The QAnon conspiracy nuts seem to be growing in number, so it seems to be a good time to look at an older conspiracy picked up by the current QAnon crowd.  The conspiracy theory claims that J.P. Morgan sank the Titanic, or at least arranged to have it sunk. It doesn’t make any particular sense, but here is how the story goes.

J.P. Morgan was supposed to be aboard the Titanic on its ill-fated maiden voyage but canceled at the last minute. Morgan’s rival millionaires Jacob Astor, Isidor Straus, and Benjamin Guggenheim had also booked passage on the ship. The conspiracy goes on to claim that Morgan somehow arranged for the ship to sink, killing 1,503 of its 2,224 passengers, in order to get rid of Astor, Straus, and Guggenheim. How Morgan arranged the rendevous with the iceberg and how he could have assured that his targets would be among the drowned and not the more than 700 survivors is not clear, but conspiracy theories are like that.

Why would Morgan commit mass murder just to kill these three men? The conspiracy claims that the three were all opposed to the establishment of the Federal Reserve, the nation’s bank, something that Morgan supported.

Of course, looking at the details, the story falls apart. 

J.P. Morgan did cancel his voyage on the Titanic because of business, the details of which are well documented. There is no evidence of the three millionaires being lured aboard the ship by Morgan. Guggenheim didn’t even buy his ticket until after Morgan had canceled.  

And regarding motive, none of the three were vocal opponents of the Federal Reserve. There is no record of Astor or Guggenheim expressing an opinion either way. Straus, on the other hand, is on the record supporting the Fed. 

If Morgan arranged to sink the Titanic, he would be sinking his own ship. White Star Line, the owner of the  Titanic, was a British Company, but it was also a wholly-owned subsidiary of the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM), an American holding company owned by J.P. Morgan. 

Morgan proved to be a better financier than a shipowner.  IMM was Morgan’s grand scheme to monopolize shipping in the North Atlantic. IMM acquired control over the American Line, Red Star Line, Atlantic Transport Line, White Star Line, Leyland Line, and Dominion Line. The company also arranged profit-sharing relationships with the German Hamburg-Amerika and the North German Lloyd Lines. Ultimately, Morgan’s attempt to control the North Atlantic trade was a failure. IMM was over-levered and had inadequate cash flow to survive the volatility of international shipping.  Two years after the sinking of the Titanic in 1914, IMM defaulted on bond interest payments and was put in receivership.