Brad Matsen

The slightly long-winded subtitle of this book reveals its biggest conceptual problem: Matson's desire to make it "about" celebrity wreck divers Chatterton and Kohler. The long opening and closing sections of the book, which follow the divers, are engagingly written but not really worth the space Matson gives them Had the divers in question been John Doe and Bob Smith, their discoveries could have been covered in a handful of pages without diminishing the central narrative of the story in show more the slightest.

And make no mistake about it: Matson's central narrative is both readable and fascinating. He covers the Titanic disaster from a perspective that I've not encountered in the six or eight books I've read on the subject: that of the builders. He tells the story of the White Star Lines (the company that ordered Titanic and her sisters), of Harland and Wolff (the yard that built them), and of the men who did the actual work. Matson has a nice eye for detail, and he uses it to convey some of the feel of working in a turn-of-the-century shipyard. It's not a book about ship design or labor history, but you learn a lot about both in the course of following the construction of the Titanic. You also get one of the most lucid explanations I've ever read of the reason why the big ship had only 16 lifeboats -- enough for less than half of those on board. (It had little to do with arrogance or over-confidence, and much to do with the price of coal.)

All this fascinating detail and well-written narrative is deployed in the service of a new interpretation of how (and why) the Titanic sank: She was insufficiently stiff, and as her bows filled with water after hitting the iceberg the weight of the water stressed her hull in ways she had no hope of withstanding. She "broke deep and took water," as Gordon Lightfoot once sang of the Great Lakes iron-ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, slipping beneath the waves well before (almost) anyone aboard expected her to. Matson's theory undoes a lot of what we thought we knew about the Titanic, but it accounts, plausibly, for a number of details that seemed inexplicable before. Whether you, the reader, ultimately buy his explanation or not, exploring it is a fascinating exercise.

Believe the title, not the subtitle: Chatterton and Kohler are just supporting characters in this always well-written, often gripping book. The central figures are the Titanic and those who built and ran her. show less

Author Brad Matsen tells the story of divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler who learn of a tantalizing new clue to the sinking of the Titanic and set out to explore the famous wreck. When the clue turns out to be a red herring, they seek to salvage their expedition by searching unexamined areas of the Titanic site. They make a discovery that they feel finally explains why the ship sank so quickly, despite all the safety measures in place.

Titanic’s Last Secrets goes back and forth show more between the modern-day expedition and an account of the building and sinking of the ship, as well as the turn of the century investigation of the disaster. Even for those familiar with that story, there are interesting details in the chapters focusing on the birth and death of the Titanic. Matsen’s narrative zips along and is an easy read. He saves the discovery for the end of the book, so I’ll explain the new theory as a spoiler for those who want to follow the path of Titanic’s Last Secrests without knowing its conclusion.

SPOILER FOLLOWS

Chatterton and Kohler find two massive sections of the Titanic’s hull on the ocean floor far from the rest of the wreck. After analysis, they conclude that the design of the ship was inherently weak and that parts of its double-hulled bottom section broke off while the boat was still on the surface. They state that the Titanic’s design was simply a scaled up version of smaller boats and that at the ship’s huge size it was fundamentally unstable. When the bow of the ship began to fill with water after being damaged by the iceberg it struck, that weight put tremendous stress on the middle of the boat. Parts of the hull cracked and fell away under the pressure, allowing water to rush in. A ship that should have floated for hours -- time that would have allowed the Carpathia to reach the Titanic and rescue all its passengers and crew -- soon plummeted under the water. They also speak with the long-time archivist of the ship's manufacturer, Harland and Wolff, who says the company's own belief about why ship sank (kept secret since the disaster) was exactly the same as Chatterton and Kohler's.

Their thesis ignores the prevailing theory that substandard rivets caused the ship’s hull to open like a zipper on impact with the iceberg. Personally I find that a much more compelling explanation and much better supported by the evidence we have. None-the-less, I found Titanic’s Last Secrets thoroughly enjoyable – although I remain unconvinced of its assertions. show less

I didn't grow up watch Cousteau's films or television series. In fact, my first introduction to him was via Bill Murray's character in Wes Anderson's A Life Aquatic, which was inspired by Cousteau.

Matsen portrays Cousteau as a flawed explorer, environmentalist and philosopher who inspired a generation to look beyond land's limits and under the water. His work to focus the world's attention on the health of the oceans and the need for sustainable practices cannot be underestimated. Nor can show more his contribution to the invention of the Aqua-Lung and advancing water-based technologies.

Far from idolising Cousteau, Matsen's writing feels authentic and provides the reader with a character study that looks beyond his lengthy achievements. show less

Full disclosure time - I am a borderline "Titaniac". I find the story of the Titanic to be even more fascinating than other maritime disasters like the Lusitania, the Bismark, and the Edmund Fitzgerald. I enjoyed reading this book, which brought new information to the table about how the great ship went down so quickly, mixed with the history of the ship, its construction, launch and ultimately its end and the aftermath. I would have preferred to have seen documentary evidence claimed to be show more seen by the previous archivist of the shipyard that built Titanic, but it's a thought provoking book all the same. Worth the read. show less