New memorabilia from the RMS Titanic reveals more about the ship and its passengers, while a virtual reality animation is giving viewers a real-time look at the events that unfolded on a dark night in the chilly North Atlantic Ocean.
One of the lots to be sold Saturday by British auction house Henry Aldridge and Son is a once-crumpled memo handed to ship captain Edward Smith. It warns of an obstacle on the Titanic's course: the mast of a submerged ship.
The document was saved by the owners of the Titanic as evidence the company prepared responsibly for the voyage that ended with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.
Also being sold is a letter from the parents of Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley, who famously ordered that the ship's musicians play for the doomed passengers as the ship went down. The letter, found on Hartley's body after the disaster, reveals that the musician was denied a request for leave that would have kept him from making the doomed voyage.
Meanwhile, a new virtual reality simulation is giving viewers a real-time view of the event, making clear the steps and missteps that led to the rescue of more than 700 people and the loss of 1,500 others.
An organization called Titanic Hope and Glory has released the historically accurate video, which depicts the ship's first subtle, later dramatic slide into the depths; the demise of a supposedly unsinkable vessel, lost on its maiden voyage.
