It was April 14, 1912, the moment RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. The ship of dreams became a nightmare for those 2,224 passengers who were traveling to New York City from Southampton. Edward Smith, the captain of the largest ship of its time, consulted with Thomas Andrews, the designer of Titanic, and Bruce Ismay, the Managing Director of White Star Line (the company that owned the Titanic) and activated a standard distress procedure. Children and women were a priority to be rescued and were put into the lifeboats. Even as the rescue mission was underway, there was a spark of hope when the crew noticed a light at some distance. This raised the question of whether or not there was another mystery ship sailing around on that fateful night.

Was There Another Ship Out Sailing The Night The Titanic Sunk?

According to the crew members of the Titanic, while their distress signals and white rockets were being ignored by SS Californian, there was another ship just a few miles away. On the contrary, the survivors claimed that there was no other ship apart from Californian during the deadly night.

Speculations led to many theories over the mystery ship – the most significant one being that it was ship named Samson. As per the emerging theories, the crew of Samson was near the Titanic but illegally hunting seals that lived on the icebergs. When Titanic gave out distress signals, the crew of Samson realized their proximity to the ship. However, the fear of being caught had them turning away instead of aiding the Titanic. Even the captain of Californian, Stanley Lord claimed that there was another ship out on the deadly night.

When the investigations and research began in the aftermath of Titanic’s drowning, it was found that there was indeed a ship named Samson, but it was not around the Titanic on April 14, 2012. As per records, the Norwegian sailing ship was docked at a port in Iceland for repair work. Considering that the distance between Samson and Titanic was too vast the Samson theory was debunked.

Nonetheless, the very same Samson theory allowed SS Californian to escape conviction. Captain Stanley Lord testified that since Titanic and Samson were communicating and everything was fine between them.

The debate over the mystery ship on that disastrous night when Titanic sunk will never end as many unanswered questions on what happened on April 14, 1912 aboard the Titanic still remain.

Some People Believed Woman Who Claimed To Be Titanic Passenger, But DNA Evidence Finally Solves Mystery

When RMS Titanic sunk on April 14, 1912, it left an unanswered question which was finally resolved after 100 years. Of the 705 survivors of the fateful night, most were women and children. But, the mystery behind two-year-old Loraine Allison’s survival remained.

According to the records, Hudson and Bess were on board Titanic and traveling with their two children, seven-month-old Trevor and two-year-old Loraine, to New York from Southampton. In the aftermath of the Titanic hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, Trevor survived because he was with the family’s maid. Unfortunately, Hudson, Bess and Loraine who were also on the lift boat supposedly died. But, while Hudson’s body was found, the lack of physical evidence of Loraine and her mother’s body raised mystery over their survival.

28 years later, a person named Helen Karmer on a radio show titled ‘We the People’ claimed that she was the missing two year old. Helen’s claims were not believed by Hudson and Bess’ immediate family, even though a few distant relatives believed her. Despite Helen’s claims, she was not made part of the family inheritance.

In 1992, Helen’s death put all the claims to rest. But, the mystery once again resurfaced in 2012, when Helen’s granddaughter Debrina Woods and brought back the haunted questions. She claimed that Helen had left more evidence and the truth must come out.

To resolve the mystery once and for all, 20 years later, a team of Titanic researchers initiated a project to find out if Debrina’s claims were true or not.

The team took DNA tests of all the descendants from Helen’s family and Hudson’s family. The result unlocked the mystery.

Helen Karmer was not the two year old Loraine Allison who went missing on that deadly night.

Little-Known Titanic Facts 

The RMS Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912 from Southampton to New York carrying 2,224 passengers on board. Nobody knew that five days in, the world’s largest ship of that time would cease to exist. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 after it hit an iceberg the previous night leaving only 705 survivors. While these facts have been mentioned over the years, there are many things that are still unknown about that the ship of dreams.

The richest person on board the Titanic was John Jacob Astor IV. In today’s terms, his net worth would have been $2 billion. He did not survive. As per records, when Astor was informed that Titanic has hit an iceberg, without realising the implications, he had joked, ‘I had asked for ice, but this is absolutely ridiculous.’

The youngest and the last survivor was two-month-old Millivina Dean. She passed on May 31, 2009, when she was 97 years old.

The captain of the ship, Edward Smith’s last words were: ‘I release you as you have done your duty. The rules of the sea are known to all. It is now every man for himself.’ Smith went down with his ship.

The lookout officer of that disastrous night was Frederick Fleet who had alerted others saying, ‘Iceberg! Iceberg ahead.’ On hearing the alarm, First Officer William Murdock gave orders to turn the ship, but weaving or turning such a large ship immediately was practically impossible. The total time between Fleet noticing the iceberg, to Murdock ordering the ship to turn to the ship hitting the iceberg was 37 seconds. Fleet survived but Murdoch did not make it.

There was also kennel for the dogs of the first class passengers. There were nine dogs that were on the ship but only two were rescued on that deadly night.