Watch of Titanic victim on sale for £25,000

Published on Tuesday 27 December 2005 00:04

A POCKET watch discovered on the frozen body of a Scot who was the last victim to be recovered from the Titanic is being auctioned for £25,000.

The silver watch was found on Thomas Mullin, whose corpse was plucked from the sea the day before it became too treacherous for rescue vessels to continue searching. The 20-year-old, who was born in Maxwelltown, Dumfries, had signed on for the ill-fated voyage on 6 April, 1912, as a third-class steward.

More than 1,500 died when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank off Newfoundland on the night of 14 April, 1912.

Mr Mullin's watch, which comes in three pieces and is damaged beyond repair, is being sold on eBay. It comes with a statement from the original purchaser, details of Mr Mullin and his family and the original auction bill of sale as well as documents containing full details of Mr Mullin and an insurance valuation for 50,000.

Meanwhile, the tender vessel which carried the rich and famous to the Titanic will be scrapped next year - unless fundraisers can raise 170,000. SS Nomadic is the world's last remaining White Star vessel. It took first-class passengers and freight to the Titanic when it called at Cherbourg, France, on the ill-fated maiden voyage to New York.

The once-proud vessel is a virtual hulk at Le Havre - an embarrassment to her owners - and will be sent to the scrapyard unless a buyer can meet the reserve of 250,000 (170,000) when she goes under the hammer at auction in Paris on 26 January.

If sufficient cash can be raised, the exhibition company White Star Memories and Belfast Industrial Heritage plan to buy Nomadic and restore her with help from lottery heritage funds.