A PLAN of the RMS Titanic, used in the official inquiry after it sank in 1912, sold for more than £220,000 (€250,000) at an auction in Britain at the weekend.
Bought by a private collector, the 32ft plan (10m) raised almost twice its estimated value at an auction of Titanic memorabilia held by Henry Aldridge and Son, Devizes, Wiltshire.
Built in the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and owned by the White Star Line, the Titanic sank on April 15th, 1912, after hitting an iceberg while on its maiden voyage to New York. It was the largest passenger steamship in the world and more than 1,500 people died when it went down.
The longitudinal sectioned plan was used in the British inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic held in May 1912. It was prepared in Indian ink and hand-coloured on paper and mounted to linen. Titled “S.S. Titanic Profile”, it contained period red and green chalk markings indicating where ice was believed to have penetrated five water-tight bulk heads. It was hand-captioned and drawn to a scale of 3/8 inch to one foot.
The inquiry was held in Westminster and lasted 36 days, with testimony from almost 100 witnesses. Many were members of the surviving crew, along with other officials, officers of other vessels and maritime experts.
The only passengers to testify were from first class, Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon.
The inquiry found the ship was lost due to excessive speed.
Other items in the auction included a set of keys from one of Titanic’s first class lavatories, a draughtsman’s plan of the vessel and an account of wages showing that surviving crew members had their wages stopped by the White Star Line when Titanic sank.
