Over the years, the RMS Titanic has maintained an enduring interest as it is one of the most well known and documented maritime disasters during peacetime in history. Her maiden transatlantic voyage, setting sail from Southampton bound for New York, took place on April 10, 1912. Dubbed as “unsinkable”, at the time of sailing she was the largest passenger steamship in the world. Shortly into her voyage, on April 15, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg and began sinking within hours of that fateful crash. The resulting catastrophe resulted in the loss of 1,517 lives partly due to the lack of necessary lifeboats aboard which only had room for 1,178 people out of the 2,201 people aboard.

As postal historians know, many ocean liners were more than just ships ferrying people from destination to destination, they acted as transportation for the mail. In fact, “RMS” stands for “Royal Mail Steamer”. This example here was not aboard the Titanic as only a few covers have survived which were offloaded in Ireland before heading to New York – the rest fell victim to the sea. This particular example, as per the custom at the time, had “TITANIC” handstamped on the front indicating the vessel name it would travel on to its destination. Believed to have been applied in transit in Paris, it was then transferred to Cherbourg where it was due to have been taken by the Titanic. Although, due to complications with building the Titanic, the maiden voyage was moved from March 20 to April 10, announced by the ship owners, White Star Line, in October 1911. Word must not have reached the appropriate mail clerks and realizing this, the cover was placed on an alternative ship rather than holding it back for a period of close to a month.

To date, the 8 known covers all bear some similar marks. These include the “TITANIC” handstamp, a blue registration number, the violet “Received” marking (which is believed to have been applied at Winter Co.), the addressee and ms. “Dossier” marking at bottom. These each differ in the originating city, all within France. Of those known, the important violet “Titanic” marking on this example happens to be full, complete and well struck making it arguably one of the finest examples known. (Image) (imagea)