The SS ''Poseidon'' (formerly the '' RMS Atlantis'') is a fictional

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

ocean liner that first appeared in the 1969 novel '' The Poseidon Adventure'' by

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...

and later in four films based on the novel. The ship is named after the god of the seas in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

Descriptions

The novel

In the 1969 novel, the ship is traveling across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

on her first month-long cruise with

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

n ports of call, after her recent sale and conversion from the 35-year old British ocean liner RMS ''Atlantis'', into the Greek

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

SS ''Poseidon''. Gallico, Paul - ''The Poseidon Adventure'' On December 26, the ''Poseidon'' capsizes when a landslide in the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North ...

produces a massive

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

. The description of the ship is slim; Gallico described her as a "quadruple-screw ocean liner of 81,000 tons, as long as four city blocks, and as high as an apartment building with three massive funnels", which would make her very similar to the RMS ''Queen Mary''. Gallico was inspired to write the novel after his experience as a passenger on the ''Queen Mary'' after the liner tilted alarmingly after being hit by a large wave. He also describes the ''Poseidons fatal flaw as "riding high in the water, improperly ballasted and technically unseaworthy", this, he wrote, made the ''Poseidon'' vulnerable to capsizing.

The 1972 film version

In the 1972 film '' The Poseidon Adventure'', the ship is in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

on her final voyage, which will take her to the breaker's yards in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, when an undersea earthquake produces a tsunami that capsizes the ship just after midnight on New Year's Eve. The film uses the RMS ''Queen Mary'' as a stand-in for ''Poseidon'', using actual onboard locations as well as a long miniature model. The captain (

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

) complains about ''Poseidon'' being top-heavy and hence vulnerable to capsizing by large waves, and he makes clear his intent to take on ballast, but the representative of the owners refuses to allow this and indeed, orders him to proceed at full speed, threatening to fire him and replace him with another officer. Of the hundreds aboard, no more than six survive.

''Beyond the Poseidon Adventure''

In the 1979 film '' Beyond the Poseidon Adventure'', which is a direct continuation of the story from the first film, the ''Poseidon'' is an abandoned overturned wreck that has not yet sunk. It is boarded by a small group of salvagers and a group of thieves in disguise (who are looking for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and a lost

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

shipment). Eventually trapped in the ship, they encounter a group of passengers and crew who are still aboard. In the end, the ''Poseidon's'' boilers and plutonium cargo explode, destroying most of the hull and sinking the ship permanently and, worse, irradiating her wreckage to unsafe levels.

The 2005 TV film

In the 2005

TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' The Poseidon Adventure'', ''Poseidon'' is a modern motor driven

using propeller pods, which is sailing from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

on a cruise through the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

to Sydney, Australia. The events that lead to the capsize of the ship vary greatly from the original book, as it is a partly foiled terrorist plot to sink the ship using explosives below the waterline which leads to ''Poseidon'' capsizing due to its center of gravity. As the survivors reached the hole that caused the ship to capsize they successfully escaped and were rescued. They then watched as the ship sank bow first into the Indian Ocean.

''Poseidon''

In the 2006 film ''

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

'', the ship is a British ocean liner registered in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, which is sailing from an unnamed port in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(presumably

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as one of the characters mentions it briefly) to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. While the first film used ''Queen Mary'' as a stand-in for ''Poseidon'', the ship in the 2006 film has an original exterior design and superstructure not based on any real-life vessel, although the lower hull and interior was partly inspired by the modern ocean liner RMS ''Queen Mary 2''. The ship is of a modern design without any flaws, but it is struck by a huge wave just after midnight on New Year's Eve and capsizes. Unlike the original, the wave is not a tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake or landslide but a

rogue wave Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to ships, even to lar ...

, possibly caused by the shifting of currents shown in a deleted scene. After only six survivors escape, the ship turns over again before sinking stern first in the Atlantic.

Commonality

In the bulk of each story, a group of survivors try to make their way to the overturned top of the capsized vessel, hoping to get to safety.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:SS Poseidon (Fiction) Fictional ships