These questions are always under revision as I update them to more accurately reflect current research and findings.
Was the Titanic disaster predicted by a struggling author's obscure novel 14 years before the ship sank?
Yes. It should be noted that despite many similarities, there are also many differences between the two episodes which make it clear that Robertson's novel was not as prescient as it may seem when presented with only select pieces of the story. I will present here the most common elements between the two. In 1898, a relatively unknown and obscure author wrote a short novel called "Futility." This was, of course, a work of fiction and written purely for entertainment. In this story, Robertson describes a futuristic ship that would be unlike any the world had ever seen. In 1898, ships were in reality substantially smaller than the Titanic would be, and many were still made of wood, and so the ship in Robertson's novel was nearly a creation of science fiction. His ship, which in its fictional world, was advertised as the largest and most luxurious ship ever constructed. It measured 800 feet long (Titanic was 882) and was said by many to be unsinkable. Unfortunately, Robertson's fictional ship struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage while crossing the Atlantic. She struck the berg at night, and as she was equipped with too few lifeboats for all aboard, more than half the people on the ship perished. While there are more similarities between the two stories (and, of course, many differences as well), perhaps the most striking is that Robertson named his fictional ship the "Titan."
Did Titanic's band really play "Nearer, My God, To Thee" as the ship sank?
Given the evidence, it seems extremely likely, and most historians agree. It's believed that this hymn was played very near the Titanic's final plunge, at which point in time all the survivors were already away from the ship or near the stern, far away from where the band played. Some survivors claim hearing the hymn "Autumn," or "Song de Autumn" played. The possibility that "Nearer, My God, To Thee" was played, however, is strengthened by the fact that the Titanic's bandmaster, Wallace Hartley, had claimed to a colleague that he would play this hymn if he were ever on a sinking ship. It has also been reported in secondary sources, though its reference in primary sources is elusive, that Hartley indicated he wanted this song played at his funeral. On the morning of April 15, 1912, Hartley most certainly knew he would not be among Titanic's survivors and it is very plausible that this knowledge motivated Hartley to play the hymn. Hartley's surviving family indicated agreement with the press stories at the time that he would have played this hymn. It is also worth noting that prior to the Titanic's survivors disembarking from the Carpathia in New York, before they would have been exposed to an army of new reporters seeking a story, there was already agreement among many that they had heard "Nearer, My God, To Thee" as the ship sank. It seems very likely that both songs, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and "Autumn," were played as the ship sank. For a better and longer analysis of this question, see "The Music of Titanic's Band" at George Behe's Titanic Tidbits website.
Was there really a ship close enough to Titanic to watch her sink?
Perhaps the greatest controversy surrounding Titanic's sinking involves a ship named the Californian. It is generally accepted that this ship was near enough to the Titanic to see her distress rockets, the ship's lights, and even noted various movements of a ship on the horizon that would have matched the movements of a sinking Titanic. Over the years, the debate has shifted away from whether the two ships saw each other (as it has become apparent that they did, in fact, see each other) and moved towards how far apart the two ships actually were and whether any possibility existed for the Californian to have rendered any assistance to the Titanic before she foundered. Some claim the Californian was nearly 20 miles away and too far to have affected any meaningful aide. Others believe the two ships were merely 5-12 miles apart. What we do know for certain was that both vessels, the Californian and the Titanic, each saw a ship on the horizon, and that the ship observed by the Californian fired approximately 8 white rockets. The timing of the rockets seen from the Californian coincide with remarkable accuracy to the time that rockets were fired from the Titanic. On the Titanic, Captain Smith and several others saw a vessel on the horizon. The very firing of the rockets from the Titanic were a result of efforts to communicate visually with this ship on the horizon after attempts to reach her via the wireless had failed. Captain Smith even gave orders to some lifeboats to row towards the vessel, unload their passengers, and return to the Titanic. Without expounding more in this brief answer, it is my belief that the rockets seen by the officers aboard the Californian were in fact those launched by Titanic. Likewise, I believe that the ship seen by the Titanic was the Californian. What effect that Californian could have had in a potential rescue attempt is debatable. Nonetheless, it is difficult for those who defend Captain Lord of the Californian to explain why he did not investigate what was likely a sign of distress seen by his officers on the horizon. Aside from ordering an attempt at contact via a morse lamp, nothing further was done, such as awaking the wireless operator to listen for a call of distress from the nearby vessel. For a more detailed analysis of the Californian and the Titanic, as well as communication with an author who wrote to defend Captain Lord, visit historian George Behe's website here.
Were the third class passengers locked below and forced to remain there while the lifeboats were loaded?
Yes, but not to the degree portrayed in some movies, most notably 1997's 'Titanic.' Weapons were not used to contain third class passengers. Gates, however, were indeed used to segregate the third class passengers. Most of these gates, however, were not floor to ceiling gates more indicative of the kind you would find in a prison cell. Many were only waist high. Third class passengers were legally required by U.S. Emigration laws to be physically segregated from first and second class passengers in order to prevent the spread of disease. As such, every passenger liner of the day that docked at a U.S. port also had gates to contain third class passengers. As the Titanic sank, many of these gates were simply left locked. In the confusion of the sinking, and due to a lack of an effective communication hierarchy, the task of unlocking the gates was simply overlooked or forgotten. Some gates were broken down, and some were eventually opened by crewmen in the area. One steward named John Hart actually escorted groups of passengers from their cabins in the bottom of the ship up to the boat deck. He made two to four such trips, escorting passengers through the confusing maze of corridors that led from the lower decks up to the boat deck. It is also worth noting that the mindset of many third class passengers was very passive, and many who probably could have been saved were lost simply because they sat idly awaiting to be told what to do or to be led to the lifeboats. Additionally, language barriers were also a problem was Titanic's third class passengers spoke many different languages and I can only find evidence of one interpreter aboard the ship as a crew member.
Was Titanic cursed by an ancient cargo in her holds?
The urban legend has been circulated that an Egyptian mummy was being transported by the Titanic to a museum in America. No records have been found to substantiate this rumor, and no exhibits in all of North America at the time had any ties to Egyptian history.
Did men disguise themselves as women to secure a seat in a lifeboat?
While no men donned dresses or were fully clothes in women's apparel, there are at least 2 and possibly 3 instances where a shawl was used to aid in disguising the gender of men who were subsequently saved. From the writings of two male passengers, Daniel Buckley and Edward Ryan, we know a shawl was instrumental in their survival. Daniel Buckley, a third class passenger, was not wearing a shawl when he jumped into a lifeboat. At the time, there were several other male passengers who jumped into the boat with him. Two officers ordered the men out to make room for women and children, and many of the men complied with the officer's orders. A few, however, remained in the lifeboat. Buckley confided to his parents in a letter written 3 days later while on board the Carpathia that "...I hid in the lower part of the boat." Buckley later testified at the U.S. Senate Inquiry that "I was crying. There was a woman in the boat, and she had thrown her shawl over me, and told me to stay in there. I believe she was Mrs. Astor. Then they did not see me, and the boat was lowered down into the water, and we rowed away out from the steamer." So while Buckley did not use a shawl to disguise his identity to enter the lifeboat, nor did he think of using one himself at any time, one was presented to him from a female passenger to assist in disguising his gender once he had already entered the lifeboat. This made it possible for him to remain in the lifeboat. As for Edward Ryan, he detailed his own experience in a letter to his parents written on 06 May 1912: "I stood on the Titanic and kept cool, although she was sinking fast. She had gone down about forty feet by now. The last boat was being rowed away when I thought in a second if I could only pass out (i.e. get into the boat) I'd be all right. I had a towel round my neck. I just threw this over my head and left it hang in the back. I wore my waterproof overcoat. I then walked very stiff past the officers, who declared they'd shoot the first man that dare pass out. They didn't notice me. They thought I was a woman. I grasped a girl who was standing by in despair, and jumped with her thirty feet into the boat." As for a reported third passenger using a shawl, we do not have any indication as to the potential identity of such a passenger as this possibility comes from the testimony of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe and his testimony to the U.S. Senate where he referenced pulling the shawl back off the face of a man who was using the shawl to hide his face as Lowe was transferring passengers from one lifeboat to another. It is probable that this unidentified passenger could have been either Daniel Buckley or Edward Ryan.
Did Titanic's theater actually show a movie about a sinking ship?
As Titanic was not equipped with a movie theater of any sort, it would have been difficult to show any films aboard. This myth is pure fabrication.
While at religious services that Sunday morning on Titanic, did passengers actually sing about those in peril on the sea?
Yes. At the request of a passenger, the hymn "For Those in Peril on the Sea" was indeed sung at the religious services conducted by Captain Smith on the same day that the Titanic struck the iceberg.
Did Captain Smith ignore warnings of icebergs?
When a disaster happens, people always look for someone to blame. As part of people's efforts to blame the Captain, they claim that he received several warnings of ice that he either ignored or discarded. This is simply not true. What is true, however, is that the Captain did not actually see all the ice warnings received on that Sunday, April 14. Unfortunately, of the warnings Smith did not see, two of the most specific and important warnings were included. Of the warnings he did receive from the wireless operators, he posted them on the bridge and made the officers aware of them. Most people don't realize that, at that time, the wireless radio operators were not members of Titanic's crew and had no obligation to deliver messages to the captain, though their independent regulations determined by the Marconi company did state that messages relating to ship's navigation were to be given priority over all other messages (these messages were generally from one ship's captain to another, and were to be prefaced with the letters MSG, and it is also worth noting that not all of the ice warnings received were prefaced with the crucial marker MSG, including the most critical from the Mesaba received at 9:30 PM the night of the collision). For the two wireless operators, Sunday was an extremely busy day as the radio had broken down the previous day and they had a massive backlog of messages to send. Of the messages received by Titanic, all included positions of the iceberg sightings, and more than half included positions that were quite removed from the path of the Titanic, though some did include positions much closer to her path.
Was Captain Smith taking a dangerous, northern course?
Captain Smith was following the standard course for ocean liners heading west from Europe to America. Smith actually did order a course change on Sunday, April 14, although this was standard procedure for liners as they turned "the corner" and was not the result of any cautionary moves to avoid ice. Captain Smith was on a busy, normal, and highly traveled lane of sea traffic.
Did a coal fire in Titanic's bunkers have any impact on the sinking?
Did one of the officers, or even the Captain, shoot themselves at the end?
There is no definitive answer to this and the only evidence is from circumstantial and often cloudy and vague recollections from supposed witnesses. It is highly unlikely that the Captain shot himself, and most evidence claiming someone shot themselves usually refer only vaguely to "an officer." The most likely candidates would be the Chief Officer Henry Wilde or the First Officer William Murdoch. Murdoch's actions and location are well known during the sinking, while very little is known about the actions of Chief Officer Wilde, though we do know he was generally near the bridge and assisting with rescue operations. If an officer suicide occurred, it was almost certainly near the end of the sinking when most witnesses were already away from the ship. As such, we can never know for certain whether this occurred. It is also worth considering why an officer would consider taking their own life when all they had to do was wait 10 minutes. For a more in-depth analysis of this question, and a collection of all first-hand and second-hand accounts of eyewitnesses who claim to have knowledge concerning a suicide and the use of guns, see the following article at Bill Wormstedt's Titanic website: http://wormstedt.com/Titanic/shots/shots.htm
Did the officers use guns to control the passengers, even shooting some passengers?
Yes and no. Guns were issued, and in a few instances were actually fired. However, there is no credible evidence or reliable testimony from any witness that passengers were actually shot. The two incidents when the guns were discharged were done to prevent a panic--once, Second Officer Lightoller shot his pistol into the air to prevent a rush on a lifeboat, and in the second incident Fifth Officer Lowe discharged his weapon while in command of a lifeboat being lowered over the side. He discharged his firearm away from the ship to prevent passengers from jumping into the lifeboat from the open promenade deck windows. Again, for more information concerning the use of guns near the end of the sinking, use the following link to take you to Bill Wormstedt's Titanic page to read his excellent in-depth analysis of this called "Shots in the Dark".
Titanic was originally supposed to have more lifeboats.
This is not true, although the idea of Titanic having more lifeboats was very real. Alexander Carlisle, the protege to Thomas Andrews at Harland & Wolff, believed very strongly that Titanic should have 48 lifeboats. Several other individuals felt strongly about equipping Titanic with more lifeboats, as well, although no order was ever placed for additional lifeboats. Nobody was ever overridden, as there was never an order for more lifeboats for an individual to override. So, while it can be said that there was certainly a hope by many individuals for Titanic to have more lifeboats, no purchase orders or design plans ever called for more boats and, as such, nobody made any official action that decreased the number of lifeboats Titanic was equipped with.
Titanic had more lifeboats than she was required to have.
This is also true. According to the outdated British regulations, Titanic was only required to have 16 lifeboats. The fact that she had 20 means that she did, in fact, go the "extra mile" and exceed the law by having extra lifeboats.
Is the sinking of the Titanic the worst maritime disaster in history?
No, although it is one of the worst and certainly the most well known and popular. The largest loss of life to ever occur in a single ship sinking at sea was on the night of 30 January 1945, when the MV Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. Unfortunately, the ship was evacuating refugees and was packed full of passengers, most standing shoulder to shoulder in corridors and every available open area. Due to this massive overcrowding well beyond the ship's capacity, her sinking resulted in the loss of over 9,400 lives, despite her being smaller in size than Titanic. Sadly, she is often forgotten in the annals of maritime history. It is also tragic that the majority of her victims remain unnamed due to her being so overcrowded with refugees so no tickets were issued and no record made of all her passengers. This also makes it difficult to know the exact loss of life, with some estimates as high as over 10,000 lives lost. You can read more about the Wilhelm Gustloff here. For information on other maritime disasters, both in peacetime and wartime, you can read this article at Wikipedia.