A METAL pocket watch that survived the sinking of the Lusitania was sold at auction for £8,000 (€9,300) in London.
The Ingersoll Eclipse white pocket watch sold by auction house Henry Aldridge. The watch was originally the property of 29-year old British man Walter Reinhold Storch, who survived the sinking. The dial is heavily water stained and the hands are frozen in time at 2.32 pm, mere minutes after the luxury liner was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Old Head of Kinsale May 7th, 1915.
With the pocket watch, Mr Storch’s wedding ring and Lusitania ephemera also went under the hammer. The item was expected to fetch £5,000 but it sold for £8,000.
At the same auction there was another Cork-related item up for grabs. A small wooden decorative anchor made by Titanic survivor William McCarthy was expected to sell for £300 but strong interest saw the price increase until the hammer came down on £2,000.
Created with shells, the commemorative anchor has a pencilled script on its reverse: ‘Constructed by AB Seaman William McCarthy, a survivor of the White Star liner Titanic.’
Mr McCarthy was from Grattan Hill, Cork city, and was working as a crewman on the ill-fated ship when it sank on April 12th 1912.
The Corkman helped to crew lifeboat No 4 and organised the rescue of people from the icy water, including William Lyons, a crewmate and fellow Corkonian. Unfortunately, Lyons succumbed to hyperthermia despite McCarthy’s heroics.
His actions on that tragic night were noted by first class passenger Virginia Estelle Clark. After the disaster she singled out William McCarthy for his bravery and highly commended him.
After the sinking of Titanic, McCarthy went back to work on the sea. He returned to his native Cork in later life and is buried in Whitegate.
The Titanic survivor was known to make friends and family members little ornamental anchors from driftwood and shells collected from the Cork coastline.
