  25. The problem here is that Olympic was never 'worthless scrap.' She was repaired by Harland and Wolff, and returned to sea from 20 November, 1911, when Titanic was around 5 months from completion. Repair costs, at 1912 monetary levels, were £25,000 which was 1.67% of her building costs. That is where the whole switch nonsense, invented in 1995 by Robin Gardiner, collapses. Unless Olympic was a write-off, then the argument for any switch ceases to exist. Which is why Gardiner thought up a whole host of improbable claims, none of which stand up to the slightest examination.
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  26. By 'documentary' presumably you mean 'conspiracy video'? There is precisely no such evidence. In fact, Titanic, which had cost £1.5 million to build, was insured for £1 million. The sinking thus cost White Star £500,000 as well as their reputation for safety. Some scam. Typing nonsense in capital letters doesn't make it any less nonsensical.
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  27. No.
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  28. Do you mean because they become offensive & insulting when you do?
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  29.  @TomFoti  Only, perhaps, if they present a shred of evidence in support of their claims. Which, of course, none have ever done where Titanic is concerned.
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  30. Actually, in October, 1911, the New York Times' covered a speech by Straus in support of the Federal reserve, and there is no evidence at all that Guggenheim or Astor were opposed. Yet another false claim unsupported by any actual facts.
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  31. The insurance policies were identical, as were the building costs.
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  32. What? Do you mean that 'it's hard not to believe' that this story was invented in the 1990s, and has no actual supporting evidence at all?
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  33. Congratulations for getting so many thinks wrong in so short a post. It must have taken real effort on your part.
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  34. Britannic was mined and sunk in the Aegean whilst in use as a hospital ship in WW1. Fortunately there were no wounded aboard when she sank.
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  35. This would be the same Pryal who, two years later, claimed that a miracle had cured him of eye & brain cancer in the course of a single night?
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  36. Where did you get this nonsense from? Presumably a conspiracy video? There are many around, each one getting dafter. Titanic was not at full speed, as five boilers were never connected. Smith had also altered to a more southerly course. Which hatches were left open? Perhaps you might also explain why Titanic's crew were so eager to kill themselves? Why should J.P. Morgan have sailed aboard Titanic? He hadn't bothered to sail in Olympic on her maiden voyage in 1911. Moreover, he had already announced his intention to attend an event at St. Mark's in Venice, which would have clashed. This had been mentioned in newspapers from March, 1912. You could even read the article if you had the gumption to try. The 'coincidences' are invented ones, thought up when this conspiracy nonsense was created, in the mid 1990s.
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  37. Those who tell others to 'do the research'' are usually the same ones who haven't done any themselves, of course. Watching a conspiracy video, by the way, does not count as 'research' especially when you swallow it whole.
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  38. A theory with prrecisely no evidence to support it. When Californian docked in Boston, the Boston shipping newspapers described her cargo as being a 'mixed general' one.
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  39. Britannic was sunk in the service of the country which built her in WW1, Titanic was involved in a totally unforeseeable collision, and Olympic served as a successful and much loved liner until 1934. So, in short, you are wrong.
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  40.  @pellenyberg  The proof that Olympic has sustained minor damage only, which Harland & Wolff had repaired in six weeks, totally discredits the switcher nonsense. Moreover, the very idea only appeared in the mid 1990s, as a result of a book by one Robin Gardiner.
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  41. Absolute, unmitigated, idiocy. Have you thought of seeking professional help?
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  42. Only if you swallow it whole, and can't be bothered checking any of the (false) claims it makes.
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  43.  @thomasgreen8894  No. You mean you have watched conspiracy theory videos on YouTube, made by people who have little actual knowledge of the subject, and you have swallowed them whole. Read any book by any researcher or historian for the facts of the matter. Or simply look up a few facts about Astor, Guggenheim, and Straus for yourself. instead of simply believing unsubstantiated nonsense claimed by people with conspiracy axes to grind.
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  44.  @TimeMasterOG  Unfortunately, switchers have seen the claim on a video or perhaps in Gardiner's book. In their addled way of thinking, it must be true.
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  45. No, she didn't. She received part of ther half-completed Titanic's propeller shaft. The supposed propeller swap was invented by switchers to explain why a propeller with 401 on the blade was found on the wreck. Olympic was repaired in six weeks, and was back in service by late November, 1911, well before Titanic was anywhere near complete.
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  46. You mean how Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, I suppose?
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  47. Both Olympic and Titanic were launched with 14 portholes on their port sides forward. Titanic had two more added before completion, and Olympic was similarly modified in 1912. Astor, Guggenheim, and Straus had never expressed opposition to the Fed. Indeed, in two newspapers from October, 1911, Straus had expressed his support. Moreover, how do you suggest Morgan would have persuaded the three to travel on the Titanic? Californian had sailed a week before Titanic left Queenstown, heading for Boston with a mixed, general, cargo. How would Morgan have known that the two ships would even be close, let alone that Titanic would find a convenient iceberg? You are perhaps confusing J. P. Morgan with Henry Morgan? More likely, you have simply watched a switcher video, and gullibly swallowed it whole.
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  48. Morgan did not cancel, because he had never booked. He was already committed to attend an event in Venice on 23 April, which wouldn't have been possible had he sailed on Titanic. There was a news item to that effect in the New York Times in March, 1912.
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  49. Did J. P. promote the war by means of a Ouija Board? He died in 1913.
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  50. How? In 1912? Who had a submarine with the range to reach Titanic or the speed to catch her? Don't be silly.
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