The Titanic's Last Lifeboat: Amazing Photos Show Vessel Containing Three Rotting Bodies

 

Pictured drifting in the Atlantic, this is the Titanic lifeboat on which three rotting bodies were discovered a month after the liner sunk on its maiden voyage. The wooden lifeboat, the last to cast off from the doomed passenger ship as it plunged into the icy water, was spotted some 200 miles from the wreck site by crew on board the passing RMS Oceanic on May 13, 1912.  

On board were the corpses of two firemen from the Titanic's engine room and that of first class passenger Thomson Beattie aged 37, who was still dressed in his dinner jacket.  At the bottom of the boat, the crew found a wedding band engraved with the words 'Edward to Gerda' - the only remains of a husband and wife who perished at sea after escaping the sinking liner. Photographs of the recovery mission, combined with a detailed first-hand account, help build a picture of those who lost their lives aboard lifeboat 'Collapsible A' - and the gruesome discovery that awaited the crew of the RMS Oceanic.

Extraordinary photographs of the recovery will be auctioned alongside a gruesome handwritten account, which describes how one of the bodies was so decomposed its arm fell off during the operation.  The well-preserved note, penned by a passenger on board the RMS Oceanic, reveals how those on board the liner used binoculars to take a closer look at the bodies as the captain manoeuvered closer to the lifeboat.

One image shows six crew members from the RMS Oceanic being lowered on to a lifeboat, preparing to row towards the Titanic craft. Another shows the crew setting off for the life vessel - which looks like nothing more than a plank being tossed around in the waves. The third image shows two crewmen aboard the Titanic lifeboat, which is rapidly taking on water.  The boat was later identified as Collapsible A, believed to be the last craft to leave the ship at around 2.15am on the morning of April 15. 

Titanic First Officer Murdoch and Sixth Officer Moody were trying to attach to the boat to ropes so that it could be lowered into the sea when the deck became partially-submerged. The crew abandoned the task but the boat washed off the ship, offering a final option to desperate survivors struggling in the freezing water.  Accounts of how many people climbed into the boat place the number at somewhere between 12 and 20.

What is known is that over the course of the night, many passengers fell ill or died. It is believed that the bodies, including Mr Lindell, were lowered into the sea to lighten the load of the unstable boat. The survivors - believed to be around 12 or 13 people, including one woman - were picked up the following morning by Collapsible D before being rescued by RMS Carpathia.  Meanwhile Collapsible A was allowed to drift away with the bodies of the two firemen and Mr Beattie on board. 

Believed to have been among those who perished overnight is Edward Lindell, whose wife, Gerda, drowned while trying to reach the lifeboat.  Mr Lindell was clutching her wedding ring when he later died from exposure. The handwritten account describes how the corpses were unrecognisable, adding the one was so badly decomposed that its arms came off when lifted by crew members. The bodies were wrapped in canvass and buried at sea. 

The remarkable records, which have been held by a private collector for the last 20 years, will go under the hammer at Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wiltshire, on Saturday. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, said: 'These are three first generation photographs of the recovery of Titanic's last lifeboat. Acompanying them is a very graphic handwritten description by a passenger of the condition of those on board and the recovery operation.

Sadly it is not known who the Oceanic passenger was who wrote the description which states: “I crossed the Atlantic one month after the Titanic catastrophe. We picked up one of the lifeboats with two unrecognisable corpses of a passenger in evening dress and two firemen. The arms came off in the hands of the Oceanic boarding officer. The bodies were buried and a prayer service read. The lifeboat then hauled on to our deck”.