History Literature / RaiseTheTitanic

The book was a notable success, launching Cussler's writing career. There was also [[Film/RaiseTheTitanic a film]] made which is far more infamous and far less successful. The raising sequence is still worth a look.

* ExcitedShowTitle: The novel has this, although the film adaptation does not.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: When the novel was written, raising the ship probably did seem like the only feasible means of recovering its contents. Later advances in [=ROV=] design and control means it'd be much easier and cheaper to salvage the byzanium from the wreckage without otherwise disturbing the site.

* EmasculatedCuckold: Gene’s failure and obsession are symbolically consummated when [[spoiler: Pitt celebrates their victory over the Russians by banging his wife. He goes completely insane shortly thereafter.]]

* RareGuns: One of the SEAL carries a Stoner double-barreled shotgun, presumably some TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture variation of the rare Stoner 63 weapon used around the time the book was written.

* FlechetteStorm: Pitt reveals he carried a Stoner pistol, which according to him shootsa cloud of tiny needlelike flechettes.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: It's revealed that [[spoiler: Perlov's aide, Marganin was killed in a tanker explosion three years earlier. A CIA officer was altered to look maimed by the explosion and was "discovered" with an acute case of amnesia. Not only did the Soviets restore his looks but educated him on his "history," brushing off any inconsistent behavior as after-effects of the accident. Perlov himself gives props to how brilliant this was.]]

* OutGambitted: A double version: [[spoiler: Pitt had secretly allowed a team of Navy [=SEALs=] to board the ''Titanic'' to hold off the inevitable Russian attack. What Pitt never expected was for the Soviets to board right in the eye of the hurricane with the [=SEALs=] (down in a lower deck) unaware. Luckily, Pitt is able to alert them as Perlov realizes too late how his men are outmanned and outgunned.]]
** Also happens to [[spoiler: Perlov as he realizes how from the start, he was set up by his own aide who was secretly a U.S. spy.]]

* OutGambitted: A double version: [[spoiler: Pitt had secretly allowed a team of Navy SEALs to board the ''Titanic'' to hold off the inevitable Russian attack. What Pitt never expected was for the Soviets to board right in the eye of the hurricane with the SEALs (down in a lower deck) unaware. Luckily, Pitt is able to alert them as Perlov realizes too late how his men are outmanned and outgunned.]]

* ExcitedShowTitle: The novel includes an exclamation mark, although the film adaptation does not.

* CanonDiscontinuity: After the Titanic was discovered in real life to have broken in half, and that raising it was impossible, the whole incident is erased from canon.

* DatedHistory: This story assumes the R.M.S. ''Titanic'' sank as a single piece, remaining intact enough to be salvaged. In Cussler's defense, this was the official position on the sinking until the ship was actually found, which was in 1985, almost 10 years after the book was written.

* DespairEventHorizon: The crew of the 'Deep Fathom' thought they had been abandoned to die when in fact said abandonment was a necessary element of Pitt's rescue plan. Unfortunately none of the radio communication equipment was in any sort of functional shape.

Dr. Gene Seagram, top scientist for a heavily-funded top secret government think tank, designs a defense system that would make it impossible for Russian missiles to hit any target in the continental United States, rendering the ICBM obsolete and shifting the balance of world power in America's favor. Unfortunately the device will only run on some {{Unobtanium}}, the only known supply of which went to the bottom of the ocean on April 15th, 1912 during the sinking of the ''Titanic''. There's only one thing to be done...

[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture In 1987]], Gene Seagram, top scientist for a heavily-funded top secret government think tank, designs a defense system that would make it impossible for Russian missiles to hit any target in the continental United States, rendering the ICBM obsolete and shifting the balance of world power in America's favor. Unfortunately the device will only run on some {{Unobtanium}}, the only known supply of which went to the bottom of the ocean on April 15th, 1912 during the sinking of the ''Titanic''. There's only one thing to be done...

''Raise the Titanic!'' is an early novel by Creator/CliveCussler and his first best seller. The book was published in 1976, a full nine years before the wreck of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' was discovered, and as such, the plot unintentionally takes a few liberties with the plausibility of salvaging the doomed ocean liner (until the wreck was found, [[DatedHistory most experts assumed it remained intact after sinking]] rather than breaking in two).

Unfortunately, the Russians have caught wind of the true motivation behind the American's attempt to find and salvage the ''Titanic'', and they're not exactly happy about it. Partly because the ore in question was originally mined in secret from territory that Russia had a claim to at the time, but mostly due to the aforementioned balance of power. They set out to sabotage the operation with the aim of reclaiming the stolen ore, or at least denying possession of it to their enemy.