Historic Titanic life jacket gets auctioned amid 114-year anniversary of tragedy

A life jacket worn by a survivor of the Titanic is set to go under the hammer this weekend in what auctioneers are calling a “once in a generation” opportunity.

The garment is expected to fetch between £250,000 (approx. $339,000) and £350,000 (approx. $474,000), according to UK auction house Henry Aldridge and Son, which says it is the only life jacket from a Titanic survivor ever to come up for sale.

The item forms part of a wider auction of Titanic and White Star Line memorabilia taking place at Henry Aldridge and Son this weekend, as multiple media outlets reports.

Andrew Aldridge, managing director at the auction house, described it as one of the most significant Titanic artefacts ever offered.

“Quite simply this lifejacket presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for collectors, it’s the only example to ever be offered for auction from a Titanic survivor,” he said in an email to CNN Thursday.

When RMS Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912, it was the largest passenger ship in service and widely described as “unsinkable.” Just four days later, disaster struck when the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 p.m. on April 14. The vessel sank in less than three hours and carried too few lifeboats for the roughly 2,220 passengers and crew on board. Only about 700 people survived.

The jacket was worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger aboard the ill-fated liner, which sank 114 years ago this week.

Francatelli was secretary to fashion designer Lucy Duff Gordon and was travelling to Chicago with her employer and her husband, Cosmo Duff Gordon. All three survived after boarding lifeboat number one.

Signed by Francatelli and others who were rescued in that boat, the beige vest features 12 cork-filled canvas pockets, along with shoulder rests and side straps, according to the auction listing.

By Nazrin Sadigova