Morgan Robertson's Futility

[Henry Loscher]

Michael, Morgan Robertson wrote more tales than just Futility. I was lucky to have purchased 4 books in a matched set set of Morgan Robertson's works, They are:

Book 1 Copyright 1899 by The Century Co. (A collection of short stories) Where Angels Fear to Tread first published in the Atlantic Monthly The Brain of the Battle-ship, first published in the Saturday Evening Post The Wigwag Message, first published in the Saturday Evening Post The Trade-wind, first published in Collier's Weekly Salvage, first published in the Century Magazine Between the Millstones, first published in the Saturday Evening Post The Battle of the Monsters, first published in the Saturday Evening Post From the Royal-Yard Down, first published in Ainslee's Magazine Needs Must When the Devil Drives, first published in McClure's Syndicate When Greek Meets Greek, first published in McClure's Syndicate Promordial, first published in Harper's Monthly Magazine

Book 2, Copyright 1901 by Curtis Publishing Co. and Copyright 1901 by Doubleday, Page and Co. Masters of Men, A Romance of the New Navy, published by McClure's Magazine and Metropolitan Magazine

Book 3 Copyright 1905 by Harper & Brothers, published March, 1905 Published by McClure's Magazine and Metropolitan Magazine The Closing of the Circuit A Cow, Two Men, and a Parson The Rivals, A Chemical Comedy A Hero of the Cloth The Subconscious Finnegan The Torpedo The Submarine Fifty Fathoms Down The Enemies The Vitality of Dennis The Helix The Shark The Mutiny

Book 4 Copyright 1898 by M.F. Mansfield and Copyright 1912 by Morgan Robertson Published by McClure's Magazine and Metropolitan Magazine The Wreck of the Titan, or Futility The Pirates Beyond the Spectrum In the Valley of the Shadow

Morgan Robertson forte seems to have been short nautical tales. All the above works are short stories except for Msters of Men, a full size novel, and The Pirates which was almost long enough to be a novel.

Hope this is of interest to you.

Regards, Henry Loscher

 

[Michael Tennaro]

Indeed, Henry, Robertson actually wrote even more than you realize - almost 150 short stories over his career, most published in periodicals of the time. Many were then collected in the anthologies you have.

He also wrote over 20 magazine and newspaper articles, several book reviews and even several poetry selections.

This information came from the excellent biography by John Vess The Titan and the Titanic: The Life, Works and Incredible Foresight of Morgan Robertson, worth getting if you can find it.

all the best, Michael (TheManInBlack) T

p.s. We really do have to get together off the boards and arrange a time to meet up soon!

 

[Henry Loscher]

Michael, Thanks for the information. From what I read, Morgan Robertson didn't make much money for his literary efforts. I will take up your suggestion on getting his biorgraphy by John Vess.

Regarding meeting up, I would really look forward to that. Where do you live? I live in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Today was an interesting day. All over the US they have something called THE GREAT AMERICAN TEACH IN. Schools invite the public to come to school and talk about anything they like. Today I talked to 2 groups of High School Students on the TITANIC. Even now, almost everyone raised their hands when asked if they had seen Cameron's film. Most if not all thought the events depicted in the film were real. Some seemed disappointed that Rose and Jack didn't really exist. It just shows how powerful Hollywood is and how it influences young minds. Frightening.

Take care and please let me know how we might be able to meet.

Regards, Henry Loscher

 

[Matt DiTullio]

Just a question.

I read online somewhere that only 13 people survived this.. Why and how? It seems kind of silly to me if a death factor was supposed to be about few lifeboats. It seems they were never used! Did it sink too fast?

Thank you. *Matt

 

[Dave Gittins]

Just glancing at the book, I don't think Robertson gives a time for the sinking. What he does say is that the ship hits the berg and rolls onto her side. The boats and davits are mostly destroyed in the process.

Don't take Robertson seriously. By any real standards, it's a lousy book.

 

[Steven Hall]

The word 'awful' comes to mind Dave.

 

[Matt DiTullio]

lol... So 13 people survived by climbing on to the berg? Lousy it must be. Too bad the berg didnt roll over on its side.

 

[David Briedis]

They were able to get one boat away before she sinks, basically the bridge crew and the hero's love interest. The hero and the child are thrown onto the berg in the collision.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Too bad the berg didnt roll over on its side.<<

In the real world, they have a nasty habit of doing just that.

 

[stevie douglas]

Hi folks, this is my first post, so please forgive me if ive done something wrong, or it needs moved or even deleted!! A book that was written many years ago, which is quite a chilling story. I haven't read it personally as copies are difficult to source i believe. Here is some information I found about it.

Wreck of the Titan

On April 14, 1912, the huge "unsinkable" ship the Titanic was steaming across the Atlantic towards New York. This was the Titanic's maiden voyage, and her captain was encouraged to break the record for speed while making the voyage. As most people know, after striking an iceberg, the unsinkable ship went down in only a matter of hours. Out of the 2,201 passengers, only 711 were saved. Since then, there have been many books and movies about the Titanic.

There was one fictional story written by a merchant seaman by the name of Morgan Robertson. Robertson's book was about an unsinkable passenger liner that sank while carrying the elite people of the time. The ship in Robertson's story was called the Titan and the book was titled The Wreck of the Titan. Even though the book is fictitious, the events in the story parallel the events of the Titanic. Both ships were built to be unsinkable. Both ships sank after striking an iceberg. Both ships were on their maiden voyage. The most well to do famous people were on the Titan and Titanic. Only one third of the passengers on each ship survived. Both ships had an inadequate number of lifeboats. Both ships were encouraged to break speed records during their voyage.

Robertson's book The Wreck of the Titan was never published. Each time it was rejected by editor's, they told him the same thing. The story was unbelievable. Surely the events he wrote of could not possibly happen to an unsinkable ship.

The book, The Wreck of the Titan was written in 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic hit an iceberg and settled on the bottom of the northern Atlantic

[Moderator's Note: This message, originally a separate thread in a different subtopic, has been moved to this pre-existing thread, the most recently active of several in which "Futility" is discussed. MAB]

 

[Hyperion]

Actually, the 1898 version (45,000 tons) is closer to the Titanic's displacement of (53,310 tons). Strangely, the change to 75,000 tons in the 1912 edition is less accurate.

Also, people keep forgetting to mention that for both the Titanic and the fictional Titan, the hit was on the starboard side, both in the evening, both ships traveling at close to 25 knots, both around 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland (take a look at the map for where 900 miles out from NY puts you when on a straight line to Ireland), both having around 20 lifeboats when both ships could have had more, both ships British owned, both events in April.

So, even if he's a genius when it comes to ship design, how did he managed to nail the month, the location, the time of day (late evening), and the side of the ship where the impact occurred?

 

[Cranfar6]

Actually, the 1898 version (45,000 tons) is closer to the Titanic's displacement of (53,310 tons). Strangely, the change to 75,000 tons in the 1912 edition is less accurate.

Also, people keep forgetting to mention that for both the Titanic and the fictional Titan, the hit was on the starboard side, both in the evening, both ships traveling at close to 25 knots, both around 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland (take a look at the map for where 900 miles out from NY puts you when on a straight line to Ireland), both having around 20 lifeboats when both ships could have had more, both ships British owned, both events in April.

So, even if he's a genius when it comes to ship design, how did he managed to nail the month, the location, the time of day (late evening), and the side of the ship where the impact occurred?

It's so interesting how the prescience of Roberston's Wreck of the Titan contrasts the shortsightedness of Stockton Rush's use of the name for his submersible. It almost feels like Roberston was doubly uncanny. Now both the Wreck of the Titanic and the Wreck of the Titan exist in nearly the same spot.