Titanic makes it

[David S Poepoe]

The White Star Line had originally ordered three ocean liners which were to be named Olympia, Titanic and Gigantic. Needless to say that following the loss of Titanic, the sistership Gigantic was renamed Britannic. It never quite entered service because of the outbreak of the Great War and was taken over by the British Government for use as a hospital ship. It was lost under questionable circumstances in the Aegean, either by hitting a mine or by coal dust explosion.

Without the loss of Titanic, the Gigantic would never be renamed.

 

[Michael E Johnson]

It seems that what impact different passengers would have made if they had lived or died would be the main difference. What if John Jacob Astor had gone on to run for president? What if one of the 3rd class passengers had became a leader in the US labor movement? What if one of the second class passengers who died later had a son with his wife who would kill President Eisenhower in 1955? Endless possibilites. It would seem that the rich passengers potentially would cause a greater impact if they had lived-but who knows what the 3rd class passenger would have accomplished

 

[Michael E Johnson]

---I remember first seeing a poster depicting a zeppelin raid over London. The caption to the poster stated "The Zeppelin has come!" in Fraktur script, and the people of London were climbing all over one another in abject terror, as the dirigible loomed on the horizon. Today this poster couldn't be more ridiculous.-----


Werent there a few Zeppelin raids on London OTL in WWI?

 

[tom]

I once read a book where a "psychic message" from the dying watch sailor creates a timeline where the Titanic grazes the berg so slightly that it limps into port, so the sailor survives and does not send his message, so the ship sinks causing him to send his message and save the ship, etc.

 

[Alikchi]

I once read a book where a "psychic message" from the dying watch sailor creates a timeline where the Titanic grazes the berg so slightly that it limps into port, so the sailor survives and does not send his message, so the ship sinks causing him to send his message and save the ship, etc.

My head hurts.

..Yeah, I think the Zeppelins did make a few raids, but nothing really.. concerted. They tended to be easy to shoot down, especially when the RAF fighters started using incendiary bullets. Fwoosh! The real terror was the Gotha bombers, if i remember correctly.

Anyways, yeah, there are lots of butterflies there. Of course, taking into account that safety regulations would not be observed, other people could be killed in future sinkings that would have been saved otherwise.

 

[aktarian]

..Yeah, I think the Zeppelins did make a few raids, but nothing really.. concerted. They tended to be easy to shoot down, especially when the RAF fighters started using incendiary bullets. Fwoosh! The real terror was the Gotha bombers, if i remember correctly.

Weren't some bombed down? RAF plane flying over it and droping bombs on it.

 

[zoomar]

My head hurts.

..Yeah, I think the Zeppelins did make a few raids, but nothing really.. concerted. They tended to be easy to shoot down, especially when the RAF fighters started using incendiary bullets. Fwoosh! The real terror was the Gotha bombers, if i remember correctly.

Anyways, yeah, there are lots of butterflies there. Of course, taking into account that safety regulations would not be observed, other people could be killed in future sinkings that would have been saved otherwise.

Interesting how a subthread involving zeppelins developed. Actually, from the perspective of 1914-1916, zeppelin raids on England were legitimately frightening and deserved all the posters of destroyed buildings and dead women and children they caused. Although fewer than 1000 civilians lost their lives and property damage was relatively limited, the raids on London showed the world had changed irrevocably for the worse. Also, for several years, zeppelins were not the flaming gasbags they became later. AA was very inaccurate and most airplanes could not effectively intercept them at altitude. Only in 1917-18 did they really become deathtraps for the Germans over England, and by then the world had changed and the ability to drop bombs over cities in Gothas and Handley Pages was no longer such a fearsome thing.

Regarding the Titanic, I agree with those who say the biggest effects would come from the people who survived and what they might have done. the Titanic disaster has little impact on the steamship industry itself. Again, the Hindenburg explosion is a much more interesting WI.