It was on Wednesday, 10 April 1912, that the imposing bulk of the RMS
Titanic slipped her berth, and, to great fanfare, headed out into the
Solent at the start of her maiden voyage.
By all accounts, the liner was at the time the largest man-made object
ever to move on water. The space her decks created allowed her designers
to introduce previously unseen levels of luxury. In first class, for
example, there were many new features such as squash courts, a Turkish
bath, a gymnasium, a barber shop and even the first swimming pool built
on board a ship. There was also the bold claim by its builders that
Titanic was 'practically unsinkable'. Sadly, just four days later,
this assertion was found wanting. At 23.40 hours on the evening of 14
April, Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours she had
slipped beneath the waves.
While the liner's loss has been the subject of numerous films,
documentaries and publications in the years that followed, in this book
the author James W. Bancroft asks if the RMS Titanic had been doomed
to a watery grave even before it sailed? Certainly, many people
experienced feelings of foreboding about the ship, and there were many
strange omens and unexplained events surrounding its construction and
maiden voyage.
A novel written many years before Titanic was built mirrored almost
exactly the details of the disaster, and the well-known spiritualist,
W.T. Stead, wrote a story of a similar nature. As a passenger on the
ship, he seemed to have accepted his fate and did not try to save
himself. Even animals seem to have sensed danger, such as the dog which
tried to stop its owner from traveling to board the vessel, and
*Titanic'*s cat had kittens and was seen taking them all off the liner
before it sailed. The voyage was fatefully delayed for three weeks, and
at least fifty travelers had forebodings about the 'Ghost Ship', some of
whom missed the sailing or refused to board.
Following years of research, James has uncovered some 100 fascinating
stories concerning omens and premonitions of people who sailed - or in
fact decided not to - on the ill-fated liner. This is the first time
that all of these incidents have been brought together. Together they
provide an unusual insight into the Titanic disaster.
