Adrift in Titanic’s lifeboats ... rare photos of survivors being rescued go up for sale
RARE photographs showing the moment survivors of the Titanic were plucked from rescue boats have gone up for auction.
A scrapbook containing the incredible images of the rescue mission belonged to New York socialite Louis M Ogden, who was travelling to Europe on board the RMS Carpathia, which came to Titanic’s aid after the Belfast-built liner struck an iceberg on 15 April 1912.
The lawyer, who had purchased a new camera for the trip, helped to photograph, document, and assist the survivors.
He also captured on camera lifeboat number 6 which contained the famous US socialite known as the ‘unsinkable’ Molly Brown as it approached the ship.
The photo album is among the Remarkable Rarities auction which started last night in Boston. The collection is expected to sell for over £37,000.
The album consists of over 500 first-generation glossy and matte-finish photos, and is displayed on album pages bearing handwritten notes by Ogden. The photos document the globe-spanning expedition he and his wife Augusta took over the course of 1911 and 1912.
The Titanic rescue section features 29 photos and includes images of the late arrival of the SS Californian, and the approach and rescue of emergency lifeboats 1, 6, and 14 from the Harland & Wolff-built ship.
It also contains 11 photos of icebergs floating both nearby and on the distant horizon of the North Atlantic hours after the Titanic sank.
One of Ogden’s pictures shows the very peak of the iceberg responsible for sinking the Titanic. The Carpathia was the first vessel to respond to the Titanic’s distress calls in the early hours of April 15, after it cautiously navigated through ice fields en route to rescue 705 passengers.
Also featured are two original Marconigrams (telegrams) sent by two survivors of the Titanic while aboard the Carpathia.
They both sent messages to family members to say they were safe and making their way to New York.