Delayed maiden voyage may have altered history

When the White Star Line released its 1911/1912 sailing list on Sept. 25, 1911, Titanic's maiden voyage was scheduled for March 20, 1912. Unfortunately, this announcement came just five days after her sister ship Olympic collided with the British Royal Navy cruiser H.M.S. Hawke. Olympic suffered a large hole in her starboard side (pictured at right) that extended below the waterline. As a result, her voyage was cancelled. On Oct. 4, 1911, Olympic arrived at Harland & Wolff's Belfast yard for repairs. Titanic had to be moved to make way for her sister.

The repairs took more than a month. It wasn't until Nov. 20, 1911, that Olympic resumed her interrupted voyage and Titanic resumed her fitting out. This delay pushed Titanic's maiden voyage back. The date was moved again when on March 1, 1912 Olympic came back to the shipyard for replacement of a propeller blade that she had thrown during an eastbound Atlantic crossing.

We will never know how history might have been different had Titanic sailed on March 20 as originally planned. Would she have met the fatal iceberg or would she have missed that date with destiny? Would it have fallen to another ship - perhaps the Gigantic - to make history and remind mankind about the peril of trying to outdo nature. The world will never know.