Talk:Legends and myths regarding the Titanic

Atlantis (novel and film)
There is another notable "Literary foreshadowing of the disaster": The 1912 novel Atlantis by Gerhart Hauptmann was published five months prior to the Titanic disaster. The novel was made into a movie released in 1913, which stirred some controversy (and banned in Norway) due to the inevitable association with the disaster, and its untimely release -- deemed to be in poor taste. I added this to the section (per WP:DIY), but would prefer to maintain the original editor's narrative tone (and approval). The first reference is based on this archive of the book; I'm not sure if I formatted the reference properly. See also this reference: Pedersen, Sune Christian, The Titanic Myth, Post & Tele Museum of Denmark, 3rd Quarterly, (2001)

Perhaps I don't know where to look, but the closest thing that I could find for the novel's ISBN is Library of Congress : PZ3.H294 A


 * P.s.: I realize this entry is considerably less impressive than the preceding one, and would not take it personally if it is removed.


 * ...so how exactly was a November 1912 book published five months before an April 1912 crash? Rickie-d (talk) 23:00, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Good catch! At some point I made a mistake. -- I'll need to go back and recheck this, and make correction.  For now, I'll move it to here:

A novel titled Atlantis was written by Gerhart Hauptmann and published in November of 1911, five months prior to the Titanic disaster. Atlantis is a romantic tale set aboard the fictitious ocean liner Roland, which is coincidentally doomed to a fate very similar to that of the RMS Titanic. A Danish silent film also titled Atlantis was produced based on the novel. The film was released less than a year following the actual tragic event, and the association became evident. The timing of the film's release was perceived to be inappropriate and the film was banned in Norway. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 08:55, 18 April 2012 (UTC)


 * The "first printing" date is November 1912, but this is for an English translation by Adele and Thomas Seltzer, which presumably would be sometime after first publication (German). If anybody knows how to find month/year of publication, please leave note on talk page -->
 * There is no contradiction there. The book you are citing is an English translation of the original. The first printing for the American version was November 1912. (Notice the "Translated by Adele and Thomas Seltzer" on the cover page. Also notice the original copyright for the German publisher above the American copyright.) Gerhart Hauptmann was a German author. Hauptmann's book was published in Berlin by S. Fischer Verlag a month before the Titanic sinking. (He also would have been writing the book for quite a while prior to that.) It can take months to publish a proper translation of a novel -- especially of someone who had just won the Nobel prize in literature. Thus, there is the difference in publication time between an English translated version and the original book. — Cactus Writer (talk) 18:42, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
 * However, it does seem that the first publication was not in its bookform. According to these two sources:
 * The book was preprinted by Verlag in a serialized form in the Berliner Tageblatt newspaper between January 16 and April 24 1912, prior to it being released in its bookform. I would suggest the text be restored but corrected to reflect the sources, including these:
 * that discuss the publication prior to the Titanic disaster. — Cactus Writer (talk) 19:59, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
 * The book was preprinted by Verlag in a serialized form in the Berliner Tageblatt newspaper between January 16 and April 24 1912, prior to it being released in its bookform. I would suggest the text be restored but corrected to reflect the sources, including these:
 * that discuss the publication prior to the Titanic disaster. — Cactus Writer (talk) 19:59, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
 * that discuss the publication prior to the Titanic disaster. — Cactus Writer (talk) 19:59, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
 * that discuss the publication prior to the Titanic disaster. — Cactus Writer (talk) 19:59, 18 April 2012 (UTC)


 * ✅: Returned to article in revised form. (thanks, CactusWriter!)

Boat (seriously?)
Seriously? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.223.218.3 (talk) 01:42, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Steerage Passengers were not "Locked Below"
Another notable myth to add would be that the steerage passengers were locked below decks, the United States senate proved this was false but the scenes are shown in the movies. References:, ,. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 03:14, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I've done a fair amount investigation into this, (although some of it might fall into the category of OR). A good place to start is the Senate Inquiry Report. For digging around yourself, the comprehensive floor plans are quite useful; for example, if you trace the path from 3rd class to lifeboats, you'll see that it requires considerable navigation and distance. I'm considering adding a "Common misconceptions" section to this article, for this and a myriad of other items. In addition to providing a place for stuff like that, it could help clean-up other sections by moving info to this section.  However, I have over-committed myself to the point that it would be unwise for me to start this for awhile. ~Eric F 184.76.225.106 (talk) 16:35, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

The Titanic curse
I realize that Catholic / Protestant sectarianism in N.Ireland is an extremely sensitive issue, but too much of the 'Titanic curse' section is devoted to this in proportion to the size of the section. Someone more qualified than me should attempt to summarize. ~E 98.26.28.41 (talk) 20:00, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Also, "... is a matter of dispute" begs for a [citation needed] tag. ~E 20:06, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

At least one man dressed as a woman to gain access to a lifeboat and be saved
I believe that this false story was told by a business rival about a male survivor but has featured in at least one Titanic feature film. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr gobrien (talk • contribs) 20:38, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

Did an Officer Commit Suicide on the Titanic?
Should the story of an officer’s suicide have a mention on here? Because since the publication of the late Walter Lord’s book The Night Lives On in 1986, the question as to wether or not one of the RMS Titanic’s officers committed suicide has been debated ever since thanks to evidence Lord presented from two Titanic survivors: George Rheims and Eugene Daly. Both of whom reported the event in question. Since then, a number of other accounts have surfaced which claim of a suicide upon that night to remember.

If anyone shot themsevles, it could have been either 1st Officer William Murdoch(absolutely not), Chief Officer Henry Wilde(possible), or 6th Officer James Moody(highley unlikely), all of whom died that night. Some also said it was Captain Smith, but due to how recognizable he was, it's doubtful that anyone would confuse him. And it is more likely that he remained on the Titanic‘s bridge and died there when the ship went under. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.15.169.79 (talk) 20:08, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Sources could be: http://wormstedt.com/Titanic/shots/shots.htm http://www.dalbeattie.com/titanic/

Gracie & the band
A better reference would be to Gracie's The truth about the Titanic, which is freely available and contains all the info required on p20 https://archive.org/stream/truthabouttitani00grac — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.150.52.151 (talk) 16:03, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

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Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Titanic which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 18:33, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

Nearer my God to Thee as myth?
Sorry, but isn't it a fact most historians accept Nearer my God to Thee was played on the ship? Well Wikipedia, you need to update this article, because what is a myth is what you mentioned about Nearer my God to Thee. Thanks for reading, and please be aware to add more information sometimes instead of reverting reliable information because it doesn't follow your terms. Conta Sla 2 (talk) 12:21, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

Titanic's band
Hello, I think that this title or term is misleading, as the Titanic did not have an 8 member band, but rather two different groups that happen to play together as one on the fatal night. "The musicians on the Titanic" would be a much better expression. Ziko (talk) 12:06, 20 October 2023 (UTC)