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There have been several legends and myths surrounding the RMS ''Titanic'' and its destruction after colliding with an
iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...
in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. These have ranged from stories involving the myth about the ship having been described as "unsinkable" to the myth concerning the final song played by the ship's musicians.


Description as "unsinkable"

Contrary to popular mythology, ''Titanic'' was never described as " unsinkable" without qualification until ''after'' she sank.Richard Howells. ''The Myth of the Titanic'', Three trade publications (one of which was probably never published) described ''Titanic'' as "practically" unsinkable prior to her sinking. Many survivors recalled in video interviews as well as in testimony that they had considered the ship "unsinkable". Shipbuilder
Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...
did not claim she was unsinkable, but a promotional item from the White Star Line stressed the safety of ''Olympic'' and ''Titanic'', claiming that "as far as it is possible to do so, these two wonderful vessels are designed to be unsinkable". Claims by trade publications that vessels were unsinkable or being practically unsinkable were not unique to the ''Olympic''-class ocean liners or other White Star ships. Similar claims were made about the Cunarders ''
Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...
'' and ''
Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...
'', and German liners '' Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'' and ''Kaiser Wilhelm II''. Advanced safety features on these liners were heavily publicised, de-emphasising the likelihood of these ships' sinking in a serious accident. The ''Titanic'' was designed to comply with the Grade 1 subdivision proposed by the 1891 Bulkhead Committee, meaning that it could stay afloat with any two adjoining out of its 16 main compartments open to the sea. The height of the bulkhead deck above the water line in flooded condition was well above the requirements, and the vessel would have been able to float with 3 adjoining compartments flooded in 11 of 14 possible combinations. The subdivisions could be sealed from communication with each other with cast iron watertight doors. To somewhat lower the chance of a sailor being caught in them, a geared system dropped the doors gradually, over 25 to 30 seconds, by sliding them vertically on hydraulic cataract cylinders. The first unqualified assertion of ''Titanic'' unsinkability appeared in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' on 16 April 1912, a day after the tragedy. Philip A. S. Franklin, vice president of the International Mercantile Marine Company (White Star Line's holding company) stated after being told of the sinking, "I thought her unsinkable, and I based my opinion on the best expert advice available. I do not understand it." This comment was seized upon by the press, and the idea that the White Star Line had ''previously'' declared ''Titanic'' unsinkable (without qualification) gained immediate and widespread currency.


David Sarnoff, wireless reports and the use of SOS

An often-quoted story that has been blurred between fact and fiction states that the first person to receive news of the sinking was
David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in ...
, who would later lead media giant
RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
. In modified versions of this legend, Sarnoff was not the first to hear the news (though Sarnoff willingly promoted this notion), but he and others did staff the Marconi wireless station (telegraph) atop the Wanamaker Department Store in New York City, and for three days, relayed news of the disaster and names of survivors to people waiting outside. However, even this version lacks support in contemporary accounts. No newspapers of the time, for example, mention Sarnoff. Given the absence of primary evidence, the story of Sarnoff should be properly regarded as a legend. Despite popular belief, the sinking of ''Titanic'' was not the first time the internationally recognised
Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
distress signal "
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
" was used. The SOS signal was first proposed at the International Conference on Wireless Communication at Sea in Berlin in 1906. It was ratified by the international community in 1908 and had been in widespread use since then. However, the SOS signal was rarely used by British wireless operators, who preferred the older
CQD CQD (transmitted in Morse code as ) is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use. On 7 January 1904 the Marconi International Marine Communication Company issued "Circular 57", which specified that, for the company's in ...
code. First Wireless Operator Jack Phillips began transmitting CQD until Second Wireless Operator Harold Bride half jokingly suggested, "Send SOS; it's the new call, and this may be your last chance to send it." Phillips then began to intersperse SOS with the traditional CQD call. There are reports that, in 1936, a
ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communi ...
operator named Gordon Cosgrave claimed to be receiving long delayed echo SOS messages from the ''Carpathia'' and ''Titanic'' 24 years after their transmission.


''Titanic'' band

One of the most famous stories regarding the ''Titanic'' is that of the ship's band. On 15 April, the eight-member band, led by Wallace Hartley, had assembled in the first-class lounge in an effort to keep passengers calm and upbeat. Later they moved on to the forward half of the boat deck. The band continued playing, even when it became apparent the ship was going to sink, and all members perished. There has been much speculation about what their last song was. A first-class Canadian passenger, Vera Dick, and several other passengers, alleged that the final tune played was that of the hymn " Nearer, My God, to Thee". Hartley reportedly once said to a friend if he were on a sinking ship, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" would be one of the songs he would play.Barczewski (2006: 133–134) But
Walter Lord John Walter Lord Jr. (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, lawyer, copywriter and popular historian known for his 1955 account of the sinking of the ''Titanic'', '' A Night to Remember''. Biography Early life Lord was bo ...
's book '' A Night to Remember'' popularised wireless operator
Harold Bride Harold Sydney Bride (11 January 1890 – 29 April 1956) was a British merchant seaman and the junior wireless operator on the ocean liner during her ill-fated maiden voyage. After the ''Titanic'' struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm 14 April 1912, B ...
's 1912 account ( ''The'' ''New York Times'') that he heard the song "
Autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...
" before the ship sank. It is considered Bride either meant the hymn tune by François Barthélemon known as ''Autumn'' or the tune of the then-popular waltz "Songe d'Automne (Dream of Autumn)" by Archibald Joyce. ''Autumn'' was not included in the White Star Line's repertoire book, but "Songe d'Automne" was. Bride is one of only two witnesses who were close enough to the band, as he floated off the deck before the ship went down. Some consider his statement to be reliable. Dick had left by lifeboat an hour and 20 minutes earlier and could not possibly have heard the band's final moments. The notion that the band played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" as a
swan song The swan song (; ) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death while they have been ...
is possibly a myth originating from the wrecking of , which had received wide press coverage in Canada in 1906 and so may have influenced Dick's recollection. There are three very different versions of the hymn using the lyrics of "Nearer, My God, to Thee": ''Horbury'', written in 1861 by the Rev John Dykes was popular in Britain, and another, ''Bethany'', written in 1856 by Dr Lowell Mason was popular in the United States. The third tune associated with the hymn, ''Propior Deo'', was written by Sir Arthur Sullivan and was also popular in Britain. Additionally, the British melody might sound like the other
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
("Autumn"). On 24 May 1912, the seven chief London orchestras performed at a memorial for the musicians who perished, as they played ''Horbury'', two ''Titanic'' survivors in the audience became emotional and stated that this was the tune they heard while they were in their lifeboat. The film '' A Night to Remember'' (1958) uses the tune ''Horbury'', while the film ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' (1953), with Clifton Webb, uses the tune ''Bethany'', as does
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...
's ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' (1997). To further complicate things, ''Horbury'' was the
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
version of the hymn, while ''Propior Deo'' was the
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
version. The ''Titanic''s bandmaster, Wallace Hartley was a devout Methodist and son of a Methodist choirmaster leading a band containing several devout Methodists. ''Propior Deo'' was not only sung at Hartley's funeral but was also carved into his headstone. Recently, another possibility has been raised. Among items left behind by Hartley's fiancée, Maria Robinson, was the sheet music of a third tune to the hymn written by Lewis Carey in 1902 and made popular by the Australian contralto Ada Crossley. As Crossley performed in both Britain and America, it is possible that this may have been a tune known to passengers on both sides of the Atlantic. Colonel
Archibald Gracie IV Archibald Gracie IV (January 15, 1858 – December 4, 1912) was an American writer, soldier, amateur historian, real estate investor, and passenger aboard . Gracie survived the sinking of the ''Titanic'' by climbing aboard an overturned collap ...
, an amateur historian who was aboard the ship until the final moments, and was later rescued on a capsized collapsible lifeboat, wrote his account immediately after the sinking but died from his injuries eight months later. According to Gracie, the tunes played by the band were "cheerful" but that he didn't recognise any of them, claiming that if they had played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" as claimed in the newspaper, "I assuredly should have noticed it and regarded it as a tactless warning of immediate death to us all and one likely to create panic."


The stories of W.T. Stead

Another oft-cited ''Titanic'' legend concerns perished first-class passenger
William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was an English newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst e ...
. According to this folklore, Stead had, through
precognitive Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...
insight Insight is the understanding of a specific causality, cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of se ...
, foreseen his own death on the ''Titanic''. This is apparently suggested in two fictional sinking stories, which he had penned decades earlier. The first, " How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic by a Survivor" (1886), tells of a mail steamer's collision with another ship, resulting in high loss of life due to lack of lifeboats. The second, "From the Old World to the New" (1892) features a
White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...
vessel, '' Majestic'', that rescues survivors of another ship that had collided with an
iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...
.


Mystery ship

Some believe that there was another ship, the Norwegian sealer ''Samson'', in the vicinity of ''Titanic'' when she sank. Proponents of the theory argue either that the ''Samson'' was a third ship in the area the night of the sinking, in addition to the ''Titanic'' and the '' Californian'', or that the ''Californian'' was not near at all and it was the ''Samson'' which ''Titanic'' passengers spotted in the distance while the ship was sinking. Advocates of Captain Lord's innocence have avidly adopted the latter theory, beginning with Leslie Harrison, the general secretary of the Mercantile Marine Association in the 1960s. The root of this claim comes from the testimony of one of the ''Samson'' officers, Hendrik Bergethon Naess, who told a Norwegian newspaper in 1912 that his ship had been near a large liner with "many lights" shooting rockets into the sky the morning of 15 April. Because the ''Samson'' was seal hunting illegally in territorial waters, the ship's officers decided to move on quickly to avoid detection. This claim seems unlikely, as the ''Titanic'' was 504 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, well beyond territorial waters in 1912. The ship had no radio, so would not have received any of the ''Titanic''s distress signals. Naess claimed that the crew only became aware of the ''Titanic''s sinking after they arrived in Isafjordur, Iceland, in mid-May. If correct, the coordinates of ''Samson'' place her within 10 miles of ''Titanic''s position as the ship was sinking. ''Titanic'' historians have pointed to numerous inconsistencies in Naess' four published accounts. He cited the ''Samson'' as returning from seal-hunting south of
Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach ...
(
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
), which is more than a thousand miles away from the cold waters of the
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...
where seals live. The ''Titanic'' historian Leslie Reade obtained microfilmed ''
Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...
'' records reporting that the ''Samson'' docked in Isafjordur twice that April: on the 6th and the 20th, then on 15 May. The April dates would not have allowed anywhere near enough time for the ''Samson'' to be in the vicinity of the ''Titanic'' on 14 April. Furthermore, the idea that the crew of the ''Californian'' spotted the ''Samson'' instead of ''Titanic'' is illogical since their descriptions are of a large steamer, not a small
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
like ''Samson''. Lastly, no other crew member from the ''Samson'' ever gave testimony supporting Naess' claim. Defenders of the ''Samson'' theory argue that Naess said Cape Hatteras when he meant they were south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, seal-fishing waters which are physically very close to the site of ''Titanic''s sinking. They also argue that the Lloyd's Register dates of arrival in April are invalid because they were merely the expected arrival dates of the ''Samson'', which did not actually dock until mid-May. Such theories have been dismissed by ''Titanic'' historians, including Leslie Reade,
Walter Lord John Walter Lord Jr. (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, lawyer, copywriter and popular historian known for his 1955 account of the sinking of the ''Titanic'', '' A Night to Remember''. Biography Early life Lord was bo ...
and Edward DeGroot.


The ''Titanic'' curse

When ''Titanic'' sank, claims were made that a curse existed on the ship. The press quickly linked "the ''Titanic'' curse" with the
White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...
practice of not christening their ships. One of the most widely spread legends linked directly into the
sectarianism Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or Religious violence, religious conflicts between groups. Others conceiv ...
of the city of
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, where the ship was built. It was suggested that the ship was given the number 390904 which, when reflected, resembles the letters "NOPOPE", a sectarian slogan attacking Roman Catholics, used by extreme Protestants in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, where the ship was built. In the extreme sectarianism of the region at the time, the ship's sinking was alleged to be on account of anti-Catholicism by her manufacturers, the Harland and Wolff company, which had an almost exclusively Protestant workforce and an alleged record of hostility towards Catholics (Harland and Wolff did have a record of hiring few Catholics; whether that was through policy or because the company's shipyard in Belfast's bay was located in almost exclusively Protestant East Belfast—through which few Catholics would travel—or a mixture of both, is a matter of dispute). In fact, RMS ''Olympic'' and RMS ''Titanic'' were assigned the yard numbers 400 and 401, respectively. Another myth is that the ''Titanic'' was transporting the supposedly cursed " Unlucky Mummy" Egyptian artifact from the British Museum to New York when it sank. However, the artifact in question is still housed in the British Museum today.


Literary foreshadowing of the disaster

At the time the ''Titanic'' sank, the 1 May 1912 issue of ''
The Popular Magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matt ...
'', an American
pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...
, was on the news stands. It contained the short story "The White Ghost of Disaster", which described the collision of an ocean liner with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean, the sinking of the vessel, and the fate of the passengers. The story, by Thornton Jenkins Hains under the pseudonym Mayn Clew Garnett, created a minor sensation. In 1898, fourteen years before the ''Titanic'' disaster,
Morgan Robertson Morgan Andrew Robertson (September 30, 1861 - March 24, 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope. Early life Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on the Grea ...
wrote a book called '' The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility''. This story features an enormous British
passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
called the ''Titan'', which, deemed to be unsinkable, carries insufficient lifeboats. On an April voyage, the ''Titan'' hits an
iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...
and sinks in the North Atlantic with the loss of almost everyone on board. In 1912, the German ''
Berliner Tageblatt The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time. History The ''Berli ...
'' newspaper published a book in serial form that ran from 9 January until 24 April. This work of fiction was written by Gerhard Hauptmann, who would receive the
Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
later that year. One month before the fateful April maiden voyage of the RMS ''Titanic'', the story was published by S. Fischer Verlag as the novel ''Atlantis''. ''Atlantis'' is a romantic tale set aboard the fictitious ocean liner ''Roland'', which is coincidentally doomed to a fate similar to that of the RMS ''Titanic''. This perceived anticipation of the ''Titanic'' disaster received considerable attention at the time. A Danish silent film also titled ''
Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...
'' was produced by
Nordisk Film Nordisk Film A/S () is a Danish entertainment company involved in film production and distribution and a subsidiary of Egmont Group. The multimedia entertainment company is also involved in television production, cinemas, computer games and ...
based on the novel. The film was released less than a year after the actual tragic event. The association became evident, and it was banned in Norway, perceived as being in "bad taste". In the book and in the film, the ship does not collide with an iceberg, but with another ship.


Heroic dog

A large black
Newfoundland dog The Newfoundland is a large breed of working dog. They can be black, grey, brown, or black and white. However, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, before it became part of Canada, only black and Landseer (white-and-black) coloured dogs were cons ...
named Rigel purportedly was responsible for saving many survivors according to stories published in at least one contemporary newspaper and retold many times thereafter, including in a book of contemporary accounts by Logan Marshall. Many details differ from known facts, and the stories might be untrue.


See also

* ''Titanic'' conspiracy theories * ''Titanic'' in popular culture * List of films about the ''Titanic''


References

{{Urban legends RMS Titanic
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
Curses