From The Mind of Merc - Titan & Titanic

(Evidently the internet signal on my phone was strong enough to post this so apologies for its delay)

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about the eerie similarities between 'The Wreck of the Titan' by Morgan Robertson and the fate of the RMS Titanic.

I’ve no doubt that more people will have heard of the real Titanic than the fictional Titan but the similarities between the fiction and the non-fiction are quite staggering.

But to start with a difference:

Titan	Titanic
Written 1898	Sank 1912

So, just to set the scene, the story of the Titan was written 14 years BEFORE Titanic set sail.

Now let’s move on to the similarities.

The specifics:

Titan	Titanic
Steel vessel	Steel vessel
British owned	British owned
c.800 feet long	c.800 feet long
Capable of and travelling at speeds over 20 knots	Capable of and travelling at speeds over 20 knots
Capacity for 3000 people	Capacity for 3000 people
Displacement of 45,000 tons	Displacement of 45,000 tons
3 propellers, 2 masts	3 propellers, 2 masts
Weighed c.45,000 tons	Weighed c.45,000 tons
Horsepower c. 40,000	Horsepower c. 40,000
Claimed as being “Unsinkable”	Claimed as being “Unsinkable”
Too few lifeboats on board	Too few lifeboats on board

The sinking:

Sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic	Sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic
Hit an iceberg 400 miles from Newfoundland	Hit an iceberg 400 miles from Newfoundland
Iceberg hit starboard bow	Iceberg hit starboard bow
Sank in mid-April	Sank in mid-April
Sank around midnight	Sank around midnight

That’s some pretty psychic storytelling!