Morgan Andrew Robertson (September 30, 1861 - March 24, 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope. Robertson is best known for his 1898 novel Futility, famous for the alleged similarities of its plot with the real-life sinking of the ocean liner RMS Titanic 14 years later.
Early life
Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on the Great Lakes, and Amelia (née Glassford) Robertson.
Career
Morgan went to sea as a cabin boy and was in the merchant service from 1877 to 1886, during which time he was promoted eventually to first mate. Tired of life at sea, he studied jewelry-making at Cooper Union in New York City and worked for 10 years as a diamond setter. When that work began to impair his vision, he began writing sea stories, his work being published in such popular magazines as McClure's and the Saturday Evening Post. Robertson never made much money from his writing, a circumstance that distressed him greatly. Nevertheless, beginning with the early 1890s his main source of income was as a writer and he enjoyed the company of other bohemian-style artists and writers in New York.
Futility
Robertson is known best for his short novel Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, first published in 1898. This story features an enormous British passenger liner named the SS Titan, which, deemed to be unsinkable, carries an insufficient number of lifeboats. On a voyage during the month of April, the Titan hits an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the loss of almost everyone on board. There are many close similarities with the real-life sinking of the Titanic. The book was published 14 years before the actual Titanic, carrying an insufficient number of lifeboats, hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, killing most of the people on board. The similarities between the fictional Titan and the real Titanic have caused discussion ever since the tragedy.
