A rare photograph of the iceberg has surfaced after 108 years and went viral among netizens that sank the Titanic just two days after it was captured by captain of a passing ship.
The black-and-white picture was captured by the captain of another passenger liner crossing the Atlantic coincidentally two days before it sank the Titanic.
Captain W Wood had captured the huge iceberg on his camera who was serving on board the SS Etonian and interested in photography.
Captain Wood had also made a note of the geographic coordinates, which were almost the same for when the Titanic struck an iceberg 40 hours later and sank with the loss of 1,522 lives.
After reaching New York, he had sent a print of the photograph to his great-grandfather, along with a letter in which he stated that it was the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
He wrote: ‘I am sending you a sea picture, the Etonian running before a gale and the iceberg that sank the Titanic. We crossed the ice tracks 40hrs before her and in daylight, so saw the ice easily and I got a picture.’
He wrote a caption in black ink on the accompanying photo, noting ‘iceberg taken by Captain Wood SS Etonian in 41°50N 49°50W April 12th at 4pm.”
The Titanic struck an iceberg at 10.20pm on April 14, 1912 and sank just under three hours later, Dailymail UK reported.
Several photos of the icebergs in the Titanic’s vicinity taken before and after the collision have come to light over the past century.
However, Wood’s photograph of the unusually-shaped iceberg seems to closely match sketches and eyewitness descriptions of the one that the Titanic struck.
The photograph and letter are now being sold at auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts, for an estimated £12,000. The 5ins by 4ins photograph will be sold on June 20.
