A Titanic Find

Lost piece of Titanic history resurfaces after disappearing for 100 years.

12:04 10 July 2015

A lost, crucial part of the Titanic history has finally resurfaced after disappearing for 100 years. Its an original plaque presented to the shipbuilder after the ship was completed. The artifact is now on show to the public in Spain. 

 

The exhibition is at the Granada arty gallery who bought it 12 years ago from a grandfather who did not realise its significance. Leo Lorenzo Sancho, the owner of the gallery, said that his own grandfather refused to buy it at first thinking it has no value and no history. 

 

The bronze and silver plaque was given on 9 April 1912 to the Irish shipbuilder and former Southampon Mayor, Lord William James Pirrie, chairman of Harland and Wolff. 

 

The Titanic was then named “the latest, larget, and finest steamer afloat” dubbed as the “Queen of the Ocean.” Six days later, it sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg. 

 

The plaque was given to the chairman’s office but somehow got lost. As a fan of Titanic, Leo found the plaque in a Barcelona art gallery and bought it against this grandfather’s advice.