What if TITANIC had not sunk....?

nomadic

Banned
As a lecturer and Ocean Liner Historian I always get asked....what would have happened if TITANIC had not sunk? There are so many possibilities that I have finally written a novel with this premise. Imagine no First World War, no Depression, Russian and German monarchs are still on their thrones....all because one ship arrived in New York as scheduled, rather than going to the bottom of the sea.

ONE FINAL VOYAGE takes place aborad TITANIC during her last crossing from New York to Southampton in June of 1937. White Star Line is the undisputed leader in transport across the Atlantic. They are about to introduce something daring and new to the traveling public.

The world changed because TITANIC sailed on, and it is about to change again.

I would love to hear from you regarding the idea and of course would like your opinion of the novel. It is available at:

www.lulu.com/titanicvoyages


nomadic :?)
 
The Kiat

The Kiat

Personally, I think it'd be turned into some troop transport and then sunk by a U-boat. But that's just me.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

If the Titanic avoided sinking, be prepared to have a lot of crew incompetence and lack of safety precautions continue. Making sure that the crew knew what to do, that there were enough life boats, and things like that came about because of the investigation into the disaster.
 
Tallest Skil

Tallest Skil

Banned
The same thing that happens in every new thread started about the Titanic not sinking: shoddy regulations continue until some other ship sinks with as great a loss of life.

Please search before posting to avoid redundant threads.
 

alifeofpossibilities

No Titanic = No James Cameron = No Avatar. :p

Also, the word "Titanic" would not have the negative connotations it has today.

Maybe we'd see a passenger liner industry with more hubris. Eventually, we'd get a Titanic-like disaster, but maybe on an even more massive scale.
 

Snotter's Dad

If there was no world war, she wouldn't be sunk by a U-Boat.

The point about SOLAS is really valid, so the question is why didn't she sink?

  • Was she going at a slower speed? I don't think that would be likely unless the personalities involved were changed, and there is the quest for the Blue Riband...
  • Was she able to maneuver to avoid the iceberg? Again the question of speed and how soon was she aware of the ice field. This is possible, but would require course deviation to one degree or another.
  • Was she on a different heading? I'm not sure but I expect she was following the shortest possible route, again a Blue Riband thing, so I don't think that is too likely.
  • Did she withstand the collision? Considering the quality of materials used and the deficiencies of design I believe this would require alterations at the yard during construction, or earlier in the design process.
In any case I believe that subsequent seaborne disasters would have lead to SOLAS type regulations, so that may be a moot point.

As a fan of great moving things upon the sea, I wish she had survived, but the butterflies would have had to have been very busy.
 

alphaboi867

Snotters Dad said:
...Was she able to maneuver to avoid the iceberg? Again the question of speed and how soon was she aware of the ice field. This is possible, but would require course deviation to one degree or another...
Click to expand...

Trying to maneuver to avoid the iceberg led to her sinking. Had she hit the iceberd head-on only the first watertight compartment would have flooded and she would've arrived in New York with her passengers safe & sound.
 

Snotter's Dad

alphaboi867 said:
Trying to maneuver to avoid the iceberg led to her sinking. Had she hit the iceberd head-on only the first watertight compartment would have flooded and she would've arrived in New York with her passengers safe & sound.
Click to expand...

That has been theorized. She was designed to stay afloat with her first four WTCs flooded. He ability to make it to port in that condition is problematical.

Had she not deviated from course as she did, would she have "t-boned" the iceberg? Not necessarily, since we have no knowledge of the shape of the berg, it's underwater profile or what the unmodified angle of attack would have been.

There is also the question of the brittleness of her structural materials and their survivability / resilience in a head on collision, particularly with over 52,000 tons of inertia moving at 22 kn.
 

nomadic

Banned
Tallest Skil said:
The same thing that happens in every new thread started about the Titanic not sinking: shoddy regulations continue until some other ship sinks with as great a loss of life.

Please search before posting to avoid redundant threads.
Click to expand...


That is not at all what my book is about. The events of ONE FINAL VOYAGE take place in a world where safety regulations evolved gradually without a major disaster. After all, even TITANIC was originally designed to have 36 life boats. More boats were added to newer ships and older vessels were retrofitted. White Star Line now has an unblemished safety record and they have come to dominate the 'Atlantic Ferry'.

This was all assumed to have taken place in the years prior to 1937. The story unfolds during a one week period in June of that year. There is no detailed discussion of why there was no WWI, no mention of the Depression because it simply didn't happen. Europe was dominated by the major royal families because that is the way it had always been.

I chose to take a concept, assume that history was very different from what we know it to be and tell an entertaining tale. The characters aboard my TITANIC had no idea that dramatic events had NOT occured; life continued as THEY knew it to be. This thread goes in a completly different direction from the usual 'TITANIC did not sink' discussions.

nomadic
 

Bill Cameron

Banned
Nomadic,

I think a better place for discussing your book would be the Writer's Forum here.


Bill

P.S. On second thought and because you're posted the same messages in the "Writers" and "Books and Media" forums, I've flagged your five posts here because they're nothing more than an advertisement for your book. I don't know what Ian's views are on people who only start or participate in discussions here in order to sell things.
 
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Mr J

alphaboi867 said:
Trying to maneuver to avoid the iceberg led to her sinking. Had she hit the iceberd head-on only the first watertight compartment would have flooded and she would've arrived in New York with her passengers safe & sound.
Click to expand...
Theoreticly that could make things WORSE because of the shock and whatnot.
 

nomadic

Banned
Bill Cameron said:
Nomadic,

I think a better place for discussing your book would be the Writer's Forum here.


Bill

P.S. On second thought and because you're posted the same messages in the "Writers" and "Books and Media" forums, I've flagged your five posts here because they're nothing more than an advertisement for your book. I don't know what Ian's views are on people who only start or participate in discussions here in order to sell things.
Click to expand...


As I am new to this community I was not sure exactly where to post or what thread to start. It was not my intention at all to merely sell books but to discuss the possibility I outlined.

I happen to be a lecturer and historian and have worked as an officer aboard cruise ships for 25 years so I would say I have the proper credentials, as well as more than a passing interset in the subject. I do a live question and answer session with our guests every voyage. There are always hundreds in attendance. Over the years I have been asked countless times what the world would be like if Titanic had not sunk. It is the passengers on board who encouraged me to write an alternate history. The book is inspired by people with immagination who wonder what things would be like today had one of the most dramatic events of the 20th century had not taken place. ONE FINAL VOYAGE has been extremely well recieved and sells briskly in the shops on board.

I am not looking for, nor do I need a market place for my books. When I discovered this website I thought it would be the ideal opportunity to discuss my premise with a wider puplic, ones with an obvious interest in 'What if". Looking at the 'warm welcome' I have received, especially from Hubris Incarnate, it appears I was wrong. Perhaps I went about posting in the wrong way but I am surprised to find so many closed-minded, opinionated people in a group that is supposed to let the immagination run free. I am sorry to have offended you all.

nomadic
 

nomadic

Banned
Euroman26 said:
Trans-Atlantic passager travel is still commen by the 1920s?

No rise of the Zeppeliner?
Click to expand...

As a matter of fact I do consider the Zeppelin as the only other way to get across from Europe to America.

I created the Imperial German Zeppelin Line to operate a fleet of airships between Berlin and a zeppelin base at Garden City on New York's Long Island. They are popular and profitable enough that an American joint operation would begin service in 1938. The U.S registered Martha Washington, would alternate with the Kaiserine Sophia Victoria.

Of course the crew of Titanic look upon the 'Kaiser's Balloons' as no real competition for the White Star Line but there is an encounter between a zeppelin and Titanic in mid-ocean, with passengers and crew of each craft waiving and cheering.

nomadic
 
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