Monday, December 26, 2011

The Wreck of the Titan


• Futility or The Wreck of the Titan, 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson.

• The novella story of Titan and it's sinking seems very similar to the real-life story of passenger ship RMS Titanic, which sank 14 years(1912) later.

Similarities between Titanic(real) and Titan(novella):
  • Unsinkable
    • The Titanic was the world's largest luxury liner (882 feet, displacing 63,000 long tons), and was once described as being practically "unsinkable".
    • The Titan was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men (800 feet, displacing 75,000 tons), and was considered "unsinkable".
  • Lifeboats
    • The Titanic carried only 16 lifeboats, plus 4 Engelhardt folding lifeboats,[3] less than half the number required for her passenger capacity of 3000.
    • The Titan carried "as few as the law allowed", 24 lifeboats, less than half needed for her 3000 capacity.
  • Struck an iceberg
    • Moving too fast at 22½ knots, the Titanic struck an iceberg on the starboard side on the night of April 14, 1912 in the North Atlantic 400 miles away from Newfoundland.
    • Also on an April night, in the North Atlantic 400 miles from Newfoundland (Terranova), the Titan hit an iceberg while traveling at 25 knots, also on the starboard side.
  • The Unsinkable Sank
    • The unsinkable Titanic sank, and more than half of her 2200 passengers died.
    • The indestructible Titan also sank, more than half of her 2500 passengers drowning.
    • Went down bow first, the Titan actually capsizing before it sank.
    • The names being similar (Titanic = Titan + ic).

    - Source(Wikipedia).