Raise the Titanic!
Encyclopedia
Raise the Titanic! is a 1976 adventure novel
by Clive Cussler
, published in the United States by the Viking Press
. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated oceanliner RMS Titanic to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean
.
Raise the Titanic! was the third published book to feature the author's protagonist, Dirk Pitt
.
The book was adapted into a 1980
feature film
, Raise The Titanic
, directed by Jerry Jameson
. The film was produced by Lew Grade
's ITC Entertainment
. Although it starred respected and popular actors and boasted a big budget, the movie was a box office bomb
and received little critical or popular praise.
Dr. Gene Seagram leads the top-secret Pentagon
program Meta Section, which secretly attempts to leapfrog current technology by 20 to 30 years. One result: the Sicilian Project, which uses sound waves to stop incoming ballistic missiles.
The immense power needs of the Sicilian Project can be met only by an extremely rare mineral called byzanium. After satellite data pinpoints the most likely source of byzanium, Meta Section sends Sid Koplin to a small island off the northern coast of the USSR. There he discovers that the byzanium ore has already been mined. While making his way back to his hidden boat, Koplin is shot and captured by a Russian guard but is rescued by the story's protagonist, Dirk Pitt
.
Using clues found by Koplin, Seagram determines that the byzanium — a chunk worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars in 1912 figures — was mined in the early part of the 20th century by a group called The Coloradans. The group was hired by the French, but persuaded by the US government to steal the mineral for the United States. Joshua Hayes Brewster and his men engage in a running battle with French assassins as they crisscross Europe
trying to get their stolen goods home. Only Brewster reaches England
alive, and he books passage on the maiden voyage of the great White Star Line
ship Titanic.
Realizing that the only supply of byzanium sufficient to power the Sicilian Project now lies at the bottom of the North Atlantic, Dr. Seagram approaches Dirk Pitt and the National Underwater and Marine Agency
and gives them the near impossible task of raising the Titanic. Using data from drop tank
experiments Pitt is able to narrow down the search area and began searching with deep sea
submersible
s. When they find a presentation model cornet
that they can link positively to a member of the Titanics band, they know they are searching in the right place. After discovering that the Titanic is intact, they set out on audacious plan to patch all of the holes and then raise the wreck using compressed air
.
While this is happening the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) convinces the US President to leak information on both the Sicilian Project and the Titanic mission to the USSR in the hopes of setting a trap to capture one of the Soviet's best intelligence men. When the leaders of the USSR realize that the development of the Sicilian Project would throw off the balance of power
in the world and leave their nuclear arsenal impotent they do just as the CIA hopes and launch an operation to sabotage the mission or if possible steal the byzanium for themselves.
After Pitt is successful in raising the Titanic and exposing the Soviet spies, all are shocked when it becomes apparent that the byzanium was never actually aboard the ship. This revelation, along with deep troubles with his marriage and the President's agreement to leaking word of the Sicilian Project to the Soviets eventually cause Dr. Seagram to have a nervous breakdown
from which he never recovers. It is eventually revealed that Joshua Hayes Brewster, fearful that he would never make it to the United States with the mineral alive, buried the byzanium in the grave of the last of the group to fall to the French assassins in the tiny English village of Southby.
The masts, smokestack and any other hazard are removed before the ship was raised. The ship when she appeared on the surface was said to have looked naked without her towering smokestacks. After surviving a hurricane she arrives in New York with a huge welcome. The last mention of the Titanic is that she was in a New York dry-dock. The reader is left to decide what happens to her.
, as it was the first of his novels to become a bestseller
which helped ensure that Cussler could continue as a full-time writer, sparing him from having to go back to the advertising industry. It also showcases the continuing development of the Cussler style including a prologue set in the past, large numbers of characters, and multiple plot points that eventually come together in a very riveting climax.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
, published in the United States by the Viking Press
Viking Press
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated oceanliner RMS Titanic to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
Raise the Titanic! was the third published book to feature the author's protagonist, Dirk Pitt
Dirk Pitt
Dirk Pitt is a fictional character, the protagonist of a series of bestselling adventure novels written by Clive Cussler. The name Dirk Pitt is a registered trademark of Clive Cussler.-Character information and the supporting cast:...
.
The book was adapted into a 1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, Raise The Titanic
Raise The Titanic (film)
Raise the Titanic is a 1980 American big budget adventure film by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment, directed by Jerry Jameson and written by Eric Hughes and Adam Kennedy . The film stars Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer, and Alec Guinness. The film's tagline was "Once they said...
, directed by Jerry Jameson
Jerry Jameson
Jerry Jameson is an American Film Director and Producer.- Filmography :*1970 : The Mod Squad*1971 : Dan August*1972 : Brute Corps *1972 : Search*1972 : The Dirt Gang *1972 : The Rookies*1973 : Cannon...
. The film was produced by Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
's ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
. Although it starred respected and popular actors and boasted a big budget, the movie was a box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
and received little critical or popular praise.
Plot
In 1912, the RMS Titanic sunk to the bottom of the North Atlantic in one of history's most infamous maritime disasters. After 75 years, it is discovered that Titanics hold contains a shipment of a rare mineral, the only available supply in the world large enough to power a top-secret and vital United States defense program. When no method can be found of extracting the mineral under more than 12000 feet (3,657.6 m) of water, Pitt and his crew set out to do the impossible: raise the Titanic.Dr. Gene Seagram leads the top-secret Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
program Meta Section, which secretly attempts to leapfrog current technology by 20 to 30 years. One result: the Sicilian Project, which uses sound waves to stop incoming ballistic missiles.
The immense power needs of the Sicilian Project can be met only by an extremely rare mineral called byzanium. After satellite data pinpoints the most likely source of byzanium, Meta Section sends Sid Koplin to a small island off the northern coast of the USSR. There he discovers that the byzanium ore has already been mined. While making his way back to his hidden boat, Koplin is shot and captured by a Russian guard but is rescued by the story's protagonist, Dirk Pitt
Dirk Pitt
Dirk Pitt is a fictional character, the protagonist of a series of bestselling adventure novels written by Clive Cussler. The name Dirk Pitt is a registered trademark of Clive Cussler.-Character information and the supporting cast:...
.
Using clues found by Koplin, Seagram determines that the byzanium — a chunk worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars in 1912 figures — was mined in the early part of the 20th century by a group called The Coloradans. The group was hired by the French, but persuaded by the US government to steal the mineral for the United States. Joshua Hayes Brewster and his men engage in a running battle with French assassins as they crisscross Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
trying to get their stolen goods home. Only Brewster reaches England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
alive, and he books passage on the maiden voyage of the great White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
ship Titanic.
Realizing that the only supply of byzanium sufficient to power the Sicilian Project now lies at the bottom of the North Atlantic, Dr. Seagram approaches Dirk Pitt and the National Underwater and Marine Agency
National Underwater and Marine Agency
The National Underwater and Marine Agency , originally an organization within the fiction of author Clive Cussler, is a private non-profit organization in the United States...
and gives them the near impossible task of raising the Titanic. Using data from drop tank
Drop tank
In aeronautics, a drop tank is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often jettisonable...
experiments Pitt is able to narrow down the search area and began searching with deep sea
Deep sea
The deep sea, or deep layer, is the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline and above the seabed, at a depth of 1000 fathoms or more. Little or no light penetrates this part of the ocean and most of the organisms that live there rely for subsistence on falling organic matter...
submersible
Submersible
A submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...
s. When they find a presentation model cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
that they can link positively to a member of the Titanics band, they know they are searching in the right place. After discovering that the Titanic is intact, they set out on audacious plan to patch all of the holes and then raise the wreck using compressed air
Compressed air
Compressed air is air which is kept under a certain pressure, usually greater than that of the atmosphere. In Europe, 10 percent of all electricity used by industry is used to produce compressed air, amounting to 80 terawatt hours consumption per year....
.
While this is happening the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) convinces the US President to leak information on both the Sicilian Project and the Titanic mission to the USSR in the hopes of setting a trap to capture one of the Soviet's best intelligence men. When the leaders of the USSR realize that the development of the Sicilian Project would throw off the balance of power
Balance of power
Balance of power may refer to:* Balance of power , distribution of power between a central government and its subnational governments...
in the world and leave their nuclear arsenal impotent they do just as the CIA hopes and launch an operation to sabotage the mission or if possible steal the byzanium for themselves.
After Pitt is successful in raising the Titanic and exposing the Soviet spies, all are shocked when it becomes apparent that the byzanium was never actually aboard the ship. This revelation, along with deep troubles with his marriage and the President's agreement to leaking word of the Sicilian Project to the Soviets eventually cause Dr. Seagram to have a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
from which he never recovers. It is eventually revealed that Joshua Hayes Brewster, fearful that he would never make it to the United States with the mineral alive, buried the byzanium in the grave of the last of the group to fall to the French assassins in the tiny English village of Southby.
Characters
- listed alphabetically
- Georgi Antonov - General SecretaryGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionGeneral Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
of the Soviet Union who authorizes the attempt to sabotage the raising of the Titanic - Adeline Austin - the widow of Jake Hobart
- Commodore Sir John L. Bigelow - the last surviving member of the Titanic crew
- Joshua Hayes Brewster - a well-known and respected mining engineer
- Marshall Collins - Chief Kremlin Security Adviser to the US President
- Mel Donner - one of two chief evaluators for Meta Section
- Ben Drummer - Russian spy in the employ of National Underwater and Marine AgencyNational Underwater and Marine AgencyThe National Underwater and Marine Agency , originally an organization within the fiction of author Clive Cussler, is a private non-profit organization in the United States...
(NUMA) - Graham Farley - the cornet player on the Titanic
- Al GiordinoAl GiordinoAlbert Cassius Giordino is a fictional character in a series of adventure novels by Clive Cussler; he first appears in The Mediterranean Caper . He is described as being of Italian ancestry, 5'4" in height, 175 lb, with dark curly hair, swarthy skin, dark Etruscan eyes, and a Roman nose. He...
- Assistant Special Projects Director for the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) - Commander Rudi GunnRudi GunnRudi Gunn is a fictional character in the Dirk Pitt adventure novels by acclaimed novelist Clive Cussler. He is played by Rainn Wilson in the movie Sahara....
- Commander of the Lorelei Current Drift Expedition - Jake Hobart - one of "The Coloradans," an elite group of miners that dug mines in the Colorado Rockies in the early 20th century
- Officer Peter Jones - Washington, DC police officer
- Admiral Joseph Kemper - Chief of Staff of the United States Navy
- Sid Koplin - professor of mineralogyMineralogyMineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
sent to Novaya ZemlyaNovaya ZemlyaNovaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
by Meta Section in search of byzanium - Lieutenant Pavel Marganin - Aide to Captain Prevlov who is in fact an American spy named Harry Koskoski
- Sam Merker - brother of Ben Drummer and also a Russian spy on the NUMA crew
- Henry Munk - Sappho II crewman
- Warren Nicholson - Director of the CIA
- Captain Ivan Parotkin - Captain of the Soviet oceanographic research vessel Mikhail Kurkov
- Dirk PittDirk PittDirk Pitt is a fictional character, the protagonist of a series of bestselling adventure novels written by Clive Cussler. The name Dirk Pitt is a registered trademark of Clive Cussler.-Character information and the supporting cast:...
- Special Projects Director for the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) - Vladimir Polevoi - Chief of the Foreign Secrets Direction of the KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
- Captain Andre Prevlov - Russian intelligence officer for the Soviet NavySoviet NavyThe Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
's Department of Foreign Intelligence; the Soviet Navy's top spy master - Admiral James SandeckerJames SandeckerAdmiral James Sandecker is a fictional character in the Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin adventure novels by acclaimed novelist Clive Cussler. Sandecker is the Director of NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency...
- Director of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) - Dr. Dana Seagram - wife of Dr. Gene Seagram of Meta Section; a marine archaeologist employed by National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA)
- Dr. Gene Seagram - physicist and a chief evaluator for Meta Section
- Dr. Murray Silverstein - Director of the Alexandria College of OceanographyOceanographyOceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
- Admiral Boris Sloyuk - Director of Soviet Naval Intelligence
- Vasily Tilevitch - Marshal of the Soviet UnionMarshal of the Soviet UnionMarshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....
and Chief Director of Soviet Security - John Vogel - Chief curator for the Washington Museum's Hall of Music
- Georgi Antonov - General Secretary
The Titanic
The Titanic in the novel is described as being intact (the accepted version of the sinking, at the time of the writing and before the wreck was found, was that she sank intact) with both forward and aft mast collapsed, and all the smokestacks (with the exception of the fourth stack) missing. The fourth stack lies on the Titanics upper deck.The masts, smokestack and any other hazard are removed before the ship was raised. The ship when she appeared on the surface was said to have looked naked without her towering smokestacks. After surviving a hurricane she arrives in New York with a huge welcome. The last mention of the Titanic is that she was in a New York dry-dock. The reader is left to decide what happens to her.
Literary significance and criticism
Raise the Titanic! is an important milestone in the career of its author Clive CusslerClive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
, as it was the first of his novels to become a bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
which helped ensure that Cussler could continue as a full-time writer, sparing him from having to go back to the advertising industry. It also showcases the continuing development of the Cussler style including a prologue set in the past, large numbers of characters, and multiple plot points that eventually come together in a very riveting climax.
Publication details
- 1976, United States, The Viking Press 0-670-58933-0, October 26, 1976, hardcover
- 1990, United States, Pocket Books 0-671-72519-X, April 1, 1990, mass market paperback
- 2004, United States, Berkeley reissue edition 0-425-19452-3, February 3, 2004, paperback