Titan and Titanic very strange similarities that we don't know
It was the largest ship of its day, described by its creator as "the greatest of the works of men."
Its seafaring days came to an abrupt and tragic end when it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, destroying the vessel and killing most of the passengers on board. And it's a fictional boat brought to life 14 years before the Titanic ever set sail.
The ship plays a relatively minor role in "Futility," the 1898 novella penned by U.S. writer Morgan Robertson, but it has assumed nearly mythological status among scholars of the real-life disaster of 1912. It seems fitting for a boat christened the Titan.
Robertson's story is rife with details that seem positively surreal for readers of the post-Titanic era, with the nearly identical names being among the least striking.
The ships are approximately the same size, with the Titanic being only 25 metres longer than the Titan's 243. Both were capable of maximum speeds over 20 knots, and both carried only the bare legal minimum number of lifeboats for the thousands of passengers on board.
Robertson's opening description of the Titan could easily have been lifted from press clippings written before the Titanic's maiden voyage.
"SHE was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men. In her construction and maintenance were involved every science, profession, and trade known to civilization," the novella begins.
Both vessels were hailed as unsinkable, and both proved all too vulnerable after striking icebergs in mid-April.
The eerie parallels between Robertson's account of the Titan's demise and the sinking of the Titanic gave the author a reputation for precognition after 1912. But Paul Heyer, Titanic scholar and professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, said most of the coincidences can be explained with a look at the author's biography.
"He was someone who wrote about maritime affairs," Heyer said. "He was an experienced seaman, and he saw ships as getting very large and the possible danger that one of these behemoths would hit an iceberg."
Robertson's perception of ship-building trends, combined with his understanding of transatlantic travel, gave him ample material for a story depicting a naval catastrophe.
More: True Facts About the Titanic
The final product, however, doesn't focus exclusively on the Titan. The action takes place on the doomed cruiseliner for the first half, but then shifts to an improbable struggle for physical survival and spiritual redemption on the iceberg before scenes in both the U.K. and New York.
The story's primary focus is a disgraced naval officer who overcomes alcoholism, finds Christianity and regains the love of his life after the trials of the Titan's sinking.
The novella also features some unorthodox action sequences, including scenes in which the ship mows down an oncoming vessel and the hero slays a polar bear to save a small child.
"He's not exactly a great literary stylist," Heyer said of Robertson. "Moralistic tone, implausible situations, poor character development. The only saving grace of the novella is intriguing information about the ship and her fate."
The lack of literary merit made "Futility" a footnote in the years after its publication, Heyer said, adding that its reputation changed drastically after the Titanic sank.
Robertson immediately earned a reputation that he spent the rest of his career disclaiming, he said.
"Everybody ran to him and said, 'Oh my god, you're psychic.'
'No,' he said, 'I know what I'm writing about, that's all.' "
In the Know
Similarities between Titanic and Titan:
The Titanic was the world’s largest luxury liner (882 feet, displacing 53,000 long tons), and was once described as being (nearly) "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 20 lifeboats, 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.
More: Titanic Pass $2 Billion Mark
Struck an iceberg
Moving too fast at 23 knots, the Titanic struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912 in the North Atlantic 400 miles away from Terranova.
Also on an April night in North Atlantic 400 miles from Newfoundland (Terranova) , the Titan hit an iceberg while traveling at 25 knots.
The Unsinkable Sank
The unsinkable Titanic sank, and more than half of her 2208 passengers died.
The indestructible Titan also sank, more than half of her 2500 passengers drowning, their "voices raised in agonized screams."
Differences between Titanic and Titan
The Titan does not strike the iceberg a glancing blow on a clear night, as is the case with the Titanic, but drives headlong onto an ice shelf possibly formed by the recent overturning of a berg, rising up and falling on her side.
The Titanic hit the iceberg in perfect sailing conditions, while the Titan hit the iceberg in bad, misty and foggy conditions.
705 people aboard the Titanic were saved, while only 13 of those aboard the Titan survived.
The Titanic sank on her maiden voyage, while the Titan had made several voyages.
Titanic sank while sailing from England to the USA, Titan was traveling in the opposite direction.
The Titan sinks a ship before hitting the ice. The Titanic came close to an accident with the New York but did not actually hit it.
The Titan had sails to improve her speed;Titanic did not.
The Titanic was the second of three nearly identical sister ships; the Titan had no sister ships.
Sources: http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=11716
http://news.yahoo.com/authors-fictional-titan-hit-iceberg-years-titanic-sank- 083700949.html
Blog Pinger Free
