Titanic passenger’s final letter resurfaces after 114 years: what’s written in it?

A letter written by a passenger aboard the Titanic just days before the world’s most famous ship sank has resurfaced after 114 years, providing a rare glimpse into what one passenger thought of the doomed voyage before disaster struck.

The letter is going up for auction in the UK and is expected to fetch more than $47,000.

The letter was written by a first-class passenger named Colonel Archibald Gracie while travelling on the Titanic in April 1912. He posted it when the ship stopped at Queenstown, Ireland, just four days before it met its tragic end after hitting an iceberg and sinking in the North Atlantic.

In the letter, Gracie praised the ship but admitted he wasn’t ready to make up his mind about it yet. He wrote: “It is a fine ship, but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her.”

Here’s full text of what’s written in the letter.

Dear Hector, 
Very many thanks for the telegram and for the good wishes. It was a kind and thoughtful act and much appreciated, and you will please convey my thanks to the members of our Association. 
Wasn’t it good of the President to come and see me off? I almost believe I could have persuaded him to come along. We have had a fine time up to now.
You do not see anything of the movement of the ship, but the weather is very fine.
On the top deck there are about 200 boys (from 20 upwards) marching round & singing, others are playing dominoes & cards in the saloons, some reading, some writing, everything is quite different to what you would expect to see at sea.
Tell your Dad I am very disappointed he did not come, but I know he could not help it, and it was more than expected by your brother coming instead. (All for this but not him) I am going to bed early, for I feel as tired as a dead dog.
Good bye Hector. Best wishes 
From Yours faithfully 
H.P. Hodges.

Gracie was among the survivors of the disaster. After the Titanic began sinking, he managed to climb onto an overturned collapsible lifeboat with dozens of other passengers and was later rescued.

Although he survived the sinking, his health never fully recovered. He died later that year after suffering complications linked to the ordeal.

Before his death, Gracie wrote one of the most detailed firsthand accounts of the Titanic disaster.

The newly resurfaced letter was written before any passenger knew the tragedy that lay ahead, making it one of the last surviving personal messages sent from aboard the ship before it sank.