melanie2
4th Level Blue Feather
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I've always been fascinated with the Titantic..and still view the tragedy with sadness...if you've ever read "A Night to Remember" you will recall the forward..everytime i re read that forward, i'm struck anew by the coincidence...i shall share the forward with you..
"In 1898 a struggling author named Morgan Robertson concocted a novel about a fabulous Atlantic liner, far larger than any that had ever been built. Robertson loaded his ship with rich and 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. The real ship was 882.5 feet long; the fictional one was 800 feet. Both vessels were triple screw and could make 24-25 knots. Both could carry about 3000 people, and both had enought lifeboats for only a fraction of this number. But, then, this didn't seem to matter because both were 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 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and a list of passengers collectively worth two hundred fifty million dollars. On her way over she too struck an icebert and went down on a cold April night.
Robertson called his ship the Titan; the White Star Line called its ship the Titanic. This is the story of her last night."
from the forward of "A Night to Remember" by Walter Lord.
In this book, the author and many eye witnesses recalled a cargo ship, lying about ten miles from them, "The Californian" ....of which their distress signals and flare lights were ignored, and the telegraph system was shut down at midnight.. the crew on deck of The Californian thought that for some reason, the Titanic was sending out those flares for some sort of celebration..and later when the lights disappeared, they thought the ship had moved on..
"In 1898 a struggling author named Morgan Robertson concocted a novel about a fabulous Atlantic liner, far larger than any that had ever been built. Robertson loaded his ship with rich and 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. The real ship was 882.5 feet long; the fictional one was 800 feet. Both vessels were triple screw and could make 24-25 knots. Both could carry about 3000 people, and both had enought lifeboats for only a fraction of this number. But, then, this didn't seem to matter because both were 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 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and a list of passengers collectively worth two hundred fifty million dollars. On her way over she too struck an icebert and went down on a cold April night.
Robertson called his ship the Titan; the White Star Line called its ship the Titanic. This is the story of her last night."
from the forward of "A Night to Remember" by Walter Lord.
In this book, the author and many eye witnesses recalled a cargo ship, lying about ten miles from them, "The Californian" ....of which their distress signals and flare lights were ignored, and the telegraph system was shut down at midnight.. the crew on deck of The Californian thought that for some reason, the Titanic was sending out those flares for some sort of celebration..and later when the lights disappeared, they thought the ship had moved on..
