RMS Titanic and Fictional Titan Comparisons
Similarities Between the Ships Coincidence or Synchronicity?
May 12, 2009
The year 1998 marked the one-hundredth anniversary of Morgan Robertson’s novel Futility, which was based on the 1898 sinking of the Titan. The date also marked the first anniversary of James Cameron’s film, Titanic, which was based on the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. The two ships shared remarkable similarities aside from their names; both were the largest ships of their day and both sunk after striking icebergs.
Various anniversary editions of The Wreck of the Titan were published, claiming to be reprints of the 1898 edition. Some were reprints of the 1912 edition. Others were a mixture of both editions. There was one exception. It’s a privately printed book, The Futility God by Jack W. Hannah, published in 1975 in Mansfield, Ohio. The 1898 edition was published by M. F. Mansfield in New York.
Futility, 1898 Edition About the Titan
Morgan Robertson wrote a novel about the Titan published in 1898, titled Futility. His novel described the ship’s loss. It struck an iceberg and went down in April.
The Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912 and sank a little over two hours later at 2.20 a.m. on April 15, 1912. The novel was republished, after the Titanic sank, with the title Futility and the Wreck of the Titan. Some of the Titan’s statistics were changed.
John Rowland, Futility’s hero, is a disgraced former Royal Navy lieutenant, who’s a drunkard. After being dismissed from the Navy, he’s a deckhand on the Titan. Then ship hits an iceberg and sinks. There aren’t enough lifeboats. He saves a former lover’s daughter by jumping onto the iceberg with her. Rowland finds a lifeboat washed up on the iceberg and they’re rescued by a passing ship.
Comparing the 1898 Edition Titan with the RMS Titanic
Obviously, there’s striking similarity between the names. Another similarity is that the reprint of the original edition was published in Mansfield, Ohio and the original publisher was M. F. Mansfield. The differences between the ships, for the most part, don’t seem to be that great.
Similarities:
- Both collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic due to excessive speed and both ships had too few lifeboats
- Both were launched in April and their disasters happened in the same month
- Both were the largest ship afloat. The Titan was described as one of man’s greatest works. The Titanic was deemed unsinkable and a wonder of its era.
- Both had a displacement of 45,000 tons
- Both had three propellers and two masts
Differences:
- Titan sailed from New York to Liverpool; Titanic, Southampton to New York.
- It was the Titan’s third voyage; Titanic’s first
- Titan was 800 feet long, weighed 45,000 tons; Titanic, 880 feet long, weighed 46,328 tons
- Titan had fifteen watertight compartments; Titanic, nine
- Titan had 40,000 horsepower; Titanic, 45,000 horsepower
- Titan’s speed, 25 knots; Titanic’s, 24 knots.
Titan and Titanic Coincidence or Synchronicity?
Coincidences are when events happen by chance, although it seems that they might have been prearranged.
Psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung coined the term, “synchronicity,” which is a connection of two or more psychological/psychic phenomena without causation. It’s experiencing two or more events that are causally unrelated happening together in a seemingly meaningful manner and unlikely to occur together by chance.
Some propose the incidents are held together by a higher power. Events may be grouped by both cause and meaning. Meaning is a complex mental process, involving conscious and subconscious influences. Every connection doesn’t need to have an explanation in terms of causation.
The question is did Robertson have subconscious precognition, knowledge of the future, when he wrote the book based on the sinking of the Titan or were all the parallels the result of mere chance?
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Readers may also enjoy Tecumseh's Curse and Astrology and Shawnee Chief Cornstalk's Curse.
Source:
- The World Almanac Book of the Strange, Editors of The World Almanac, (A Signet Book, 1977).
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