The last night of "Titanic." (Chronicle of the death)

The last night of "Titanic." (Chronicle of the death)
Walter Lord

Author's preface
One unfortunate writer, a Morgan Robertson wrote in 1898 a novel about the transatlantic liner that its fantastic dimensions superior to all ships built hitherto. Fairy ship Robertson populated rich complacent passengers. In the course of the novel cold April night, there is a collision with an iceberg liner and ship dies. Shipwreck is, according to the author, was to symbolize the futility of all earthly things. Robertson's book, released in the same year the publishing company "M. F. Mansfield "was called:" Vanity ".

Fourteen years later the British shipping company "White Star Line" built ship, which surprisingly was like a ship described by Robertson. Displacement of the new liner was 66 thousand. Tons, the ship from the book Robertson - 70 thousand. The length of the actual ship was 269 m, the literary - 243. Both the liner had three propellers and can reach speeds of about 24-25 knots. Each was designed for about 3,000 people, and lifeboats both could accommodate only a fraction of the passengers and crew members, but no one gave any importance to this, as both vessels were considered "unsinkable."

Robertson called his ship "Titan", the owners of the company "White Star Line" dubbed belonging to them a new ship "Titanic."

April 10, 1912 the real ship went on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Some of cargo on board was priceless manuscript "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam, and travelers included in the list of passengers of the liner, "worth" a total of $ 250 million. Cold April night the ship, as well as his literary "prototype", collided with an iceberg and sank, too.
On the last night of the "Titanic", and in this book.