On April 10, 1912, RMS Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, calling at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, but never made it to its final destination of New York, USA.
Tragically, the famous vessel collided with an iceberg at 11.40pm on April 14, which led to her sinking into the North Atlantic Ocean at 2.20am on April 15th, 1912. Consequently, more than 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives and only 705 people survived.
Despite much of the world viewing the luxury liner as "unsinkable", there were a handful of people who had visions about the maritime disaster. Read the 10 premonitions about the sinking of RMS Titanic.
10. Morgan Robertson
Futility was written by Morgan Robertson 14 years prior to the sinking of RMS Titanic. However, despite being steeped in fiction, the book's plot eerily resembles the real maritime disaster in 1912. It tells the story of the largest luxury liner in the world, which is called Titan, which sank into the North Atlantic Ocean following a collision with an iceberg.
Morgan Robertson stated he did not possess any psychic abilities, as the novel was based on his knowledge of shipbuilding trends and understanding of the dangers of modern ships. Yet, the similarities are more than a little uncanny. After all, both the fictional and real liners were believed to be "practically unsinkable", and they were both the same size at roughly 270 meters long, were capable of reaching speeds of 20 knots, and featured a barely legal number of lifeboats. What's more, they both sank 400 nautical miles away from Newfoundland, Canada, on an April evening.
9. Edith Corse Evans
Edith Corse Evans was a first class passenger on RMS Titanic, who was returning to New York City following a trip to Europe to visit her cousins in Paris, France. She traveled alongside a group of sisters: Mrs John Murray Brown, Mrs E. D. Appleton and Mrs R. C. Cornell, who became acquainted with Colonel Archibald Gracie.
When Titanic struck an iceberg, men aboard the ship attempted to reassure the ladies that the vessel was unsinkable. However, Edith told Colonel Gracie that a fortune teller had once warned her to "beware of water" and she was convinced that there was truth behind the prophecy. Despite the warning, varying accounts stated Edith gave up her seat in a lifeboat for one of the sisters she was traveling with, as her friend had children waiting for her at home. She was one of four first-class female passengers to die in the disaster.
8. George and Edith Vanderbilt
George Washington Vanderbilt II was a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family, who was traveling aboard RMS Titanic with his wife, Edith. The couple would often travel the world to adorn their home with antiques, Oriental carpets, tapestries and artwork.
Despite their footman, Edwin Charles Wheeler, loading their belongings onto RMS Titanic two days prior, as the couple had planned to travel in a first-class cabin, a family member warned them against doing so, stating: "... so many things can go wrong on a maiden voyage". The Vanderbilts, therefore, rebooked onto Olympic, with Edwin choosing to travel aboard the ship with his employers' belongings and sadly lost his life during the sinking.
7. Esther Hart
The Hart family were traveling aboard RMS Titanic as second class passengers, as they were planning to start a new life in Winnipeg, Canada. At the time of the maiden voyage, Eva Hart was only seven years old. Despite being so young, Eva's memories of the tragedy never faded. It was her belief that a premonition by her mother, Esther, saved her life, as she believed deeming a ship unsinkable was "flying in the face of God". In fact, Esther was so scared of the events that might unfold that she would sleep during the day to remain vigilant in her cabin at night. As she heard a bump, the family had a chance to quickly escape the ship. However, Eva's father, Benjamin, refused to climb into a lifeboat to allow women and children to flee, and he gave his coat to his wife to keep his family warm.
