I heard much the same, and more simplified, from someone. The Olympic had hit something - perhaps a quay, or as explained in the first posting here. The ship was thus a little tilted, or otherwise damaged. The insurance didn't want to pay out because they said it was their own negligence. The Titanic was going to voyage out. So, they secretly switched ships. The nameplates were changed around, as was the cutlery, uniforms, etc. So, the Olympic went out - pretending to be the Titanic. And so, they could get their insurance payout. A main difference between the two ships, was one had 4 windows around where the ship was steered, and the other 5. Pictures of the wreck clearly showed what the Olympic had. Also, the pictures showed lettering having been Olympic that was replaced with Titanic.

Anyway, what does seem somewhat suspect about that whole Titanic disaster, is the Californian being so nearby. It heard and saw the distress flares, and such like, but ignored it all. Surely a ship's Captain would know much better.

The Titanic disaster was in some ways like the Hindenburg one. E.g. they were both going from Europe to the US, and both occurred 2 years before a world war started.

Originally posted by themonitor
The Problem was that when the Olympic collided with the Hawk, the main drive shaft of the ship was damaged. This shaft was never meant to be replaced and was beyond repair. ...
The damage to the drive shaft meant that although the main drive propeller would still run, the bearings were damaged and there was no way of knowing how long it would run for.
....many of the survivors of the disaster did report the ship vibrating quite violently during the journey. (no, I am not making this up!)

The collision with HMS Hawke, which several eye-witnesses stated was not accidental, also bent Olympic's keel. Since the collision was on Olympic's starboard side, the resulting list would be to port.

One of the survivors (a 2nd-class passenger called Lawrence Beesley, a science teacher) stated that the ship that sank had had a slight list to port.

A propeller was also badly damaged and was replaced in Belfast with one that was destined for Titanic - hence the number 401 highlighted by Ballard's photographic record.