Titanic town marks 90th anniversary

It is 90 years since the Titanic sank -- on April 15 1912

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- Several hundred people have gathered at the English port where the Titanic set sail on the eve of the 90th anniversary of its loss.

About 400 people attended the commemoration at the Titanic Engineers memorial in Southampton, on the south coast.

Maritime organisations and members of the public laid wreaths, including one in the shape and colours of the White Star Line -- the Titanic's owners.

The ship hit an iceberg in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage on April 14 1912 and sank in the early hours of April 15 with the loss of 1,500 people.

The Rev. Ian Johnson reminded those gathered at the Titanic Engineers memorial that the sinking had devastated Southampton.

He said 549 people from the town -- most of them members of the ship's crew -- were among the victims.

"Ninety years ago an event took place that meant that in some streets in Southampton every household lost a family member," said Mayor Christine Kelly.

"We want to remember the sinking, not the spectacle, not the entertainment.

The UK's sole Titanic survivor, Mallvina Dean, 90, who was only nine weeks old when the ship sank was not present.

She was rescued along with her mother, Georgetta, and older brother Bertram Junior. Her father Bertram, 27, who was taking his family to a new life in America, drowned.

Millvina Dean, Britain's last Titanic survivor, at the Titanic Voices Exhibition at the Maritime Museum in Southampton

She is due to unveil a heritage plaque at the former headquarters of the White Star Line in Southampton on Monday.

In a separate service, an entire family wiped out when the Titanic sank was being remembered.

The Goodwins, the second-largest family to be killed, were victims of fate who were never originally booked on the doomed "unsinkable" liner.

Frederick and Augusta Goodwin and their six children - Harold, nine, Jessie, 10, William, 13, Charles, 15, Lilian, 16, and Sydney, 18, had been planning a new life in America.

They originally booked on to the SS New York but a coal strike meant they were `upgraded' to sail on White Star's newest vessel, The Titanic.

Historians say the family from Melksham in west Wiltshire were probably trapped in the steerage section where the poorest passengers were put.

A service was held on Sunday at St Michael and All Angel's church, Melksham.

The Rev. Derek Smith, said the family must have felt privileged when first transferred to the ship.

He told the Press Association: "It was one of the first great disasters of the 20th century, when human technology which people believed was so wonderful, was shown to be flawed."

The biggest family to be affected was the Sage family from Peterborough, 11 of whom were killed.

On Saturday, a Titanic passenger's gold plated watch which recorded the moment the 'unsinkable' ship sank fetched £19,800 ($28,464) at auction. (Full story)

The watch was among 316 items sold at the auction held as part of the British Titanic Society Convention.

The hands of the watch have remained at 3.21am, the exact moment eyewitnesses reported seeing the vessel disappear under the Atlantic Ocean on its maiden voyage.

It was rescued from the body of passenger John Gill, 24, a newly-married chauffeur, from Somerset, south west England, who had been making the voyage on his own to start a new life in America.

Also sold was a first class menu from April 10, 1912, the first night out on the liner, which fetched £27,000 ($38,815) -- more than three times the amount a menu from the ship had previously sold for.