I've been thinking about doing a write-up about myths and misconceptions about the Titanic. The Olympic-class ocean liners in general have always fascinated me and it's been a subject I've been interested in for a while. Anyway, I'd like to explain why a bunch of the myths concerning the Titanic are completely full of crap. Below are some of the myths I'll be addressing and I will go into much greater detail about them once I type the essay later.
1. Hitting the iceberg head-on would have saved the ship. -Bullcrap
2. The Titanic was poorly designed (specifically, the watertight compartment design was flawed and the rudder was too small). - Bullcrap
3. The Titanic was built using poor quality materials. -Bullcrap
4. First Officer William Murdoch was a murderer and a coward- Pure, 100% A-grade male bovine excrement!
(This one is a direct byproduct of the James Cameron film and a stupid, pointless demonization of a man who died a hero in real life)
5. The Titanic was traveling at full speed because Bruce Ismay wanted to arrive early in New York. -Bullcrap
6. The HMHS Britannic was torpedoed and sunk by a German u-boat. -Most likely bullcrap
(Not exactly about the Titanic, but it's another popular myth about the Titanic's sister ship that I feel needs to be put to rest.)
EDIT: Let me add to the list...
7. Crew members were trapped in flooding compartments by closing water-tightdoors- Bullcrap
8. 3rd Class passengers were deliberately locked below to prevent them from reaching the lifeboats. -Bullcrap
9. A crewmen named Frank Towers also survived the sinkings of the Empress of Ireland and the Lusitania. -Mostly bullcrap, though the myth actually does have some truth to it, which I'll explain in the essay.
10. The Titanic was advertised as being "unsinkable": -Bullcrap. And this is a big one too.
11. Ismay was a dirty coward for saving himself. -Mostly a matter of opinion. I'm not trying to debunk anything with this point, but I will share some things that many people tend to overlook about the situation.
If anybody knows of any other myths they'd like me to address, please share them. Again, I will be addressing these in detail when I write the essay.