Tuesday, April 12, 2011

'Titan' in fiction sinks in 1898 -- And Titanic reality of 1912 [Pt1]


It's April, the actual month in which the Titanic sank  in the North Atlantic.  I've always thought  I'd like at some point, touch on the Titanic theme and what better time to do so then the date in which it occurred.  No, I won't bore you with the same ole details concerning the event---I'm sure you've heard them all . There are I think a few discussions not directly about Titanic itself but what I'd call,  OTHER THINGS. I trust you'll find them of interest. The first, is something which has mystified or that many have considered quite unusual, something occurring  14 years before the great ship floundered.  

In 1898 a novel was written by Morgan Robertson entitled  Futility and the Wreck of the Titan’ which seemed to describe in an uncanny fashion through fiction the almost identical event as the real life Titanic. Robertson wrote about a great passenger ship in 1898, called of all things 'The Titan'.  The Titan was a brand new ship, on only it's third trip back from New York to Liverpool. The Titan was in fiction, 800 ft long, had 15 watertight compartments and had a weight of 45,000 tons. On it's way back to England it struck an iceberg, in the North Atlantic in the month of April, near midnight. Excessive speed in the running of the ship was considered to be a contributing factor in the disaster, and negligence was cited as well for not having enough life boats on board.



And now the real life Titanic, it had a  name so similar to the Titan, and Titanic was 880ft long, had 9 watertight compartments and had a weight of 46,000 tons. On it's way to New York it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, likewise in the month of April at 11:40 p.m.. Excessive speed in the piloting of the ship was also considered to be a contributing factor and also not enough life boats aboard, the same as the fictional Titan. Is that the music of the Twilight Zone I hear playing?  Was Morgan Robertson some type of prophet? A seer perhaps?  Could he have been inspired with certain insights from one outside the realm of time and space as many have suggested? I'd say not.  Consider that good writers do their homework properly researching their subject and theme. How would Robertson have known in 1898 the great ships of the future would have been an average of 800 ft in length? 

[Part 2 coming soon!]







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