Dave Gittins author page

Dave Gittins biography

Dave Gittins is an Australian Titanic scholar and author whose research focuses on RMS Titanic and the evidence surrounding the ship’s loss. He has contributed to published research examining the disaster, its inquiries and the historical evidence that has emerged since 1912.

Gittins was one of the eleven researchers who wrote Report into the Loss of the SS Titanic: A Centennial Reappraisal, edited by Samuel Halpern and first published by The History Press in 2011. Other contributors included George Behe, Bruce Beveridge, Mark Chirnside, Tad Fitch, Steve Hall, Lester J. Mitcham, Captain Charles Weeks, Cathy Akers-Jordan and Bill Wormstedt.

The book revisits the findings of the 1912 British Wreck Commission using later research and evidence, including information made available following the discovery of Titanic’s wreck in 1985. It examines the ship, passengers and crew, ice warnings, collision and sinking, evacuation, rescue operation and the roles of nearby ships including Californian and Mount Temple. The History Press published a revised edition in 2016.

Gittins also updated Michael Davie’s Titanic: The Death and Life of a Legend for its centenary edition. Published by Vintage in 2012, the revised edition incorporated more recent findings and theories that had emerged since Davie’s original account of the disaster.