morgan andrew robertson

Almost at the same time as Conan Doyle, the sailor and jeweler Morgan Robertson (but this is an American) published the novel "In vain" in 1898, which is about a huge luxury cruise ship in Britain that created a miracle in the history of shipbuilding. On a certain day in April of a certain year, the great ship returned to Southampton Port from new york, and collided with an iceberg and sank when passing through the North Atlantic. This ship is considered unsinkable, and the designer only arranged several life-saving sampans on both sides as decoration, or as a tribute to the sailing tradition, which caused most passengers to be unable to be rescued. Everyone will be familiar with this story-14 years later, that is, from midnight in April of 19 12 to the early morning of June of 15, there was a shipwreck in the real world, which was similar to that described in the novel, but the course was opposite, and the giant ship in the novel was called "Titan". What's more, when people later looked at the cargo list of Titanic, they found a book in the reading room on board.

Knowledge preparation II: SOLAS convention

In 19 14, that is, two years after the Titanic disaster that killed 19 12 people, the maritime countries gathered in London adopted the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) considering the lessons learned from the Titanic.

The version of 19 14 was replaced by SOLAS 1929, SOLAS 1948, SOLAS 1960 (first adopted under the auspices of IMO) and SOLAS 1974.

SOLAS 1974 is still valid today, but it has been revised and updated many times.

The new version of the provisions on life-saving devices and arrangements contained in Chapter III of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea came into effect on July 1 2008 1998, aiming at ensuring that passengers and crew members have the greatest chance of survival in case of disasters at sea.

Improved design and equipment, better fire prevention, satellite communication, rescue aircraft and helicopters, and trained personnel also contribute to improving maritime safety. ]

Translate:

19 14, namely 19 12 Two years after the shipwreck of the Titanic, which killed 1503 people, in order to learn from the lessons of the Titanic, the shipping countries of the world gathered in London and accepted the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, namely the SOLAS Convention.

Version 19 14 was replaced by SOLAS 1929, SOLAS 1948, SOLAS 1960 and SOLAS 1974 under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization.

The version of 1974 is still in use, but it has been revised many times.

1.The provisions on life-saving escape facilities and emergency plans in Chapter III of the new SOLAS Convention, which came into effect after July 1998, are aimed at ensuring that passengers and crew members still have the greatest hope of survival in the event of a maritime disaster.

Improving emergency plans and facilities, better fire prevention, the application of satellite communication and the rescue of aircraft and trained personnel will help improve the safety of people at sea.

Knowledge preparation 3: Titanic incident and its background

White Star Shipping Company (White

The star cruise ship Titanic was sunk by a glacier on April 19 12. She was built by Harlan Wolf Shipyard (Harlan and)

Wolff) Shipyard with a total registered weight of 46,328 tons. Titanic is equipped with a proud gym, swimming pool, squash court and bathroom.

1914 in April, 2002, at 1 1 40 pm, the lookout of Titanic rang the alarm bell three times to inform that there was a glacier on the right front. Unfortunately, all efforts to avoid the collision were too late. A rock-hard piece of ice penetrated the hull, like a huge can opener, and penetrated the hull shell 250 feet. As the number of lifeboats on board was far from enough, the panic began to spread. 191April 15 At 2: 20 am, the Titanic finally sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic, killing * * * 1503 people.

Titanic is probably the most famous shipwreck in history. This 2.5-mile-deep submarine grave is located 323 miles southeast of Newfoundland. This ship was built by Captain Jean Louis Michael on September 1985 1985.

Jean-louis michel) and Dr Robert Ballard (Ph.D.

A scientific research team led by Ballard found that the ship had been separated from beginning to end and split in two. The bow is still relatively intact, while the stern is located 2000 feet away and has been seriously damaged and deformed. Today, you can get it from St. John's (Canada)

John's) set off on the M.I.R submarine to visit the world's most famous sunken ship, and you can also see the world-famous bow and bridge-the place where the captain, E.H. Smith, gave the last order.

Titanic was once proudly called "unsinkable ship" in the history of world navigation, equivalent to the length of three and a half residential buildings, and was praised as "the city on the sea" by the European and American press. 191April 15, it was carrying 2207 passengers and crew on its maiden voyage and collided with the same floating iceberg for only 12 seconds, resulting in the tragedy of 15 13 passengers being killed. This brilliant maiden voyage brought it the bad luck of being buried at the bottom of the sea.

Titanic set sail for new york from Southampton, England on April 19 12. The wealthy businessman Dajia and British and American celebrities who boarded the ship want to spend a wonderful week on this brand-new miracle ship. Below the deck, there are hundreds of immigrants living in the lower cabin. They want to cross the Atlantic and start a new life on the other side.

The first few days passed safely, but on the fourth day, the operator received an emergency telegram from the ship sailing ahead, reminding them that the iceberg was floating abnormally south and had reached the nearby sea area. On Sunday, April 14, Titanic received an urgent telegram with the same content. However, these warnings were not taken seriously by the arrogant crew. The first alarm was thrown aside and was not reported to the captain for several hours. The next two times were never sent to the command room. Just after dusk, the temperature began to plummet. Although the signs of iceberg approaching are very obvious, Titanic neither changed course nor slowed down.

After nightfall, Captain edward smith began to look for icebergs. At 23: 40, the lookout first found the iceberg, and the duty officer ordered a sharp turn to the right chord. But it's too late. The iceberg knocked the outer wall of the ship's string open a gap 100 meters long. Most passengers only felt a slight vibration, which hardly attracted anyone's attention, but the engineers on board decided that the ship was hopeless after inspection. They think that if there are only four water tanks on board 16, the ship can still float on the water, but unfortunately, the outer walls of the five bottom tanks are torn by icebergs. Most of the passengers in the third class got up because the floor of their room had been flooded by the sea. The operator uses Morse code to send out the latest SOS distress signal, which is the first time to use this signal in a shipwreck. At midnight 12: 05, according to the captain's order, the lifeboat began to launch.

Passengers don't know that all lifeboats have only 1 178 seats, which can only accommodate half of the total number of people, but according to the laws at that time, this life-saving condition is quite sufficient. At first, the passengers did not panic. They don't believe there will be any danger at all, because the Titanic is unsinkable! It was not until the hull tilted dangerously that they lost their previous composure. Women and children leave the ship first. The first-class passengers boarded the lifeboat first, and only four women were killed in the shipwreck. Of the 272 women in second class and third class, only 96 survived. At one time, the door of the third-class cabin leading to the deck was even locked to prevent the passengers below from rushing onto the deck. On the increasingly inclined deck, the band has been playing the music of the mob.

At 2: 40 in the morning, the Titanic almost stood upright in the water, and then plunged into the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,000 meters. The immigrants who stayed in the dark cabin were buried at the bottom of the sea with the Titanic, and all the people on the deck were thrown into the cold sea, which became the funerary objects of the famous shipwreck in this ice sea.

The iceberg that led to the sinking of this luxury ship is actually not a mysterious thing, but a huge piece of ice floating in the polar waters. Every spring and summer, it is formed by the rupture of polar ocean ice due to rising temperature, and gradually disappears when drifting to temperate and tropical regions. Their size varies greatly, and large icebergs can reach several kilometers long. Such a behemoth is a great threat to maritime navigation.

The sinking of Titanic shows that the power of nature is enormous, and human beings must not be blind and arrogant. We must pay enough attention to various natural phenomena, otherwise tragedy will be inevitable.

According to the above information, we can get the following basic facts: First, Morgan Robertson, the author of In vain, was once a sailor; Second, before 19 14, the ship was not equipped with relevant life-saving facilities and the crew was not on duty as usual. Only in 19 14 years after the sinking of the Titanic, it was mandatory for all ships to be equipped with lifeboats capable of carrying all passengers, and to be educated on how to use them and keep wireless observation for 24 hours.

Next, we use the above information and basic facts to give possible explanations:

First, both ships sank on their maiden voyage because they hit icebergs, and the accident sites were in the North Atlantic. Both ships set sail in April, and the route was from England to America.

As we all know, the United States is a country dominated by European immigrants. For a long time after the Wright brothers boarded the plane, its communication with European countries still relied on postal vessels. During this time, Southampton Port was the busiest port in Britain, undertaking a large number of ships traveling between the United States and Europe. For shipping in the North Atlantic, spring and summer are the busiest times for shipping in the North Atlantic waterway, about March. It is the time when the ice floes are most widely distributed in the North Atlantic, and the maximum range can reach 365,438+0' N. At the beginning of the 20th century, when the international ice patrol did not use aircraft to observe the ice situation, the number of sunken ships in this sea area was very large. According to records, in 19 13, the year before the establishment of the international disease patrol team, the number of sunken ships in this sea area was 65,440.

We have every reason to speculate that sailor Morgan Robertson is familiar with the sea conditions and the time distribution of icebergs in the North Atlantic, because the North Atlantic route was the busiest route in the world at that time, and he may have participated in the transportation on this route. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that the shipwreck in his novels will be in the North Atlantic in April, because the iceberg, as people said in the 1980 s, must be a poet if you pick up a stone casually. Because the shipwrecks on this route are the same as those poets who lost their fingers and socks in China in 1980s, but they refused to count them clearly. As for Chu Hang, we can't speculate and guess. Whether the novel was written from the United States to Britain or from Britain to the United States is impossible to verify. The reason of network data.

Second, the number of passengers and crew on Titan is 3,000, and the number of passengers and crew on Titanic is nearly 3,000.

The contrast between these two data is obviously pieced together by the author. According to the records, the crew of Titanic and its total number should actually be 2,207 or 2,208, far less than 3,000. Can it be close to 3 thousand?

Third, the assumed weight of Titan is 70,000 tons, while the actual weight of Titanic is 66,000 tons.

From 65438 to 0897, he challenged the German Empire of the British Empire everywhere, and challenged the British shipbuilding Konzern under the will of William II. The newly-launched 15000-ton steamship William the Great from Germany's North Germany-Lloyd Company crossed the Atlantic fastest from the ship Lucania from Britain's Canard Company at an average speed of 22.5 knots and won the "Blue Ribbon Award". Britain was shocked all over the country, and the British White Star Shipping Company with deep pockets and a long history quickly built the 2 1000 ton Celtic as a response.

The above is the relevant information we can find on the Internet. The time when the author wrote the novel was 1898. Germany built a 15000-ton mail ship the year before last, and the British Celtics completed 2 1000 tons at the latest, that is, 1898. We have reason to believe that under the historical background of fierce competition among shipbuilders to build large cruise ships.

Fourth, the length of Titan is 800 feet, and the length of Titanic is slightly more than 800 feet.

In the conversion system, one foot is 0.3048 meters, and the data we can get is that the length of the Titanic is actually 882.5 feet. Obviously, the data difference is still very big.

Five, the number of propellers in both ships is three, and the speed of collision with icebergs is 23 miles per hour.

In fact, in some information, the speed of the Titanic when it hit an iceberg was 22 knots, which was "sailing at a speed of 22 knots in this dark and cold ocean". Why are these two data so similar? The average speed of the newly launched15,000-ton mail ship William the Great of Germany's North Germany-Lloyd Company is already 22.5 knots. The author who has been engaged in this profession should also be very aware of the geometric order of magnitude relationship between resistance and speed, so the speed cannot be greatly improved. This conclusion still restricts the improvement of ship speed until now, except for a few small warships that completely ignore consumption, the speed has increased to about 35 knots. Nowadays, most ships are due to fuel consumption.

Sixth, one thing is the same. The reason for the heavy casualties of passengers after the two-ship accident is that there are not enough lifeboats on board.

At that time, it was impossible for the author not to know that there was a serious shortage of life-saving equipment on board at that time. The record of SOLAS Convention after the sinking of Titanic made us believe this, but people didn't take this problem seriously at that time. The most typical example is Titanic's sister ship, Olympic, which once only carried 16 lifeboats.