LONDON, Sept. 22, 2010 -- Nearly a century after the Titanic plunged into the murk of the Atlantic Ocean, a new secret has been revealed that could upend the existing story of how the ship sank.

The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing, an author said in an interview ...