Nearly a century after the Titanic sank on its ill-fated maiden journey in 1912, a new theory about the cause of the iceberg collision has been brought forth. Novelist Louise Patten, granddaughter of Charles Lightoller, who served as the Titanic’s Second Officer, blames an error committed by the steersman. In an interview with The Independent, Patten explains that sailing ships and steam ships used different steering systems during that era. Each system was the complete opposite of the other. “So a command to turn ‘hard a-starboard’ meant turn the wheel right under one system and left under the other…The steersman panicked and the real reason why Titanic hit the iceberg, which has never come to light before, is because he turned the wheel the wrong way.” In another interview published by Reuters, Patten also blames J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line, the company that owned the Titanic, for pushing the captain to continue sailing, causing the ship to sink hours faster than if it had stood still. Read more…