Olympic-class ocean liner
When "Titanic" sank in 1912 and "Britannic" sank in 1916, their sinkings did not receive the same attention, due to the death toll (1,517 on "Titanic" and 30 on "Britannic"). Because the exact position of the sinking of the "Britannic" is known and the location is shallow, the wreck was discovered relatively easily in 1975. "Titanic", however, drew everyone's attention in 1912. After several attempts, the wreck was finally located by Jean-Louis Michel of Ifremer and Robert Ballard following a top secret mission for the US Navy to investigate the wreckage of two nuclear submarines, USS Thresher (SSN-593) and the USS Scorpion (SSN-589), that sank in the North Atlantic in the 1960s. The discovery of the wreck occurred on 1 September 1985, at 25 kilometres from the position given of the sinking. The wreck lies about 4,000 metres deep, broken in two. The bow is relatively well preserved, but the stern partially imploded, and to a large extent disintegrated during the descent and impact on the seabed.
Morgan Robertson
Robertson is best known for his short novel "Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan", first published in 1898. This story features an enormous British passenger liner called the SS "Titan", which, deemed to be unsinkable, carries an insufficient number of lifeboats. On a voyage in the month of April, the "Titan" hits an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic, resulting in the loss of almost everyone on board. There are many remarkable similarities to the real-life disaster of the RMS "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, killing most of the people on board. The similarities between the two has lent credibility to conspiracy theories regarding the Titanic.