Ooops! Wrong turn...

LONDON — The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing, an author said in an interview published Wednesday.

Louise Patten, a writer and granddaughter of Titanic second officer Charles Lightoller, said the truth about what happened nearly 100 years ago had been hidden for fear of tarnishing the reputation of her grandfather, who later became a war hero.

Lightoller, the most senior officer to have survived the disaster, covered up the error in two inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic because he was worried it would bankrupt the ill-fated liner's owners and put his colleagues out of a job.

"They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn't for the blunder," Patten told the Daily Telegraph.

"Instead of steering Titanic safely round to the left of the iceberg, once it had been spotted dead ahead, the steersman, Robert Hitchins, had panicked and turned it the wrong way."

Read the rest here.

This story is so bizarre I am not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, a steering error does sound plausible. But I question why it never leaked before. Lightoller was not the only surviving officer from the ship. I find it difficult to believe that a secret as monumental as this could be kept under wraps for so long. Also there was testimony from many survivors that immediately after the collision the engines stopped. None that I am aware of ever indicated the ship started to move again afterward.