Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain
Livescience.com has an article today that reports there is some doubt about the iceberg photograph up for auction is the one that collided with Titanic.
“There are two photos of icebergs from the area on the day following the collision, both of which purport to be the Titanic iceberg,” said Grant Bigg, an environmental scientist at the University of Sheffield in England.”
Bigg found there was another iceberg photo taken by Captain William George Squares de Carteret of the SS Minia. And believes it matches the dimensions that survivors gave of it. But there is no definitive proof that it is either.
A picture of the possible iceberg that doomed Titanic along with a
statement by a chief steward is up for auction at Henry Aldridge & Son. The steward describes seeing red paint on the iceberg that came from scraping a vessel. The photograph and statement signed by the steward were given to the White Star Line lawyers Burlingham, Montgomery & Beecher. After the inquiry it was framed and hung in their boardroom until the firm went out of business in 2002.
Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain
The photo was taken by M. Linoenewald, chief steward on German liner Prinz Adalbert. The Adalbert passed through the area where Titanic sank on 15 April 1912 but the disaster was not yet known to them. He took the photograph of the iceberg and later had three other crew members sign the statement as witnesses. The picture was included in Walter Lord’s book A Night To Remember.
Four of the remaining partners in the firm are putting it up for sale
through Henry Aldridge on 24 October 2015. It is lot 209 and estimated to fetch £15,000 ($23,000USD).
