James Cameron sees Titan-Titanic similarities; sub disaster also bears chilling link to 1898 novel
MANILA, Philippines — Apart from almost being the namesake of Titanic, “Titanic” movie director and world-renowned ocean explorer James Cameron saw another similarity between the Titan submersible and the luxury ocean liner that sank in 1912.
Also besides that they sank at the same spot, both Titan and Titanic had captains that unheeded warnings, said Cameron.
"I'm struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night, and many people died as a result," Cameron told ABC News.
Like the Titanic, the “catastrophic implosion” of the missing Titan submersible discovered early morning today in the Atlantic Ocean bears an eerie resemblance to what was described in the 1898 novel “The Wreck of the Titan” or “Futility” written by American author Morgan Robertson.
“Futility” was first published in 1898 and was later revised as “The Wreck of the Titan” in 1912. It is about a fictional British ocean liner, Titan, which sinks in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg – which what really happened to Titanic 14 years after “Futility” was first released in 1898.
Almost like Titanic, then the world’s biggest steamship, Titan was described in the novel as “the longest and fastest ship in the world” and also “unsinkable.”
Robertson wrote the novel even before the RMS Titanic was conceptualized, yet he was praised for his alleged “premonition” and “clairvoyance” since both Titan and Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for all passengers, were running at the same speed, and were almost of the same size (800 feet long for Titan, 882 feet and 9 inches long for Titanic). The author later denied that he had supernatural powers and scholars attributed his knowledge to his extensive know-how of shipbuilding and maritime trends.
After the Titanic sank, killing 1,500 people onboard, the novel was republished with some changes, in particular, about the ship’s displacement.
Like the Titanic, the fictional Titan was at full speed when disaster struck. It crashes into a smaller ship that split it into half. The submersible Titan’s debris were found on the seafloor, 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, making it seemingly the smaller ship that met the same fate as the bigger one.
"And for a very similar tragedy, where warnings went unheeded, to take place at the same exact site, with all the diving that's going on all around the world, I think it's just astonishing,” Cameron said in his ABC News interview.
“It's really quite surreal."
Israeli-British psychic Uri Geller, in a Facebook post early today, also claimed another similarity to Titanic and Titan’s disasters.
“Friends! #Titanic sank 111 years ago into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean on the morning of April 15, 1912. April+15+1912=11!! R.I.P for all on board Titanic sub #OceanGate,” he said, linking a blog post saying that 11 is a bad omen such as what happened at the September 11 (9-11) terrorist attacks.
RELATED: James Cameron says Titanic sub warnings 'went unheeded'
