An astonishing eyewitness account of the bravery and stoicism shown by the crew on board the ill-fated Titanic in its final moments before sinking has been put on auction where it is expected to fetch 15,000 pounds.
The letter, written by second officer Charles lightoller, the most senior surviving officer on board the doomed ship, is going on the auction block later this month, along with an even more valuable letter that was written on the Titanic just days before it broke apart and sank.
lightoller gives a stunning account of the stoicism and bravery of the crew as they prepared to meet their demise in the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean after the liner crashed into an iceberg.
Accepting their impending fate, the men then all shook hands with the officer and said “goodbye old man” before they were washed overboard.
lightoller was the only member of the group to survive the 1912 disaster, which left around 1,500 people dead, after he was ordered to take command of the last collapsible lifeboat.