In which ocean did the Titanic sink?
32967282#18
At the time the "Titanic" sank, the 1 May 1912 issue of "The Popular Magazine", an American pulp magazine, was on the news stands. It contained the short story "The White Ghost of Disaster," which described the collision of an ocean liner with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean, the sinking of the vessel, and the fate of the passengers. The story, by Mayn Clew Garnett (the pseudonym of sea-story author T. Jenkins Hains), created a minor sensation. In 1898, fourteen years prior to the "Titanic" disaster,
Morgan Robertson wrote a book called "Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan". This story features an enormous British passenger liner called the "Titan", which, deemed to be unsinkable, carries insufficient lifeboats. On a voyage in the month of April, the "Titan" hits an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic with the loss of almost everyone on board. There are some similarities between the fictional sinking of the "Titan" and the real-life sinking of the RMS "Titanic".
Legends and myths regarding RMS Titanic
10426212#21
When "Titanic" sank in 1912 and "Britannic" sank in 1916, their sinkings did not receive the same attention, due to the death toll (1,517 on "Titanic" and 30 on "Britannic"). Because the exact position of the sinking of the "Britannic" is known and the location is shallow, the wreck was discovered relatively easily in 1975. "Titanic", however, drew everyone's attention in 1912. After several attempts, the wreck was finally located by Jean-Louis Michel of Ifremer and Robert Ballard following a top secret mission for the US Navy to investigate the wreckage of two nuclear submarines, USS Thresher (SSN-593) and the USS Scorpion (SSN-589), that sank in the North Atlantic in the 1960s. The discovery of the wreck occurred on 1 September 1985, at 25 kilometres from the position given of the sinking. The wreck lies about 4,000 metres deep, broken in two. The bow is relatively well preserved, but the stern partially imploded, and to a large extent disintegrated during the descent and impact on the seabed.
Olympic-class ocean liner
7383200#93
In the 2010 video game "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors", the main characters were all put onto a sinking ship by a mysterious person named Zero. In their introduction, Zero references the "Titanic"s sinking in the line "On April 14, 1912... the famous ocean liner "Titanic" crashed into an iceberg. After remaining afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes, it sank beneath the waters of the North Atlantic. I will give you more time. 9 hours is the amount of time you will be given to escape." It is later discovered that the "ship" they are on is a replica of one of "Titanic"s sister ships, the Gigantic. In real life, "Gigantic" was rumored to have been the original name of the HMHS "Britannic", which was one of the "Titanic"s sister ships.
RMS Titanic in popular culture
31359739#0
Titanic is a four-part television miniseries period drama written by Julian Fellowes based on the sinking of the RMS "Titanic", a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, United Kingdom, to New York City, United States.
Titanic (2012 miniseries)
3152340#0
The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility (originally called Futility) is an 1898 novella written by Morgan Robertson. The story features the fictional ocean liner "Titan", which sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. "Titan" and its sinking have been noted to be very similar to the real-life passenger ship , which sank fourteen years later. Following the sinking of the "Titanic", the novel was reissued with some changes, particularly in the ship's gross tonnage.
The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility
7383200#79
One of the most famous novels associated with the disaster is a book written by Morgan Robertson fourteen years prior to the "Titanic"s maiden voyage, "Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan". Published in 1898, the book is noted for its similarities with the actual sinking. It tells the story of a huge ocean liner, the "Titan", which sinks in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage after colliding with an iceberg. The "Titan" is depicted as only slightly larger than "Titanic", both ships have three propellers and carry 3,000 passengers, both have watertight compartments, both are described as "unsinkable" and both have too few lifeboats "as required by law". The collision is described within the novel's first twenty pages; the rest of the book deals with the aftermath. The similarities between art and life were recognised immediately in 1912 and the book was republished soon after the sinking of "Titanic", with several editions being published since then.
RMS Titanic in popular culture
319558#54
Ocean liners have a strong impact on popular culture, whether during their golden age or afterwards. In 1867, Jules Verne recounted his experience aboard in his novel "A Floating City". In 1898, writer Morgan Robertson wrote the short novel "Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan", which features a British ocean liner "Titan" that hits an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic with great loss of lives. The similarities between the plot of the novel and the sinking of the 14 years later led to the assertion of conspiracy theories regarding "Titanic".
Ocean liner
33462689#7
Ice and his gang of sharks decide to let an iceberg sink the "Titanic". They fool an octopus named Tentacles into heaving an iceberg to the surface of the ocean by concealing the plan in the form of a bet to see who can throw ice the farthest. Onboard the "Titanic", the Duke is forced to sign the whaling concession at gunpoint, after which Maltravers and his entourage flee the ship in a lifeboat.
The Legend of the Titanic
7383200#56
Although not strictly about "Titanic", a number of other drama films were produced around this time that may have been inspired by the disaster. In October 1912 the Danish film company Nordisk released "Et Drama på Havet" ("A Drama at Sea") in which a ship at sea catches fire and sinks, while passengers fight to board lifeboats. It was released in the United States as "The Great Ocean Disaster" or "Peril of Fire". The same company produced a follow-up film in December 1913, which was also released in the US. Titled "Atlantis", it was based on a novel of the same name by Gerhart Hauptmann and culminated with a depiction of a sinking liner. It was the longest and most ambitious Danish film to date, taking up eight reels and costing a then-huge sum of $60,000. It was filmed aboard a real liner, the SS "C.F. Tietgen", chartered especially for the filming with 500 people aboard. The sinking scene was filmed in the North Sea. The "Tietgen" sank for real five years later when she was torpedoed by a German U-boat. A British film company planned to go one better by building and sinking a replica liner, and in 1914 the real-life scuppering of a large vessel took place for the Vitagraph picture "Lost in Mid-Ocean".
RMS Titanic in popular culture
1557869#5
"A Night to Remember", about the sinking of the RMS "Titanic", became a bestseller in 1955 and was made into a popular 1958 British movie of the same name. The historian tracked down 63 "Titanic" survivors and wrote a dramatic, minute-by-minute account of the ocean liner's sinking during her maiden voyage. Lord's knowledge of the "Titanic" catastrophe achieved considerable renown, and he frequently lectured at meetings of the Titanic Historical Society. In his final years, Lord wrote another book about the "Titanic" titled "The Night Lives On: Thoughts, Theories and Revelations about the Titanic", published in 1986, a year after the wreck of the "Titanic" was discovered and interest in the "Titanic" renewed again. In the next decade, Lord served as a consultant to director James Cameron during the filming of "Titanic" (1997). The sequel documentary to Cameron's film "Titanic", "Ghosts of the Abyss" (2003), was dedicated to Lord's memory.
Walter Lord