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Titanic locker key sold for £85,000 at auction | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
A key which opened a life-jacket locker on the Titanic has been sold for £85,000. | |
It was among 200 items from the liner sold at an auction in Devizes. | |
The key had been predicted to fetch up to £50,000. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the amount the key finally sold for "reflected its importance and unique nature". | |
A postcard sent by the ship's "heroic" chief wireless operator sold for £19,000. | |
'Sacrifice to save others' | |
The locker key had belonged to third-class steward Sidney Sedunary, from Berkshire, who perished when the Titanic went down in April 1912, after hitting an iceberg. | |
Mr Aldridge said: "Without a doubt [he saved lives]. Here's a man who sacrificed his life to save others." | |
The auction in Devizes was one of the biggest involving Titanic memorabilia for many years. | |
RMS Titanic had been four days into a week-long transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York when the supposedly "unsinkable" ship struck an iceberg on 14 April 1912. | RMS Titanic had been four days into a week-long transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York when the supposedly "unsinkable" ship struck an iceberg on 14 April 1912. |
The ship sank less than three hours later at about 02:20 on 15 April; 1,500 passengers and crew died and 710 survived. | |
A collection of letters written by Chief Officer Henry Wilde, who was second in command on the vessel, fetched £5,000 at the auction. | |
In one of the letters, written onboard Titanic and posted at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland, Wilde indicated he had misgivings about the new ship. | |
"I still don't like this ship... I have a queer feeling about it," he wrote. | "I still don't like this ship... I have a queer feeling about it," he wrote. |
He had been expecting to take command of another ship, the Cymric, and only signed on to the Titanic on 9 April 1912, the day before it sailed. | |
On 31 March 1912, he said he was "awfully disappointed to find the arrangements for my taking command of the Cymric have altered. I am now going to join the Titanic until some other ship turns up for me". | |
After the collision, Wilde took charge of the even-numbered lifeboats, and oversaw their loading and lowering into the water. He was among those who died in the tragedy. | After the collision, Wilde took charge of the even-numbered lifeboats, and oversaw their loading and lowering into the water. He was among those who died in the tragedy. |
Mr Aldridge said: "It is without doubt one of the finest Titanic-related letters, written by one of the liner's most senior officers on Olympic stationery. | |
"This lot reveals previously unknown details and shows Wilde's obvious disappointment in being transferred to Titanic. | "This lot reveals previously unknown details and shows Wilde's obvious disappointment in being transferred to Titanic. |
"What is certain is that he worked diligently to load the boats once the seriousness of the situation was clear to him." | "What is certain is that he worked diligently to load the boats once the seriousness of the situation was clear to him." |
Also included in the sale was a postcard from the ship's senior wireless operator, 25-year-old Jack Phillips, from Farncombe in Surrey, who carried on sending distress messages to other ships as the Titanic sank. | |
Phillips, who drowned, was described as "the man who saved us all" by survivor and fellow wireless operator Harold Bridge. | Phillips, who drowned, was described as "the man who saved us all" by survivor and fellow wireless operator Harold Bridge. |
The card, signed "Love all, Jack", describes the weather as the ship left Cowes on the Isle of Wight. It was sold for £19,000. | |