Built in Belfast, Ireland, in what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, RMS Titanic was the second of the three Olympic -class ocean liners —the lead vessel was RMS Olympic and the final ship in the class was HMHS Britannic.

At the time of her entry into service on 2 April 1912, the Titanic was the second of three [b] Olympic -class ocean liners, and was the largest ship in the world.

The RMS Olympic was the first to be built of three “Olympic” class ocean liners, the second was the RMS Titanic and the third was RMS Britannic. Don’t get confused – “Olympic” class was a class of ship the White Star Line created to classify these three – the largest ships & most luxurious in the White Star Line’s fleet.

CLAIM: The Titanic did not sink. It was switched with one of its sister ships, the Olympic, before it set sail. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.

Gardiner draws on several events and coincidences that occurred in the months, days, and hours leading up to the sinking of the Titanic, and concludes that the ship that sank was in fact Titanic ' s sister ship Olympic, disguised as Titanic, as an insurance scam by its owners, the International Mercantile Marine Group, controlled by American financier J.P. Morgan that had acquired the White Star Line in 1902.