A model of RMS Titanic depicted about to sink, its stern high out of the water, made in wood, plaster and a variety of other materials, and painted in realistic colours. This model was used in promotion of the 1958 film A Night to Remember. © Royal Museums Greenwich
Museums from Belfast to Southhampton to Missouri honour RMS Titanic. But a lesser-known collection in Kidbrooke, south east London contains some incredibly personal, and poignant, artefacts from the passengers and staff on board.
The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre houses a breathtaking stash of maritime objects — from celestial globes, to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's teacup.
One section of the collection focuses on original artefacts and memorabilia related to the Titanic tragedy of April 1912. Some were acquired by Walter Lord, writer of A Night To Remember, which was turned into a film in 1958, and strongly influenced James Cameron's 1997 Titanic. Lord corresponded with, and collected from, a number of Titanic survivors, as well as buying material at auction.
Here, we take a closer look at some of these artefacts, with notes from Jeremy Michell, Senior Curator of Maritime Technologies at Royal Museums Greenwich.
Gold pocket watch retrieved from the drowned body of Robert Douglas Norman, one of over 300 second-class passengers aboard Titanic. Norman worked for the AEG Electric Company in Glasgow but had resigned his appointment with the intention of visiting his brother in Vancouver before completing a world tour. He was 27 when he died. © Royal Museums Greenwich
"The undoing of the Titanic - nature of damage wrought by the iceberg". From the supplement to The Sphere, 27 April 1912. © Royal Museums Greenwich
Second Class dinner menu from the last night on the Titanic, 14 April, 1912, kept by survivor Mrs Bertha J. Marshall (nee Watt). © Royal Museums Greenwich
Letter from Marion Wright to her father, written onboard 'Titanic' headed paper, April 1912, posted at Queenstown. "This series of letters cover Marion's plans to go to the US to get married, a letter about her luggage requirements for the voyage, a quick letter about life on board (posted in Ireland). It is a nice, and slightly unusual survival of a series of letters that gives an insight into one second class passenger's preparation and experience before the sinking. They also remind us in our digital age that people relied on handwritten letters for news." © Royal Museums Greenwich
Marconi cable form for Miss Edith Rosenbaum, a Titanic survivor, to Women's Wear Daily. The cable reads: 'Safe Carpathia, notify mother'. 18 April, 1912. Carpathia was the ship which rescued some of the Titanic's passengers. © Royal Museums Greenwich
Carpathia medal, bronze pendant. After the loss of Titanic the first and second class passengers formed a committee to raise a general fund - to aid destitute third class passengers, and to present a cup to Captain Rostron of Carpathia and medals to her crew. Molly Brown (Margaret Brown 1867-1932) chair of the committee presented the awards. © Royal Museums Greenwich
Another lifeboat scene taken by Louis Mansfield Ogden. © Royal Museums Greenwich
The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, Kidbrooke, is open to the public for tours and events in non-lockdown times.
