Watch given to captain who saved 700 Titanic survivors sells for £1.56m

Sir Arthur changed course of the Carpathia, which was on its way from New York for Europe, after the ship’s wireless operator picked up the distress call “we’ve struck ice, come at once”.

It set off at full speed and reached the Titanic two hours after it had sank in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912.

The watch was given to Sir Arthur by the widow of the richest man on the Titanic, John Jacob Astor, and two other widows of wealthy businessmen lost when the vessel struck an an iceberg and broke apart – taking the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

It carries the inscription “presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912 Mrs John B Thayer, Mrs John Jacob Astor and Mrs George D Widener”.

Sir Arthur received the gift from Mr Astor’s wife at a lunch at the family’s mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City, according to the auction house.

“It was presented principally in gratitude for Rostron’s bravery in saving those lives, because without Mr Rostron, those 700 people wouldn’t have made it,” auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.