From the September 22, 2011, Spec.com "The truth about the Titanic sinking: The ship went right when it should have gone left, book reveals" by Amy Dempsey.
U.K. author Louise Patten, granddaughter of the Titanic's Second Officer Charles Lighteller has a new take on why the ship sank.
The ship had lots of time to shift course after the iceberg was spotted, but hit it because of a steering error. This has been known since the 1960s and is in a new novel called "Good As Gold."
The Titanic was built at the time the age of sail was giving way to the age of steam in ships. The ships in each era used two different steering systems. Some of the crew had used the old Tiller Orders, where you steer right to go left, and left to go right. Others were using the new Rudder Orders where you steer the way you want to go.
In a moment of panic, the Titanic's steersman used the wrong Order and steered toward the iceberg. Ms. Patten said her grandfather hid the truth for fear it would bankrupt the Titanic's owners and leave colleagues jobless. She kept the secret also for fear of ruining her grandfather's good name.
Makes sense.
An Interesting New Insight. --Cooter
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