The novel contains discussions of various disasters, including the "RMS Titanic", the Hartford circus fire, the Hindenburg disaster, the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, the Boston Molasses Disaster, and, almost as prominently as the "Titanic", the sinking of the "USS Yorktown". (Willis has written extensively in several novels about events in World War II.)