“Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan” is an 1898 novel by Morgan Robertson. It tells of the ocean liner Titan, which sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. Fourteen years later, the Titanic sunk, and similarities to the wreck of the Titan have been frequently noted. I myself find the name usage more than coincidental, especially since Titanic’s identical sister ship Olympic had no problems. The use of fictional ships in boat naming did not stop there, however, and probably culminated with the first nuclear sub, the U.S.S. Nautilus (thanks, Jules).
The hero of the story, John Rowland, is a cashiered U.S. Navy officer working as a seaman on the R.M.S. Titan. Speed is all-important to the steamship company's bottom-line, and there is skullduggery among the officers aboard the Titan: they have no problem slicing in half poor fishing boats that get in their way. Efforts are made to discredit Rowland, who has been a witness to this barratry.
The speeding Titan subsequently hits an iceberg. Rowland proceeds to save the young daughter of a former (and wealthy) lover by jumping with the child onto the iceberg, camping in a wrecked lifeboat, and fighting a polar bear. Although the bear bites off Rowland's arm, he manages to kill the bear, thus providing food, and then makes good the rescue by finally hailing a passing ship. He makes his way back to America where the daughter is reunited with her mom amid some confusion. In spite of a series of MAJOR misunderstandings, he endures and regains his place in society.
Although the novel was written before Titanic had even been designed, there were some remarkable similarities between the fictional Titan and real-life Titanic. This might be attributed to the fact that Roberston was a naval innovator (who claimed to have invented the periscope, though the U.S. Navy’s version had already been invented).
Like the Titanic, the fictional ship sank in April in the North Atlantic, and there were not enough lifeboats for the passengers. There are also similarities between the designs, sizes, speed, and lack of life-saving equipment.
Each ship was described as "unsinkable" because of watertight compartments; each was the largest moving object ever made by man; each had far too few lifeboats (the Titanic - 16 plus 4 folding lifeboats, less than half the number required for her passenger capacity of 3000, and the Titan - "as few as the law allowed," 24 lifeboats, also less than half needed for her 3000 capacity); each struck an iceberg on the starboard side while speeding (the Titanic at 22½ knots, the Titan at 25);each was within a few hundred miles of Newfoundland. Each lost more than half its passengers, but the the Titan lost practically everyone except the hero and heroine’s daughter (who jumped on the iceberg and camped out), and small number of passengers (including the heroine) and evil crew members, including the captain and first mate. But this furnished the grist for the rest of the story.
However, the Titanic went down bow first, and the Titan capsized.
Capsized?? Speaking of capsizing - It would be a few more years before the S.S. Eastland turned over while at dock in the Chicago River with a loss of 844. On the morning of July 24, 1915, the Eastland, known as the "speed queen of the Great Lakes," was part of a fleet of five excursion boats to be used to take 7,000 Western Electric employees, their families and friends, across Lake Michigan for a company picnic. The ship had loaded its capacity of 2,500 passengers and was attempting to trim in preparation to cast off. Then it rolled over.
A total of 844 passengers and crew were killed. An incredibly detailed timeline of the disaster can be found here:
http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/timea3a1.htm
Ironically, the addition of lifeboats because of the Titanic disaster probably contributed to her top-heaviness and instability. Even more amazing, she was later acquired by the Navy, rechristened the U.S.S. Wilmette, and used a training vessel at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. I guess they figured if the swabbies could keep her upright, they were good-to-go. I don’t think anyone has yet made a movie...:=P
Capsized?? Speaking of capsizing - It would be a few more years before the S.S. Eastland turned over while at dock in the Chicago River with a loss of 844. On the morning of July 24, 1915, the Eastland, known as the "speed queen of the Great Lakes," was part of a fleet of five excursion boats to be used to take 7,000 Western Electric employees, their families and friends, across Lake Michigan for a company picnic. The ship had loaded its capacity of 2,500 passengers and was attempting to trim in preparation to cast off. Then it rolled over.
A total of 844 passengers and crew were killed. An incredibly detailed timeline of the disaster can be found here:
http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/timea3a1.htm
Ironically, the addition of lifeboats because of the Titanic disaster probably contributed to her top-heaviness and instability. Even more amazing, she was later acquired by the Navy, rechristened the U.S.S. Wilmette, and used a training vessel at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. I guess they figured if the swabbies could keep her upright, they were good-to-go. I don’t think anyone has yet made a movie...:=P
You’ve seen enough of the Titanic… These are pictures of the Eastland...
