Although I usually find myself watching the re-runs, I absolutely agree with all your points.
Some historic events have so much real-life drama in them, that to attempt to re-tell the original stories is quite valid enough (e.g. Zulu and Zulu Dawn to name but 2, despite the fact that recently, I read about how the defences at Rorke's Drift were easier to create and defend than were made out because part of them were raised up to make a natural wall on top of which the soldiers could add mealy bags - 'At least, I've sorted that out, old boy').
In fact, although creative freedom, designed to sell to a particular market etc. and other aims are all part of numerous reasons why people make films in the first place, although this was not meant to be a documentary, why mess with it?
And some of the detail was rediculous; at the end, anyone who knows a smidgen about how such a ship would sink, would know that they would not have survived the final sinking, but been sucked down into the mess below.
Still, at least the film made me find some books on it, to try to find out what really happened and why, questions which are still being asked.