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''The Wreck of the Titan'' is an 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.

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''The Wreck of the Titan'' is an 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. sea.

It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.



** "I am der heaviest insurer; so Mr. Selfridge, this battle will be largely petween you and myself."

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** "I -->''"I am der heaviest insurer; so Mr. Selfridge, this battle will be largely petween you and myself.""''

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* CurtainClothing: When the younger Myra is rescued by the ''Peerless'', her damaged nightgown is replaced by an outfit stitched together from sailcloth and old flannel shirts by the crew members.
* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Myra's husband dies on the ''Titan'', opening up the possibility of John rekindling his relationship with her after the story ends.



* MurderTheHypotenuse: Myra's husband dies on the ''Titan'', opening up the possibility of John rekindling his relationship with her after the story ends.



* OrwellianRetcon: The novel was rereleased after the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'', adding the more well-known alternate title ''The Wreck of the Titan'', changing a few details about the ''Titan'' in the novel (most notably, increasing the ship's displacement from 40,000 to 70,000 tons to make it larger than the ''Titanic''), and adding the scene at the end where John receives a letter from Myra.



* RealityIsUnrealistic: The requirement of the ''Titan'' to steam at full speed at all times seems absurd now, as it violates one of the most basic rules of navigation (the requirement to travel at safe speeds with regards to prevailing circumstances and conditions). However, during the 19th Century, the Collins Line was required to travel at full speeds at all times by the US Government as part of their trans-Atlantic mail service contract. This led to several accidents, including the loss of the steamship ''Arctic'' in 1854 after it collided with a smaller ship off the coast of Newfoundland.



* {{Ungrateful B|astard}}itch: The mother spares absolutely no gratitude to John for saving her daughter from the sinking ''Titan'', instead prosecuting him for kidnapping her.

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* {{Ungrateful B|astard}}itch: The mother spares absolutely no gratitude to John for saving her daughter from the sinking ''Titan'', instead prosecuting him for kidnapping her.her.
* YouLeaveHimAlone: After Rowland gives his testimony as to the events, Captain Bryce dismisses it as a complete lie. While John is outraged enough to jump to his feet (despite his injuries), Captain Barry stops him before delivering this statement to Bryce:
--> "I saw a polar bear that this man killed in open fight. I saw his arm afterward, and while nursing him away from death, I heard no whines or complaints. He can fight his own battles when well, and when sick I'll do it for him. If you insult him again in my presence, I'll knock your teeth down your throat."
** Bonus points for Captain Barry making good on his threat when Captain Bryce tries to assault Rowland in the following chapter.
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The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank.

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The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland Newfoundland and sank.
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!!Tropes:

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!!Tropes:!!''Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan'' provides examples of:

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An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.

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An [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thewreckofthetitan.jpg]]

''The Wreck of the Titan'' is an
1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.



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! Tropes
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* GreedyJew: The insurance broker Meyer has shades of this. In his defense, as the insurer of the ''Royal Age'' and the ''Titan'', he would have to cover the losses of both ships, so it's quite reasonable that he'd be eager to pass off financial responsiblity to Mr. Selfridge when John reveals the ''Titan'''s officers were responsible for both collisions, thus voiding their insurance policy.


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* MamaBear: Myra (quite understandably) flips out when she sees John jokingly dangling her daughter over the ship's railing.


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* MurderTheHypotenuse: Myra's husband dies on the ''Titan'', opening up the possibility of John rekindling his relationship with her after the story ends.


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* ParentalSubstitute: The younger Myra comes to view John as a father figure after he rescues her from the sinking ''Titan'' and escorts her all the way back to New York. The story ends with her mother writing to John and asking him to come visit the girl, which he does.


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* SuicidalOverconfidence: The owners of the ''Titan'' are so convinced of her indestructability, they order her to steam at full speed regardless of the conditions, believing that any collision would have minimal impact on the ''Titan''. An iceberg quickly proves that theory wrong.


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* TooDumbToLive: The captain and first mate try to discredit John as an unreliable drunk by deliberately drugging him before his watch as lookout (whose sole job is to keep the ship safe) while sailing through a heavy fog. Not only does this contribute to the fatal accident that sank the ''Titan'', it came back to ''really'' bite them in the ass when the captain accidentally lets slip that he knowlingly had an intoxicated man on watch during the collision.

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* AccidentalMurder: The recklessness of the ''Titan''s officers to travel at full speed in a dense fog causes two fatal collisions in two days: first, the ''Titan'' rams the ''Royal Age'' and slices it in half, leaving everyone onboard to drown or die of exposure, and then slamming directly into an iceberg, killing all but 13 of the 3,000 people onboard.

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* AccidentalMurder: The recklessness of the ''Titan''s officers to travel at full speed in a dense fog causes two fatal collisions in two days: first, the ''Titan'' rams the ''Royal Age'' and slices it in half, leaving everyone onboard to drown or die of exposure, and then slamming the ''Titan'' itself slams directly into an iceberg, killing all but 13 of the 3,000 people onboard.



* CruelMercy: After hearing Rowland's testimony, Meyer lets the captain and first officer of the ''Titan'' leave his office and advises them to get out of the country before he reports them to the authorities, knowing that their careers are effectively ruined even if they aren't convicted.



* FunetikAksent: Meyer has the habit of pronouncing the letter "b" as "p" and vice versa, as well as pronouncing "th" as "d".
** "I am der heaviest insurer; so Mr. Selfridge, this battle will be largely petween you and myself."



* HollywoodHeartAttack: Mr. Selfridge has a sudden heart attack and dies in Meyer's office when John reveals that the ''Titan'' caused the sinking of the ''Royal Age'' (thus voiding its insurance policy and leaving Selfridge, the largest shareholder of the ''Titan'', financially responsible.

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* HollywoodHeartAttack: Mr. Selfridge has a sudden heart attack and dies in Meyer's office when John reveals that the ''Titan'' caused the sinking of the ''Royal Age'' (thus voiding its insurance policy and leaving Selfridge, the largest shareholder of the ''Titan'', financially responsible.responsible).
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References a deleted line.


The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers.

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The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers.
sank.
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Not anymore.


The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

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The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.
passengers.
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More lifeboats aren't going to help when the ship goes down in under ten minutes


An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers, and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.

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An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers, and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.
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Renamed one trope.


* GoDownWithTheShip: Averted; out of about 3,000 people onboard, the captain is one of only 13 people who ''doesn't'' go down with the ship. In fact, only two of the survivors are passengers.

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* GoDownWithTheShip: GoingDownWithTheShip: Averted; out of about 3,000 people onboard, the captain is one of only 13 people who ''doesn't'' go down with the ship. In fact, only two of the survivors are passengers.



* [[UngratefulBastard Ungrateful Bitch]]: The mother spares absolutely no gratitude to John for saving her daughter from the sinking ''Titan'', instead prosecuting him for kidnapping her.

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* [[UngratefulBastard Ungrateful Bitch]]: {{Ungrateful B|astard}}itch: The mother spares absolutely no gratitude to John for saving her daughter from the sinking ''Titan'', instead prosecuting him for kidnapping her.
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* ScrewtheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: After Mr. Selfridge's sudden death, John learns that he was the largest shareholder of the ''Titan''. He then immediately refuses to testify about the collision with the ''Royal Age'' and the iceberg, as his testimony would void the Titan's insurance policy and leave Selfridge's family, namely John's former lover Myra and her daughter, financially responsible.

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* ScrewtheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: After Mr. Selfridge's sudden death, John learns that he was the largest shareholder of the ''Titan''. He then immediately refuses to testify about the collision with the ''Royal Age'' and the iceberg, as his testimony would void the Titan's insurance policy and leave Selfridge's family, namely John's former lover Myra and her daughter, financially responsible.
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* AccidentalMurder: The recklessness of the ''Titan''s officers to travel at full speed in a dense fog causes two fatal collisions in two days: first, the ''Titan'' rams the ''Royal Age'' and slices it in half, leaving everyone onboard to drown or die of exposure, and then slamming directly into an iceberg, killing all but 13 of the 3,000 people onboard.


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* BlatantLies: One of the officers tries to console Myra by telling her that her daughter is safe with John (which is true), knowing full well that John and the girl are stuck on the iceberg and have little chance of rescue.


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* ContrivedCoincidence: John's former lover Myra is travelling on the same steamship where he is working as a deckhand on the same voyage that it collides with an iceberg.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The collision with the iceberg causes the boilers to burst, filling the engine room with steam and scalding all of the men inside it before they ever have a chance to drown.


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* EyeScream: John kills a polar bear by stabbing through its eye with his knife.


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* HeKnowsTooMuch: After John refuses the captain's bribe to remain silent about the accident with the ''Royal Age'', the captain and officers conspire to discredit John (already a known alcoholic) by drugging him and keeping a record of his ramblings as evidence of his unreliability.
* HollywoodHeartAttack: Mr. Selfridge has a sudden heart attack and dies in Meyer's office when John reveals that the ''Titan'' caused the sinking of the ''Royal Age'' (thus voiding its insurance policy and leaving Selfridge, the largest shareholder of the ''Titan'', financially responsible.


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* MurderByInaction: After cutting through the ''Royal Age'', the ''Titan'' continues on its voyage, leaving the smaller ship to its fate and attempting to sweep the whole incident under the rug.
* MushroomSamba: To further discredit John, the captain has the boatswain spike his evening tea with hashish, causing him to hallucinate on watch so the crew can use his erratic behavior as evidence against his testimony.
* OhCrap: The captain and first officer of the ''Titan'' have this reaction during the inquiry when they try to discredit John by claiming he was drunk on watch (in reality, they had drugged him), only to realize they had just admitted to knowingly having an intoxicated man standing watch as lookout at the time of the collision.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted; both John's ex-lover and her daughter are named Myra.
* ProperlyParanoid: The morning after refusing the captain's bribe, John finds a flask of whiskey planted in the pocket of his jacket and assumes the captain is trying to drug him. While the whiskey itself is not drugged, the captain does have the boatswain spike John's tea later that day.


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* ScrewtheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: After Mr. Selfridge's sudden death, John learns that he was the largest shareholder of the ''Titan''. He then immediately refuses to testify about the collision with the ''Royal Age'' and the iceberg, as his testimony would void the Titan's insurance policy and leave Selfridge's family, namely John's former lover Myra and her daughter, financially responsible.
* SerendipitousSurvival: Both Myra and her daughter survive the sinking of the ''Titan'' because they were the only passengers not below decks when the ship collided with the iceberg (the girl had been woken up by the boatswain's whistle and wandered on deck, and her mother had come up looking for her).


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* ThinkingOutLoud: John starts rambling out loud about his failed relationship to Myra when the drugs start to affect him.

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* ChekhovsGun: In the first chapter, it is stated that if the ''Titan'' were to collide with another ship head-on at full speed, the other ship would be cut in half. Two chapters later, it does exactly that to the ''Royal Age''.



* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first chapter, it is stated that if the ''Titan'' were to collide with another ship head-on at full speed, the other ship would be cut in half. Two chapters later, it does exactly that to the ''Royal Age''.



* ScrewtheMoneyIHaveRules: After the ''Titan'' collides with the ''Royal Age'', causing the latter ship to sink, John is the only witness to the accident that refuses the captain's bribe to remain silent.

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* ScrewtheMoneyIHaveRules: ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: After the ''Titan'' collides with the ''Royal Age'', causing the latter ship to sink, John is the only witness to the accident that refuses the captain's bribe to remain silent.
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* Foreshadowing: In the first chapter, it is stated that if the ''Titan'' were to collide with another ship head-on at full speed, the other ship would be cut in half. Two chapters later, it does exactly that to the ''Royal Age''.

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* Foreshadowing: {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first chapter, it is stated that if the ''Titan'' were to collide with another ship head-on at full speed, the other ship would be cut in half. Two chapters later, it does exactly that to the ''Royal Age''.
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* Either/OrTitle: ''Futility; or, The Wreck of the Titan''. The latter title was added to capitalize on the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the sinking of the ''Titanic''.

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* Either/OrTitle: EitherOrTitle: ''Futility; or, The Wreck of the Titan''. The latter title was added to capitalize on the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the sinking of the ''Titanic''.



* ScrewtheMoney,IHaveRules: After the ''Titan'' collides with the ''Royal Age'', causing the latter ship to sink, John is the only witness to the accident that refuses the captain's bribe to remain silent.

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* ScrewtheMoney,IHaveRules: ScrewtheMoneyIHaveRules: After the ''Titan'' collides with the ''Royal Age'', causing the latter ship to sink, John is the only witness to the accident that refuses the captain's bribe to remain silent.
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* AbandonShip: Averted; the ''Titan'' sinks so quickly that no order is given and only those who were on deck when the ship collided are able to escape.


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* AnArmAndALeg: John's confrontation with a polar bear requires his left arm to be amputated after he is rescued from the iceberg.


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* BearsAreBadNews: A polar bear attacks John and the girl while they are stranded on the iceberg.


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* Either/OrTitle: ''Futility; or, The Wreck of the Titan''. The latter title was added to capitalize on the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the sinking of the ''Titanic''.
* Foreshadowing: In the first chapter, it is stated that if the ''Titan'' were to collide with another ship head-on at full speed, the other ship would be cut in half. Two chapters later, it does exactly that to the ''Royal Age''.
* GoDownWithTheShip: Averted; out of about 3,000 people onboard, the captain is one of only 13 people who ''doesn't'' go down with the ship. In fact, only two of the survivors are passengers.
* LethallyStupid: The officers of the ''Titan'' continue to travel at full speed at night in a dense fog, causing them to collide with the smaller ''Royal Age'' and sink it. Having learned nothing, they do the exact same thing the following night and collide with an iceberg, causing the ''Titan'' to sink with nearly 3,000 casualties.


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* ScrewtheMoney,IHaveRules: After the ''Titan'' collides with the ''Royal Age'', causing the latter ship to sink, John is the only witness to the accident that refuses the captain's bribe to remain silent.
* TemptingFate: The company that owns the ''Titan'' is so convinced of its unsinkability that they outfit her with the fewest number of lifeboats the law will allow them to, and make it company policy for the ship to travel at full speed at all times, regardless of the weather.
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Accidentally Accurate has been renamed per TRS thread, and is Trivia, so I'm taking it to the Trivia tab.


* AccidentallyAccurate: Has an eerie amount of similarities to the sinking of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' 14 years later. The fact that the ships' names are almost identical (All White Star Line ships used the 'ic' suffix) is just the start.

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* AccidentallyAccurate: Has an eerie amount of similarities to the sinking of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' 14 years later. The fact that the ships' names are almost identical (All White Star Line ships used the 'ic' suffix) is just the start.
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The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

to:

The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage, voyage from England to New York, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

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An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (24, "as few as the law allowed"), and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.

to:

An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (24, "as few as the law allowed"), passengers, and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.



The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

to:

The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'', on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity).passengers. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.
''Titanic''.

The author denied any prescience, instead attributing the similarities to his knowledge of maritime affairs and how a big disaster at sea would likely play out.




* TheAlcoholic: John Rowland in the beginning.

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\n* AccidentallyAccurate: Has an eerie amount of similarities to the sinking of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' 14 years later. The fact that the ships' names are almost identical (All White Star Line ships used the 'ic' suffix) is just the start.
* TheAlcoholic: John Rowland in the beginning. He gets better.
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An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (24, "as few as the law allowed"), and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.

to:

An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It mostly takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (24, "as few as the law allowed"), and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.



The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world (though barely), White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

to:

The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world (though barely), world, White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.
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The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world (though barely), White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_TitanWikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

to:

The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world (though barely), White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_TitanWikipedia's org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan Wikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.
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An 1898 novella by Morgan Robertson, about a disaster at sea. It takes place on board the fictional ocean liner the ''Titan'', the largest ship afloat. The novel follows John Rowland, a disgraced former US naval officer who's now a deckhand on the ''Titan''. One April night while the ''Titan'' is going from Europe to New York on its third voyage, the ship hits an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfoundland. The ''Titan'' sinks. It doesn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (24, "as few as the law allowed"), and so there are few survivors. Among the survivors are John Rowland and the daughter of one of his former lovers, whom he saved by jumping onto the iceberg.

John and his rescuee are recovered by a passing ship, and the girl is reunited with her mother. Who promptly arrests John for kidnapping her daughter. Luckily for him, the magistrate is sympathetic to him and tells off the mother for her ungratefulness to her daughter's savior. John, meanwhile, works his way up to a lucrative government position.

The novel gained more attention 14 years later, after the largest ship in the world (though barely), White Star Line's ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' (the 'ic' suffix was used by all White Star Line ships), on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles away from the coast of Newfounland and sank. The ''Titanic'' didn't have enough lifeboats for all its passengers (20- 14 regular ones, 4 collapsibles, and 2 emergency cutters. This was actually ''more'' than the law required [outdated maritime regulations meant that all ships over 10,000 tons had to carry at least 16 lifeboats], but it was less than ''Titanic'''s lifeboat capacity). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_TitanWikipedia's article on the novella]] has a list of all the similarities between the ''Titan'' and the ''Titanic''.

! Tropes

* TheAlcoholic: John Rowland in the beginning.
* ArrestedForHeroism: John manages to save a girl's life when the ''Titan'' sinks, and the girl's mother's response is to have him arrested for kidnapping the girl. Luckily, he's let off.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: It takes a while and a lot of work, but John escapes the ''Titan'', finds a well-paying job, and kicks his alcohol habit.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The magistrate.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The magistrate tells the mother off for arresting John.
* [[UngratefulBastard Ungrateful Bitch]]: The mother spares absolutely no gratitude to John for saving her daughter from the sinking ''Titan'', instead prosecuting him for kidnapping her.

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