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Rostron Watch Sold For Record Amount 

18 Carat Gold Watch made by Tiffany & Company. It was presented to Captain Arthur Rostron of SS Carpathia in recognition of his rescuing Titanic survivors. It was presented to him by three widows-Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener-whose husbands had perished when the ship sank. The case is inscribed with these words: ‘Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912. Mrs John B. Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D. Widener.’
Image: Henry Aldridge & Son

The 18-carat gold watch presented to Captain Arthur Rostron, who commanded the Carpathia that rescued Titanic survivors, was sold for a record-breaking amount of £1.56m ($1,976,860) over the weekend. Auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, who specialize in handling Titanic memorabilia amongst other valuable items, reported it was the highest fee ever paid for a Titanic item. The previous record was £1.175m for the watch owned by John Jacob Astor. The watch was originally thought to fetch £120,000.

The watch was given by the widows of three prominent men who died on Titanic-Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener-to Rostron in recognition of his service to rescue Titanic survivors. Rostron received the watch while attending at a luncheon given in his honor by Mrs. Astor at her home in June 1912.

The watch was purchased by a private collector (name not disclosed) in the U.S.

Sources

Harry Howard, “Titanic Widows’ Watch Gift to Hero Rescuer: Gold Timepiece Given by Wives of Liner’s Wealthiest…,” Mail Online, November 12, 2024, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14071719/Titanic-widows-watch-gift-hero-rescuer-Gold-timepiece-given-wives-liners-wealthiest-victims-captain-rescue-ship-1912-disaster-tipped-sell-120-000.html.

Guardian Staff Reporter, “Watch Given to Captain Who Saved 700 Titanic Passengers Sells for £1.56m,” The Guardian, November 16, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/16/watch-given-to-captain-who-saved-700-titanic-passengers-sells-for-156m.

Sky News, “Watch Gifted to Captain Who Saved 700 Titanic Passengers Sells for Record Fee,” Sky News, last modified November 18, 2024, https://news.sky.com/story/watch-gifted-to-captain-who-saved-700-titanic-passengers-sells-for-record-fee-13255624.

In Other News

Lawrence, Tom. “Pocket Watch That Stopped When It Went Down With the Titanic in 1912 Goes on Sale for £80,000.” Mail Online, November 4, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14038713/Pocket-watch-stopped-went-Titanic-1912-goes-sale-80-000.html.

A pocket watch that was frozen in time when its owner went down with the Titanic will go under the hammer for £80,000. Ramon Gomez was one of 1,521 passengers who died when the ill-fated ship hit an iceberg and sank in 1912. Gomez, a Uruguayan first class passenger, supposedly jumped off the vessel whilst holding a deck chair in an attempt to save himself. But it proved futile as his body was recovered from the sea a week later by the Cable Ship MacKay-Bennett. His possessions were removed so they could be sent back to his family, including the Zenith Swiss silver and gilt watch.  The watch has remained ‘frozen in time’ at 4.53am, which was two hours and 33 minutes after the ship sank at 21 minutes past two on April 15, 1912.

The auction is set for 16 Nov 2024 at Henry Aldridge & Son, UK. Also being auctioned off is a postcard written on Titanic by Richard William Smith to a friend in Norwich. It was sent from Cork.

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“The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia.” CBC (Radio), November 7, 2024. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada/sloc-s6-ep15-1.7374689.

This is a radio broadcast of a documentary on the sinking of the Princess Sophia.

It’s been called Canada’s Titanic. 106 years ago the Princess Sophia crashed into a coral reef on route to Vancouver and Victoria. Over 300 passengers died and it was the worst maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest, so why haven’t we heard more about it?

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Farley, Lloyd. “The Bizarre, Tragic History of the Nazi Titanic Movie.” Collider. Last modified November 10, 2024. https://collider.com/nazi-titanic-movie/.

But the impetus for a third German film about the Titanic was, interestingly, driven by the 1942 classic Casablanca. The success of that film took Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels by surprise, and with Germany already facing setbacks in the war, Casablanca’s anti-fascist narrative was decidedly at odds with the Nazi Party. So Goebbels planned to beat the Allies at their own game, “Nazifying” the Titanic tragedy in a film that would be a showcase for the Germans’ exceptional movie-making skills and moral superiority. Goebbel’s intentions with the film were to frame the disaster as being the direct consequence of Western greed, and those intentions are made very clear from the onset. The main antagonist of the film is E.F. Fürbringer’s Joseph Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, who is so intent on increasing the value of his shares in the company that he sends the liner speeding through Iceberg Alley on a quest to break transatlantic crossing records.

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Howard, Harry. “Titanic Widows’ Watch Gift to Hero Rescuer: Gold Timepiece Given by Wives of Liner’s Wealthiest…” Mail Online, November 12, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14071719/Titanic-widows-watch-gift-hero-rescuer-Gold-timepiece-given-wives-liners-wealthiest-victims-captain-rescue-ship-1912-disaster-tipped-sell-120-000.html.

A superb gold watch three wealthy widows gifted to the captain of the ship that saved them in the Titanic disaster is tipped to sell for £120,000. Madeline Astor, Marian Thayer and Eleanor Widener bought the 18ct gold timepiece from Tiffany & Co after they returned safely to New York on rescue ship the RMS Carpathia. Their husbands – three of the richest men in the world – all perished in the 1912 tragedy. [The case of the watch is engraved “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912. Mrs John B. Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D. Widener”]

This is part of the same auction at Henry Aldridge & Son that will take place on 16 Nov 2024.

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“National Catholic Register.” Last modified November 13, 2024. https://denvercatholic.org/mother-frances-cabrini-the-unsinkable-saint-who-missed-the-titanic/.

In April 1912, Mother Frances Cabrini was in Italy with her sisters. Her plans were to visit her foundations in France, Spain and England before sailing back to the United States in mid-April to continue work in New York City. Her sisters in England were eagerly awaiting this visit from their 62-year-old founder and superior. To help make her journey back to the U.S. more comfortable, they bought her a ticket and booked passage on a new ocean liner, the RMS Titanic. While the sisters in England waited, word got to Mother Cabrini that there was trouble at the Columbus Hospital she had established in New York. It was overflowing and there was urgent business to settle connected to a new expansion. She could not wait. She had to get back to raise desperately needed money to proceed with the project. So she changed her plans and left early, sailing from Naples, disappointing the sisters in England who had booked her passage on the Titanic.

Suggested Reading

Rossignol, K. (2012). Titanic 1912: The Original News Reporting of the Sinking of the Titanic. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.

Wilson, A. (2012). Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived. Simon and Schuster.

Titanic News Channel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Titanic

Watch Found on John Jacob Astor’s Body Sold For Astronomical Sum at Auction

Image: Henry Aldridge & Son/PA Media/dpa

The gold pocket watch that was recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor, who died on Titanic, was sold at auction for $1,146 million (£1,175 million) to an American buyer (name unknown). The gold watch was found on his body, along with a diamond ring, cufflinks, and British and American currency, and was turned over to his family. The watch was completely restored and worn by his son. The 14-carat gold Waltham watch had a starting bid of $60,000 and was originally thought to sell between £100,000-150,000. Auctioned off by H. Aldridge & Sons in Devizes, Wiltshire on 27 April, it broke the record of $1.1 million for Wallace Hartley’s violin sold years ago by the same auction house.

“The prices fetched by the Titanic memorabilia at the sale were “absolutely incredible,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said. “They reflect not only the importance of the artefacts themselves and their rarity but they also show the enduring appeal and fascination with the Titanic story,” he said.

 Sources

Welle, Deutsche. “Titanic Passenger’s Gold Watch Auctioned for Record Price.” dw.com, 28 Apr. 2024, www.dw.com/en/titanic-passengers-gold-watch-auctioned-for-record-price/a-68939475.

Reporter, Guardian Staff. “Gold Pocket Watch of Richest Man on Titanic Fetches Record-breaking £1.2m.” The Guardian, 27 Apr. 2024, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/27/gold-pocket-watch-of-richest-man-on-titanic-fetches-record-breaking-12m.

Titanic

Pocket Watch Auctioned Off; Thomas Andrew Considered a Hero

Titanic watch sells for £98,000 at auction
BBC, 20 Nov 2022

A pocket watch belonging to a postal clerk aboard the RMS Titanic has sold for £98,000 – 110 years on. Oscar Scott Woody’s watch is frozen at the time he went into the cold North Atlantic when the ship sank on 14 April, 1912. It was recovered from the ocean and returned to his wife Leila the following month. The watch was sold at Henry Aldridge & Sons in Devizes on Saturday along with other memorabilia from the doomed ship. A first-class menu featuring ‘plover on toast’ sold for £50,000 and a list of first-class passengers went for £41,000.

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Thomas Andrews, 1911
Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

Titanic hero Irishman Thomas Andrews epitomized bravery as ship went down
Irish Central, 26 Nov 2022

After he died on 15th April 1912, his father received a telegram from his mother’s cousin, who had spoken with survivors in New York, seeing news of Andrews. The telegram was read aloud by Andrews Sr. to the staff of their home in Comber: “Interview titanic’s officers. All unanimous that Andrews heroic unto death, thinking only safety others. Extend heartfelt sympathy to all.” The newspaper accounts of the disaster labeled Andrews a hero. Mary Sloan, a stewardess on the ship, whom Andrews forced to enter a lifeboat, later wrote in a letter: “Mr. Andrews met his fate like a true hero, realizing the great danger, and gave up his life to save the women and children of the Titanic. They will find it hard to replace him.”

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Just for fun:

The history of Macaroni & Cheese

Titanic

Harland & Wolff Gets Defense Contract; Titanic Watch to be Auctioned Off

Harland & Wolff secures titanic defence contract
Proactive Investors, 16 Nov 2022
https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/998567/harland-wolff-secures-titanic-defence-contract-998567.html

Part of Team Resolute alongside BMT and Navantia UK, Harland & Wolff was selected as the preferred bidder for the Ministry of Defence’s £1.6bn contract to manufacture three vessels providing munitions, stores and provisions to the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates. Harland & Wolff’s Belfast shipyard will construct all three 216-metre-long vessels, which upon completion, will be the second longest UK military vessels behind the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

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Edmund Fitzgerald has become Titanic of the Great Lakes, maritime historian says
Mlive.com, 17 Nov 2022
https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/11/edmund-fitzgerald-has-become-titanic-of-the-great-lakes-maritime-historian-says.html

Stonehouse later recalled that he was neither surprised by the conversation itself, nor really by the fact it happened off the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Because in the last four decades, the Marquette resident has learned that the fate of the Fitzgerald can and probably will be discussed anytime and anywhere.

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Pocket watch that stopped at the moment its owner went down with the Titanic is set to fetch £100,000 at auction
Daily Mail, 18 Nov 2022
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11439039/Watch-stopped-owner-Oscar-Woody-went-Titanic-set-fetch-100-000.html

A pocket watch that stopped at the very moment its owner went down with the Titanic has surfaced for sale for a whopping £100,000. Oscar Woody perished along with 1,520 others when the ill-fated ship struck an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic in 1912. Mr Woody served as the postmaster on the Titanic. As the liner started to sink he and four colleagues made a futile attempt to save hundreds of mailbags by carrying them to the upper decks. Andrew Aldridge said: ‘We are getting a considerable amount of interest in this item already.This is probably one of the most iconic and important items of Titanic memorabilia offered for auction in recent years.”

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For your weekend:

Titanic

New York Titanic Exhibition; Rare Titanic Postcard Up for Auction

 

Titanic:The Exhibition Logo
Image: 2022 Musealia All Rights Reserved

Titanic: The Exhibition to Display Items from The Doomed Ship
Silive.com, 9 Nov 2022

Opening Nov. 11, 2022, in Manhattan, this exhibit will feature life-size replicas of the Titanic, allowing you to slip into the depths of history. The free audio tour will guide you through this internationally known exhibit, which lasts about 80- to 90-minutes.

For tickets, hours of operation and other information, click here.

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RMS Titanic pictured in Queenstown, Ireland 11 April 1912
Source:Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh Ireland/Wikimedia Commons

Doomed Titanic passenger’s postcard up for auction with heartbreaking message to wife
The Mirror, 10 Nov 2022

A postcard where a passenger on the doomed Titanic tells his wife ‘this is the last thing you will hear from me’ is to go under the hammer. The message was written by second class passenger Jacob Milling from his hotel room in Southampton and was sent the day before he boarded the ill-fated liner. Mr. Milling, an engineer who was travelling to America to study railway machinery for two months, described to wife Augusta how he could see the world’s biggest passenger ship from his window. He wrote: “Dear Augusta! This is the last thing you will hear from me from this side of the Atlantic.

The auction is being held by Henry Aldridge & Sons on 19 Nov 2022. The offering price is £7,000.

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Just for fun

It turns out some well known things other than Titanic came from Belfast. Here is an article you might find interesting and amusing.

10 things you didn’t know came from Belfast
Meanwhile in Ireland, 7 Nov 2022

 


Titanic

Wallace Hartley’s Violin Reminds us of Tragic Loss

Photo: Public Domain(Wikipedia)

I recall some years ago when Wallace Hartley’s violin was found and the incredible amount of attention it generated. It truly was a great find. The actual violin that Titanic  band leader Wallace Hartley played on the ship had been discovered. It was in a bag on his body and was later stored and nearly forgotten.

Of course there was a lot of skepticism, as there should be. There have been a lot of scams of fake Titanic memorabilia being passed off as genuine in the past. The violin was rigorously examined and tested to make sure it was authentic. It was and ultimately auctioned off (the winning bidder was anonymous). Here is an interesting story looking into the violin and its importance not only to him but his fiancee that sadly was never to be his wife.

How a Violin Auction Resurrected the Tragic Love Story of the Titanic’s Heroic Band Leader
MyModernMet.com, 30 Jul 2021

Hartley’s body was pulled from the water 10 days after the Titanic sank. Strapped to the bandleader, the rescuers found a leather valise with the initials W.H.H. Inside was his violin case and treasured instrument, as well as some musical scores. For decades, the violin was lost to public knowledge. However, upon its resurfacing in 2006, the rest of the sad story of Hartley and his fiancée has been illuminated. Upon the violin’s emergence from a musician’s attic in 2006, the instrument was the subject of scrutiny by auction house Henry Aldridge & Son and Christian Tennyson-Ekeberg, author of Nearer, Our God, to Thee: The Biography of the Titanic Bandmaster. It was discovered that in July 1912, a grieved Robinson included a telegram receipt in her diary. It read, “I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiancé’s violin.” Somehow, in the process of identifying and repatriating the dead, the possessions of the late bandmaster were returned to England.


Titanic

Titanic News:Haunting Titanic Letter Up For Sale; Did Space Weather Contribute to Titanic Disaster and more….

 

March 6, 1912: Titanic (right) had to be moved out of the drydock so her sister Olympic (left), which had lost a propeller, could have it replaced.
Robert John Welch (1859-1936), official photographer for Harland & Wolff
Public domain

Haunting Five-Page Letter Of Titanic Survivor Describes Hearing Cries As Ship Sank (The Mirror, 5 April 2021)

Marion Wright’s five-page account was written to her dad the day after the disaster in April 1912. She watched from a lifeboat as the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. Marion, who was 26 at the time, wrote: “It was terrible… I don’t think I shall ever forget it… “We saw the crowds of people when she broke in two which she did a few minutes before she sank going down with a huge explosion over the cries of the people left on board.” She was in her cabin when the “unsinkable” liner struck the iceberg in the north Atlantic.

The letter will be auctioned off by Henry Aldridge & Son on 17 April 2021. It is expected to fetch £6,000 ($8,294)

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A Titanic Mystery Is The Subject Of New Theatrical Dinner Experience At Goodwin Hotel In Hartford,Hartford Courant, 1 April 2021

The final first-class meal ever served on the Titanic is the inspiration for a theatrical dining experience running from April 16 to May 9 at The Goodwin hotel in Hartford. Tyler Anderson, executive chef-owner at the acclaimed Millwright’s in Simsbury, or members of his Millwright’s chef team, will cook for up to 126 people each Friday, Saturday and Sunday night in the second production of “Room Service at the Goodwin,” Anderson has announced. Diners will eat in parties of up to six people, each party in a separate room of the hotel, 21 rooms total. The Titanic meal will be accompanied by a mystery story about the 21 passengers on the Titanic who were bound for Connecticut.

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Was Space Weather The Cause Of The Titanic Disaster? Irish Times, 1 April 2021

At the time of the disaster, the skies were clear, the sea was calm and there was no moon. Several sightings of the aurora borealis, a visible manifestation of geomagnetic disturbance, were reported. The sunspot cycle was near minimum in 1912, and reports from the British Antarctic Expedition on the fateful night were compatible with a coronal hole event on the sun.

Measurements at several geophysical observatories confirmed the occurrence of a strong magnetic storm. This could have affected compass readings on both Titanic and Carpathia. Zinkova argues that this caused similar errors on both ships, accounting for the miraculous interception of the lifeboats by the rescue vessel. The light from the aurora may also have aided the rescue operation.

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Major River Clyde Shipbuilding Attraction To Rival Titanic Belfast Plan For Glasgow GlasgowLive, 29 Mar 2021

Plans are being drawn up to create a new cultural landmark rivalling the Titanic in Belfast and V&A in Dundee in Glasgow. The Ship Yard Trust are looking to create a tourist attraction marking the industrial achievements of the River Clyde and the contribution of the men and women of Glasgow who worked there. The proposal has been described as ‘ambitious’, with the final outcome hoped to be the same quality of other successful attractions including the V&A to put the Clyde on the ‘tourist map’ and provide employment in local communities.


Historic Ships, Titanic

Titanic News: Letter from Pastor Who Died on Titanic Surfaces; Diving to Titanic Will Cost You Big Money

 

Photo:Wikipedia

Titanic Letter Written By Hero Pastor Who Died In Disaster Surfaces (Fox News,  1 Nov 2020)

A letter written on the Titanic by a hero pastor who died in the ship’s sinking is up for auction in the U.K. The letter was written by John Harper, the pastor of Walworth Road Baptist Church in London, a widower who was traveling with his sister and 6-year-old daughter to preach at the Moody Church in Chicago.

The letter will be auctioned off by Henry Aldridge & Sons on 14 Nov.

Ship Branded The ‘Titanic Of The Great Lakes’ Discovered 110 Years After It Sank (Mirror, 2 Nov 2020)

A ship branded the “Titanic of the Great Lakes” has been found in its watery resting place – 110 years after it mysteriously sank. The Pere Marquette 18 spent the summer giving pleasure cruises in Chicago and was called the “world’s largest pleasure boat” and the “safest ship afloat”. But the vessel sunk with the loss of dozens of lives en-route from Michigan to Wisconsin as it returned to its regular route in September 1910. There were multiple witnesses to the sinking – including another ship, the Pere Marquette 17, which came to the rescue – but the cause of the calamity remains a mystery.

You Could Join A Tour To See The Titanic Wreckage In 2021 – But You’ll Need A Spare £96,000 (Yahoo, 29 Oct 2020)

The expeditions, which will see nine guests set off on an eight-day trip from Canada’s Newfoundland, won’t be cheap. Each of the “mission specialists” (used to describe the guests) will be expected to pay $125,000 (£96,368) for the trip which includes a six to eight-hour dive in the submarine to see the wreckage. Only three guests will join the driver in the submarine at any one time. Rush, who is planning to host the trips from May to September annually, says that 36 people have already booked in for the first six expeditions.

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Titanic, Titanic II

Rare poster surfaces;Titanic II back from the Grave?

March 6, 1912: Titanic (right) had to be moved out of the drydock so her sister Olympic (left), which had lost a propeller, could have it replaced.
Robert John Welch (1859-1936), official photographer for Harland & Wolff
Public domain

1. Rare Titanic Poster Surfaces
The Irish Mirror reports that a rare Titanic poster has been found and soon will be up for auction. Red,white and blue posters were put up around lower Manhattan in New York during the spring of 1912. After the sinking,the posters were taken down by White Star. The posters advertised Titanic as “Queen of the Ocean.” They included two black and white photos of the interior with Olympic as the stand in. And they were for the return journey set for Saturday, April 20, 1912. The Mirror reports only a handful survived and the one up from auction cam from a private source. Henry Aldridge & Son is handling the auction. The presale estimate is £60,000-£100,000 ($78,580-$130,968).
Source: Rare poster on return voyage of the Titanic surfaces over 100 years after sinking (Irish Mirror,17 Oct 2018, )
(Due to policy of Irish newspapers to impose fee on links to news articles, we are not providing one here.)

2. Titanic II in 2022?
Well say this about Clive Palmer, he is not given up on the idea of creating a seaworthy replica of the famous ship. It was a total bust last time since he could not get Chinese investors aboard. Now he is claiming it will launch in 2022 after being built in China, sail to Dubai following a shakedown cruise from China to Signapore, and then to Southampton. The project is expected to cost $500 million. Whether this is just a publicity stunt remains to be seen.
Source: New Titanic to set sail from Dubai in 2022, says Clive Palmer (arabianbusiness.com,16 Oct 2018)
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel/406296-new-titanic-to-set-sail-from-dubai-in-2022-says-clive-palmer


Titanic

Titanic Letter Sells For World Record Price

New York Times Front Page 16 April 1912
Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons)
The UK Telegraph is reporting that a letter written aboard Titanic fetched £126,000 ($166,254) at auction. The letter was written by first class passenger Alexander Oskar Holverson and was recovered from his body. The name of the buyer was not revealed.

Source: Titanic letter recovered from First Class passenger’s body sells for world record price (Telegraph,22 Oct 2017)