''Raise the Titanic!'' is a 1976 adventure novel by

Clive Cussler Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have been listed on ''The New York Times'' fiction best-sell ...

, published in the United States by the

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking Iceberg that struck the Titanic, an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Ci ...

'' to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in order to recover a stockpile of an exotic mineral that was being carried aboard. ''Raise the Titanic!'' was the third published book to feature the author's protagonist, Dirk Pitt. It was the first of Cussler's novels with a prologue set long before the main story, describing an incident with consequences resolved in the present day. The book was adapted into a 1980 feature film, '' Raise the Titanic'', directed by

Jerry Jameson Jerry Jameson (born November 26, 1934) is an American television program, television and film director, film editing, editor and film producer, producer. Biography Highly prolific, he began his career in 1964 as an editor on the episode "List ...

. The film was produced by Lord Grade's

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

. Although it starred respected and popular actors and boasted a big budget, the movie was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

and received little critical or popular praise and was also disliked by Cussler.

Plot

In 1987, Dr. Gene Seagram leads the top-secret

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

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 missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

s. 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

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...

, an island off the northern coast of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. 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 Soviet 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 of Coloradan miners led by Joshua Hayes Brewster. The group was originally hired by the

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

, but persuaded by the U.S. government to steal the mineral for the United States. Brewster and his men engage in a running battle with French assassins as they make their way across Europe trying to get their stolen goods home. Only Brewster reaches Southampton alive, and he books passage on the maiden voyage of the great

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

ship RMS ''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 begin searching with

deep sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...

s. After finding a presentation model

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

that they can link positively to a member of the ''Titanics band, Pitt and his colleagues know they are searching in the right place. After discovering the ''Titanic'' intact, they set out on an audacious plan to patch all of the holes and then raise the wreck using

compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air in vehicle tires and shock absorbers are commonly used for improved traction and reduced vibration. Compressed air is an important medium for t ...

. Meanwhile the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

convinces the President of the United States to leak information on both the Sicilian Project and the ''Titanic'' mission to the Soviet Union in the hopes of setting a trap to capture one of the Soviets' best intelligence officers in the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

. When Soviet leaders 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 and steal the byzanium for themselves. Once the ''Titanic'' is secured for the trip to the United States, a massive hurricane strikes the salvage area, allowing the Soviets to covertly board the ship and take the crew hostage. Pitt is believed dead after being last seen on board a crashed helicopter—but he reemerges to expose the Soviet spies within the salvage crew. With the help of

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

who board from a hidden U.S. Navy submarine, the crew regain control of the ''Titanic''. The ship is eventually towed to

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

and laid up in the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...

. When the ''Titanic's'' vault is opened, all are shocked to discover the byzanium was never actually aboard the ship. This revelation, coupled with deep troubles with his marriage and the president's agreeing to leak word of the Sicilian Project to the Soviets, causes Dr. Seagram to have a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. Pitt, consulting the journal that had been kept by Joshua Hayes Brewster, decodes a cryptic entry to determine that Brewster—fearful that he would not make it onto the ship with the mineral—buried the byzanium in the grave of Vernon Hall, the last of the group to fall to the French assassins, located in the tiny English village of Southby. The novel ends with a successful test of the Sicilian Project in the Pacific Ocean.

Characters

:''listed alphabetically'' *Georgi Antonov -

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

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 - National Security Adviser to the U.S. President *Mel Donner - one of two chief evaluators for Meta Section *Ben Drummer - Russian spy in the employ of National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) *Graham Farley - the cornet player on the ''Titanic'' *Al Giordino - Assistant Special Projects Director for the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) *Commander Rudi Gunn - 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, D.C. police officer *Admiral Joseph Kemper -

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

of the United States Navy *Sid Koplin - professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

sent to

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 Soviet 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 Pitt - Special Projects Director for the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) *Vladimir Polevoi - Chief of the Foreign Secrets Directorate of the

*Captain Andre Prevlov - Russian intelligence officer for the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

's Department of Foreign Intelligence; the Soviet Navy's top spymaster *Admiral James Sandecker - 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

Oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

*Admiral Boris Sloyuk - Director of Soviet Naval Intelligence *Vasily Tilevitch -

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (, ) was the second-highest military rank of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin wore the uniform and insignia of Marshal after World War II. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in ...

and Chief Director of Soviet Security *John Vogel - Chief curator for the Washington Museum's Hall of Music

Publication details

* 1976, United States, The Viking Press 0-670-58933-0, October 26, 1976, hardcover * 1976, United States, The Viking Press, hardcover book club edition * 1976, Canada, The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, hardcover * 1977, United Kingdom, Michael Joseph Limited 0 7181 1579 1, 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

Critical response

Christopher Lehman-Haupt of the New York Times Service said the book would "serve to pass a boring day", and that "if Cussler is bad at talk, he is good at ships and gadgets and storms". Martin Levine in ''Newsday'' held that "the book contains about 100 quite reasonably gripping pages" but that "the writing is bad, bad, bad". Writing in the ''Baltimore Sun'', Robert Aptapton said the novel was "wretchedly written, absurdly plotted, peopled with characters who spout comic book lingo".

Comics adaptation

An adaptation of the novel was serialized as the first story in the short-lived comic strip "Best Sellers Showcase". The adaptation ran from August 15 to October 9 in 1977."New Comic Strip", The Spokesman-Review, August 13, 1977, page 1
/ref> Depending on the newspaper, the Sunday color strip appeared in two versions. One version had a title box followed by two frames of story resulting in a three row episode. The other version did not have the title box nor the following two frames thereby resulting in a two row episode.

Prequel

A prequel to ''Raise the Titanic!'' was published by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul in September 2019 entitled ''The Titanic Secret''. The story describes the details of Joshua Hayes Brewster and his mining team's escape from

and pursuit across Europe. The story is told from the perspective of Isaac Bell who has been hired to investigate the apparent death of Brewster and his mining team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raise The Titanic! 1976 American novels 1976 science fiction novels American science fiction novels American thriller novels American adventure novels Underwater adventure novels Techno-thriller novels Fiction set in 1987 Novels set in the 1980s Novels about RMS Titanic American novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films Novels adapted into comics Dirk Pitt novels Viking Press books Adventure novels adapted into films