Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan

Titan. A love story on the high seas (English Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan ) is a 1898 novel by American writer incurred Morgan Robertson ( 1861-1915 ). It is from a cruise ship called the Titan that sinks after a collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The parallels with the sinking of the Titanic are, 14 years later as striking - that's why proponents of supernatural abilities to speak of a vision Robertson.

Publication

Originally, the novel called Futility ( futility ) 1898 has been published. The first edition was sold only very sparse and is now very valuable. In a rematch of 1912 after the sinking of the Titanic the title in futility was changed or The Wreck of the Titan ( futility or the wreck of the Titan). In the new edition of the technical data of titanium have been changed. Some authors write that the data were adjusted to the Titanic, but this is not the case. Much more it looks like that the titanium was to remain the most powerful ship and therefore all measurements were adjusted to the length. The end and thus the moral of the short story was adapted.

Action

In the first half of the book the main character John Rowland is introduced, a run-down alcoholics and ex- lieutenant in the Royal Navy, who is now working on the Titan as a deckhand. The ship sails from New York City to Liverpool. The titanium collides with another ship called the Royal Age, sinking then. But the captain ignores this and continues the journey. Rowland wants to report the incident to the authorities. Therefore, the captain orders to drug him and send at night on the lookout for his insanity strikes all. Rowland recognizes too late the approaching iceberg, the ship collides with and sinks. After the collision with the iceberg Rowland rescues the young daughter of a former lover Myra by jumping on board with her from the ice.

The second half of the novel is about the adventures Rowlands. He saves Myra a second time, this time in front of a polar bear. Here, however, both are severely wounded. They survive for several days in a lifeboat landed and feed on the bear meat until they are rescued by a passing ship. As Rowland with Myra comes to London, he will make a statement to the happening. The insurer of the ship and the ship-owners want to influence him. First, he wants the collision with the Royal Age testify but when Myra's grandfather, one of the principal owner of the Titan, a heart attack succumbs, he decides to remain silent. He learns that the mother of Myra has also survived and heads straight to New York. After he has with his last money for new clothes for the girl, the unlikely pair is - Myra finely dressed, he dressed in rags - arrested by a policeman. Myra's mother claimed that Rowland had kidnapped the child on the ship. Therefore, he is brought before the judge who acquits him. Over a period of several years, he no longer sees Myra. He works his way back into society high and receives a lucrative position in the government. The end of the novel tells us that he receives an invitation of his former lover, invites him to her and her daughter.

Parallels and differences between the Titan and the Titanic

Kalman Tanito described in an analysis of the novel, the similarities and differences between the fictional Titan and the real Titanic. The post was titled The Titanic Commutator -, brought out The Official Journal of the Titanic Historical Society, Inc in 1994.

The following parallels can be found:

  • The length of vessels: Titanic 269 meters, 244 meters Titan.
  • Both ships were built of steel, had three propellers and two masts.
  • Both ships had watertight bulkheads. The Titan had 19, the Titanic 16
  • Both ships were considered to be unsinkable.
  • Both ships were in their time the largest passenger ships.
  • Both ships could carry 3,000 passengers.
  • The gross tonnage of titanium was 45,000, the Titanic 46 328.
  • Both ships possessed too few lifeboats.
  • Sink the ships took place in April.
  • Both ships collided with an iceberg and were damaged on the starboard side.
  • The places where the two ships were lost, were only a few hundred miles apart.
  • Both ships were British shipping companies were based in Liverpool and New York, a branch chatted on Broadway.

There are also list the following differences:

  • Although the journey of the two ships took place in April, but the ride of titanium was no maiden voyage as the Titanic.
  • The Titan is leaving New York, the Titanic, however, held course to New York.
  • The Titan is equipped with sails, not the Titanic.
  • The Titan is not a yacht keel, the Titanic.
  • The crew of the Titan wants to set a new speed record and rams doing a sailing ship. But they ignored the survivors. In the Titanic, there were no such events.
  • In the novel, is that night of moonlight, the speech, the Titanic sank in a moonless night.
  • The Titan slithers on the iceberg until it protrudes from the water and then falls on the starboard side. The machines falling tear a hole in the hull and then the titanium slip back into the water. The lifeboats the starboard side are destroyed. The Titanic, however, tore the hull on to the iceberg. The collision caused several leaks in the front six compartments. The lifeboats the starboard side were not destroyed.
  • Of the 3,000 passengers of titanium survive only thirteen. On the Titanic lost about 1,500 passengers their lives. There were about 700 lives will be saved.
  • John Rowland, the main character of the novel, is fighting against a polar bear on an iceberg. This is no person befall during the Titanic disaster.

Premonition or random

Followers of the supernatural lead the many similarities in the field to confirm the assumption, at Robertson if it were a true prophet.

It applies, however, to remember that the biggest part of the story corresponds to the then usual events and shipwrecks and collisions with icebergs comparatively frequently passed. Some say the ship's clash of the passenger steamer Elbe with the coal steamer Crathie in 1895 and the collision of Arizona with an iceberg would have stood sponsor.

Already 18 years before the publication of the novel, there was an iron steam ship called Titania, which sank on July 9, 1880 after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic within three hours.

Expenditure

German edition

English editions

  • Futility: The Wreck of the Titan, Scarce, 1898, Mansfield..
  • The Wreck of the Titan, or, Futility. , McKinley, Stone & Mackenzie, NY 1912
  • The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility. , McClure 's Magazine, NY, 1914.
  • Wreck of the Titan, or Futility. , C's P., USA, Revised ed of 1898 e, October 14, 1974 ISBN 0-911962-09-3
  • The Wreck of the Titan or Futility. , Buccaneer Books Inc, ISBN 0-89966-821-6 12.1991
  • Futility / the Wreck of the Titan. , Virtual Ink, May 1998 ISBN 0-9665458-1-8 ( edition for the 100th anniversary )
  • The Wreck of the Titan or Futility. , Indypublish.com 12 August, 2008 ISBN 1-4378-3758-1

Internet / E - Books

  • Librivox recording of Futility, Or the Wreck of the Titan from Morgan Robertson.
  • The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility (1912 ) 1st version at archive.org
  • The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility (1912 ) 2 version at archive.org
  • Futility: Or, The Wreck of the Titan at ebooks.gutenberg.us
  • The Wreck of the Titan ... or, Futility
  • The Wreck of the Titan or Futility in titanic - titanic.com
777255
de