In 1898 a struggling author named Morgan Robertson concocted a novel about a fabulous Atlantic liner, far larger than any that had been built. Robertson loaded his ship with rich complacent people and then wrecked it one cold April night on an iceberg. This somehow showed the futility of everything, and in fact, the book was called Futility when it appeared that year, published by the firm of M.F. Mansfield.
Fourteen years later a British shipping company named the White Star Line built a steamer remarkably like the one in Robertson's novel. The new liner was 66,000 tons displacement; Robertson's was 70,000 tons. The real ship was 882ft and 9in long; the fictional one was 800ft. Both vessels were triple screw and could make 24 - 25 knots. Both could carry about 3,000 people and both had enough lifeboats for only a fraction of this number. But, then, this didn't seem to matter because they were both labeled "unsinkable".
On April 10, 1912 the real ship left Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. Her cargo included a priceless copy of The Rub�iy�t of Omar Khayy�m and a list of passengers collectively worth 250 million dollars. On her way over she too struck an iceberg and went down on a cold April night.
Robertson called his ship the Titan; the White Star Line called its ship the Titanic. Here is her legendary first, and tragic last voyage.
Copyright �1955, 1976 by Walter Lord
