The Loss of the S.S. Titanic

Although he survived the sinking by seven months, it was the Titanic that killed Colonel Archibald Gracie. His struggles in the icy waters of the North Atlantic had shattered his constitution, and the awful things he had seen on that fateful night left him a haunted man. One observer said he had the look of someone “who had descended as distinctly into hell as any human being would care to acknowledge, and had risen again from the dead.” Nevertheless he tried to make sense of his experiences, and this book was published soon after his death. The first half is his own account of the sinking, and shows how he had to be both lucky and strong just to live through the night. In the second half he tells the individual stories of each of the Titanic’s lifeboats, summarizing the bare facts and then providing dramatic survivor accounts, from personal interviews and from testimony given to the British and American inquiries into the disaster. In its author’s desperate search for the truth, this book remains one of the most powerful works on the sinking of the Titanic.

One of the first books published after the tragic loss of the Titanic, The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters is a detailed account of the events the night of April 14-15, 1912, and how the tragic loss of life could have been averted. The largest ocean liner of her time, Titanic was on her maiden voyage when she struck an iceberg and sank in the frigid North Atlantic, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew with her. The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters is a valuable report of the disaster and a must-read for anyone interested in Titanic lore.

The sinking of the Titanic in the north Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912 is arguably the most famous peacetime maritime disaster of modern history, and one that continues to capture popular imagination a century later.

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April 15, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, arguably the 20th century’s most famous peacetime sea disaster. Titanic at 100 commemorates the anniversary by bringing together news stories, opinions, tributes, survivor accounts, and more, giving a glimpse into the aftermath of the loss of the “unsinkable” ship.

Included are original articles from The New York Times, widely regarded as the first newspaper to correctly report the severity of the disaster, spanning the period from Titanic’s launch to the days immediately following the catastrophe; comments and criticism about Titanic from noted literary figures of the day, including George Bernard Shaw, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and H. G. Wells; poetic tributes released in the weeks following the sinking; and two full accounts of that harrowing night penned by survivors Lawrence Beesley and Col. Archibald Gracie. Also included are three fictional works many feel predicted the Titanic’s untimely end: two stories written by Titanic passenger W. T. Stead, who went down with the ship, and Morgan Robertson’s complete Futility, Or The Wreck of the Titan, published in 1898.

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Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan is Morgan Robertson’s 1898 novella about the unsinkable ship Titan, which goes down after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Disgraced former naval lieutenant John Rowland is working as a deckhand on the Titan when it strikes an iceberg and capsizes. Saving the younger daughter of a former lover by jumping onto the iceberg with her, Rowland and his charge are eventually rescued and return to their homes.

Written before the Titanic was designed, Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan’s narrative is eerily similar to the real-life disaster that occurred the night of April 15, 1912: both Titanic and Titan were considered to be unsinkable; neither ship carried enough lifeboats for the number of passengers on board; and both sank after striking icebergs. The sinking of the Titanic in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912, is arguably the most famous peacetime maritime disaster of modern history, and one that continues to capture popular imagination a century later.

HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

In 1898, Morgan Robertson penned The Wreck of the Titan, a love story set aboard the Titan, the most advanced steamship of the age. When the “unsinkable” passenger liner hit an iceberg, nearly all its passengers perished at sea.

    On April 15, 1912, the most advanced steamship of its age, the “unsinkable” Titanic, struck an iceberg and was lost to the ocean, becoming forever immortalized as a cultural touchstone. 

     The similarities between the fact of the Titanic and the fiction of the Titan are more than just name-deep. Both stories tell the tale of real humans faced with an unfathomable disaster, and the hopes of humankind at the turn of a new century. 

     As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic is remembered, Robertson’s work of fiction gives great insights into the human scope of the tragedy…and the enduring power of love.