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Thursday Titanic News

November 21, 2024 Mark Taylor Leave a comment

Top News

Rostron Watch Sold For Record Amount

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.

“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?

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.

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.

“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.

Rostron Pocket Watch Sold For Record Amount

November 18, 2024 Mark Taylor

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

Sources

Harland & Wolff Owed £160 Million;Institutional Buyer Snatches Large Parts of Collection; Rolex Watches That Visited Titanic Up for Auction

November 4, 2024 Mark Taylor

Ricketts, Colin. “‘Institutional Buyer’ Swoops but Leaves Titanic Haul for Collectors in Shipwreck Sale.” JustCollecting News. Last modified November 1, 2024. https://news.justcollecting.com/institutional-buyer-swoops-but-leaves-titanic-haul-for-buyers-in-shipwreck-sale/.

Lay’s Auctioneers of Penzanze posted this statement to their website just a week before the Charlestown Shipwreck Museum Sale was due to start on November 6. “We are pleased to announce that an institutional home has been found for many of the most important shipwreck artefacts from Charlestown’s incredible collection. Before this shock news, over 7,000 items from the Shipwreck Treasure Museum had been due to sell in 1,260 lots. Now 500 have been removed. A piece of coal from the legendary liner is still on sale with a £400 – £600 estimate. And those fascinated by the disaster-struck vessel can bid for models expected to realise, respectively, up to £800 and as much as £1,200 at sale. The lots listed still constitute a major maritime sale. They include guns, diving suits, uniforms and many ship parts.

Harland & Wolff David and Goliath crane in Belfast, 2006
Plastic Jesus (Dave) via Wikimedia Commons

Robinson, Jon. “Huge Debts at Titanic Shipbuilder Harland & Wolff Revealed.” City AM. Last modified October 31, 2024. https://www.cityam.com/huge-debts-at-titanic-shipbuilder-harland-wolff-revealed/.

Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff owed more than £160m when it collapsed into administration last month, it has been revealed. Teneo was appointed to oversee the process at the 162-year-old holding company in September while its subsidiary firms, including its prized Belfast shipyard, will continue to trade under the control of the directors. “Whilst the group delivered revenue growth, it was slower than required and a recent large contract win was not expected to become profitable in the near term. “As a result, during 2024 the group had an increasing short-term liquidity requirement alongside a significant level of creditor arrears.”

“Certificate of Origin: This coal was recovered from the wreck of R.M.S. Titanic during the 1994 Titanic Research and Recovery Expedition. Object No. 94/0036. Authenticated by the signature of President, RMS Titanic, Inc.; Captain, IFREMER.” Exhibited at the National Shipwreck Museum in Charlestown, Cornwall, South West England. [This is the coal up for auction.]
Image: Ben Sutherland via Wikimedia Commons. Posted originally on Flickr.

Paul, Andrew. “A Hunk of Coal From the Titanic Could Fetch $780 at Auction.” Popular Science, October 29, 2024. https://www.popsci.com/science/shipwreck-auction-titanic-coal/.

It’s unlikely that much else from the Titanic’s wreckage will ever return to the surface, although a number of artifacts have been salvaged since the famous ocean liner’s rediscovery in 1985. Now, one of those pieces of history is headed to auction—a hunk of coal originally intended as fuel for the 882-foot-long vessel’s boilers. The massive archeological trove previously resided at the UK’s Shipwreck Treasure Museum near St. Austell, Cornwall. Although its owners attempted to find a buyer for the institution earlier this year, no one appears ready to shell out the listing’s roughly $2.5 million price tag. Speaking with The Guardian on October 27th, David Lay of Lay’s Auctioneers helped contextualize the significance of his company’s impending event lots, including a length of rope recovered from King Henry VIII’s Tudor flagship, the Mary Rose.

Davis, Johnny. “For Sale: Rolex Watches That Have Been to the Titanic.” Esquire, October 29, 2024. https://www.esquire.com/uk/watches/a62746931/for-sale-rolex-watches-that-have-been-to-the-titanic/.

The second watch was gifted to Giddings by a Rolex employee and prominent diver called T. Walker Lloyd. The pair had become friends after Giddings had begun documenting the research of the marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle. Giddings’s photography was used by Rolex to launch its working relationship with Dr. Earle. (Giddings provided it for free.) Now both of Giddings’ Submariners are up for auction at Sotheby’s. The December sale is being overseen by Geoff Hess. The steel ref. 1680 has an estimate of $20,000-$40,000. His yellow gold ref. 1680/8 has an estimate of $30,000-$60,000. The sale takes place on 6 December in New York.

Items from Titanic Rescue Ship Auctioned Off

January 17, 2021 Mark Taylor

RMS Carpathia (date unknown)
Image: public domain

The Independent is reporting that items from Titanic rescue ship Carpathia have been auctioned off by a U.S. auction house. Single lumps of coal were purchased for $600, binoculars went for $1,600, and a intact Pepsi bottle sold for $2,000 were among the items auctioned off. The online auction was done by Ahlers & Ogletree of Atlanta, Georgia.

Source:

Items From Titanic Rescue Ship Sunk Off Ireland Fetch Huge Sums At US Auction (Independent.ie, 15 Jan 2021)

Titanic

Sunday Titanic News

June 9, 2019

HMHS Britannic seen during World War I.
Image:public domain

Summer is here and Titanic news tends to be thin except for the occasional item auctioned off or something interesting going on. Back in May, there was an auction of fittings from Britannic, sister ship of Titanic that sank in the Aegean in World War I. When the war started, the ship was put into service as a troop ship and most of her fittings were removed. Most were auctioned off and went into private hands.

One of the items sold was maple paneling in the “colonial style” became part a bar in a private home in Dublin, Ireland. According the BBC, there was a lot of interest in the auction and many came to view the items being auctioned. The auction fetched £257,000 ($327,000)at the auction. Names of the bidders and where they reside has not been publicly disclosed.

Source: Titanic sister ship Britannic’s fittings sold at auction (BBC, 1 May 2019) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48112113

Titanic, Titanic II

Rare poster surfaces;Titanic II back from the Grave?

October 17, 2018

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

Premier Exhibitions, Titanic

Sunday Titanic News: Titanic Victim Watch Sold and Titanic Artifacts Auction

September 3, 2018

1.Pocket Watch From Titanic Victim Sold For $57,500 (Smithsonian,29 Aug 2018)
On April 15, 1912, Sinai Kantor was among the more than 1,500 people who lost their lives when the Titanic plunged into the North Atlantic. Recovery workers later pulled his body from the ocean and found a number of items that had been on his person when he died. One of those items, a pocket watch marked with Hebrew letters, recently sold at auction for $57,500, reports the Associated Press. John Miottel, owner of the private Miottel Museum in California, purchased the watch at auction. He already owns a number of timepieces that belonged to Titanic victims, including John Jacob Astor IV, the financier who helped build the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, and Oscar Woody, the Titanic’s U.S. Postal Clerk.

2. Bankrupt Titanic Exhibitor Sets Biggest Sale of Ship Relics (Bloomberg, 30 Aug 2018)
This story, as predicted, is getting more heated now. To sum up: the current owner is bankrupt and wants to sell its most prized possession of all-the historic Titanic artifact collection. In the past getting anyone to put up the money was so difficult–due to constrictions imposed on the salvage award–that no one could afford purchasing it as one set. The article indicates three possible bidders:

1. Daoping Bao, has proposed a plan backed by a bevy of investment funds and Chinese businessmen who have bought $2 million of the company’s debt. Among Bao’s backers are Hong Kong-based PacBridge Capital Partners Ltd. and U.S.-based Apollo Global Management. Bao’s group is pledging to keep the collection intact and within reach of U.S. courts while planning to ramp up scientific and tourist expeditions to the wreck. Bao’s group raised their bid to $19.5 million

2. Titanic Branson
The owners of Titanic Branson and Titanic Pigeon Forge would like to purchase it and have made an offer in the past of $5-10 million that was turned down.

3. James Cameron & Museums: Cameron and a group of museums are offering $19.2 million.

As I suspected earlier, the Chinese are putting up a lot of money so they can move this to their theme park in China where a Titanic replica will be built. Make no mistake on this one, serious money is being put on the table. The downside is that once they are out of the U.S., there is no guarantee they will abide by the salvage award requirements. They claim they will keep it in U.S. but most are not sure they will do this. The bids from the Pigeon Forge and Cameron group is serious as well and both would likely keep the collection together.

And it is still possible that the bankruptcy court could conclude the easiest path is to auction off the pieces and pay off the debt rather than deal with the bids. The Bao group has put down a cash deposit to show they are serious. It is also possible that the government could step in to prevent its sale to Bao. That would leave the other two players. Certainly the Cameron group has museums behind him that know a lot about conserving artifacts. As for Pigeon Forge, they could end up getting it if the court is uncertain of the other two bids and wants to keep it right here in the U.S.

Titanic

Sunday Titanic News

March 4, 2018

1.Underwater Explorer Has A Deep Respect For Leadership(Lethbridge Herald, 4 Mar 18)
Ballard is one of the featured guests at this year’s Greatness in Leadership conference taking place in March.He is best known for finding the RMS Titanic in 1985, while on a secret navy mission to investigate two sunken nuclear submarines. “I was a naval officer doing something else, and needed a cover,” he said from his headquarters in Connecticut “I must say, the Pentagon was pissed when I made the discovery. I apologized and said I’d never do it again.” In May, Ballard will hit the open sea to work with Ocean Networks Canada. He and his crew are assisting with efforts to provide improvements to a tsunami early warning system by investigating the Juan de Fuca plate, a tectonic plate subducting under the West Coast.

2.WSU Engineering Students Helping Remap The Titanic (King5.com,1 Mar 2018)
Since Titanic was discovered in 1985, there have been dozens of voyages to the wreckage from government agencies and scientists. But the last time a tourist laid eyes on it was 2005, and the last scientific expedition was in 2010. Technology has also changed a lot in eight years. This time, their five-person sub named Titan will be armed with 4K cameras and a special laser to bring back the best images ever seen. “We can tell within millimeters what the hull is like and create a 3D image of it which we will use in our virtual reality presentation of the wreck,” said Rush.

Public Domain( John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Australia)

3.US Museum Labelling Titanic A Failure Blasted By Belfast Councillor(Belfast Telegraph, 27 Feb 18)
The Museum of Failure in Los Angeles is dedicated to displaying 100 items which are rated in terms of innovation and design before being subjected to the museum’s ‘Fail-O-Meter’. The Harland & Wolff-built luxury liner was deemed unsinkable by its designers but tragically sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. However, Councillor Sonia Copeland, who represents the Titanic District Electoral Area in east Belfast, said the inclusion of the ill-fated cruise liner in the exhibition is completely inappropriate. “I think it’s disgusting. The Titanic hit an iceberg. That wasn’t a failure of the shipbuilders – it was a failure of nature, so to speak,” she said.

4.Medals Of War Hero Who May Have Unwittingly Helped Sink Titanic Go Up For Auction(Belfast Telegraph, 27 Feb 2018)
A special set of medals owned by a Titanic crew member whose memory loss may have sparked the liner’s tragic demise is set to go under the hammer. Crew member David Blair was a selfless man who once plunged into the sea to save a life and received an OBE – but he may have unwittingly caused the catastrophic sinking of the famous ship in 1912. That’s because Second Officer Blair was taken off the Titanic at the last minute – and accidentally held on to the key to a locker containing the crow’s nest binoculars. Titanic survivor Fred Fleet told the official inquiry into the tragedy that if they had the binoculars they would have seen the iceberg that took the ship to its watery grave sooner.

Titanic

Rare Titanic Poster Fetches Big Dollars At Auction

October 30, 2017

Titanic Leaving Queenstown 11 April 1912. Believed to be the last photograph of ship before it sank.
Public Domain

The Belfast Telegraph is reporting a rare poster advertising transatlantic trips was auctioned off for $9,750. The poster does not actually display Titanic but Olympic. The poster references that both RMS Olympic and Titanic are the largest steamers in the world. The poster is believed to have been made in 1911. The poster was auctioned off by Swann Auction Galleries in New York.

Source: Titanic poster sells for £7,400 (Belfast Telegraph, 28 Oct 17)

Titanic

Titanic Letter Sells For World Record Price

October 22, 2017

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)

Titanic News Channel

Tag Archives: auction

Thursday Titanic News

Rostron Pocket Watch Sold For Record Amount

Harland & Wolff Owed £160 Million;Institutional Buyer Snatches Large Parts of Collection; Rolex Watches That Visited Titanic Up for Auction

Items from Titanic Rescue Ship Auctioned Off

Sunday Titanic News

Rare poster surfaces;Titanic II back from the Grave?

Sunday Titanic News: Titanic Victim Watch Sold and Titanic Artifacts Auction

Sunday Titanic News

Rare Titanic Poster Fetches Big Dollars At Auction

Titanic Letter Sells For World Record Price

Titanic, historic ship, and general history news.