The British passenger liner famously sank on April 15, 1912, with more than 1,500 passengers on board. Titanic was on its way from Southampton to New York when it hit an iceberg and descended into the Atlantic Ocean. More than 100 years on, many still dispute whether the owners were to blame.
Conspiracy theorists have often claimed Titanic was involved in an insurance scam after its sister ship crashed the year earlier.
However, Amazon Prime’s “Titanic Arrogance”, has revealed hard evidence that bosses made money-saving decisions which may have affected the vessels chances of survival.
“The Olympic ships had engines of fairly modest power,” the 2011 documentary revealed.
“46,000 horsepower, compared to [their rivals] Cunard’s 70,000.
“Cunard employed four state-of-the-art turbines, the White Star opted for two old-fashioned reciprocating engines and a single turbine.
“This was considered very economical, but in reality, it was already outmoded and less efficient.”
At 11:40pm on April 15, 1912, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted the iceberg straight ahead and informed the first officer William Murdoch.
He ordered the ship to turn hard away from disaster but it was unable to escape and the side of the ship was penetrated by the ice.
Within two hours the entire vessel was submerged below the water.
Had the owners employed the same engine as its rivals, Cunard, it would have travelled at least five knots faster, which may have been the crucial difference to avoiding disaster.
However, the biggest problem of them all occurred after the crew began evacuating passengers.
The 20 lifeboats could only accommodate 1,178 people, despite there being 2,208 on board.
As a result, an inquiry by the British Wreck Commissioner on behalf of the British Board of Trade was carried out.
The inquiry was overseen by High Court judge Lord Mersey and was held in London from May 2 to July 3, 1912.
After questioning more than 100 witnesses from White Star Line employees, government officials and survivors, the final report was released on July 30, 1912.
Its recommendations, along with those of the earlier United States Senate inquiry, led to changes in safety practices.