The infamous sinking of the RMS Titanic occurred off the coast of Newfoundland in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Presented is a very rare 1912 news photo of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, made from the first snapshot taken by Miss Bernice Palmer, a passenger on board the Carpathia, the first rescue ship to reach the area where the Titanic sank. The Titanic was a ship of the White Star line, and at that time it was the largest vessel afloat. It had a length of 882 feet, and from the keel to the top of the funnels, a height of 175 feet. The Titanic had 16 separate watertight compartments, which caused the ship to be thought of as "unsinkable." On the night of its sinking, the Titanic glanced off the large iceberg, which caused six of the separate ship's compartments to be sliced open, like a can, below the water line. Sinking became inevitable. Although the Titanic had 20 lifeboats, there were only enough lifeboats to take about half the passengers and crew at one time, as the lifeboat system was designed to have the lifeboats return to the ship after a trip to unload those on board to a rescue ship, and then ferry the other passengers to safety, which under the circumstances was impossible. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew, approximately 1,500 lost their lives in the disaster.

The offered photo measures 6.4x8.4". There are a number of stains on the photo, mostly from crop marks and paint - from the use of the photo in newspapers. None of stains or markings are on the part of the photo showing the large iceberg. There is a fold in the lower right corner. The photo exhibits uneven margins, and it shows some slight darkening, to be expected after more than a century. The back has a Brown Brothers stamp and a slug line, from Underwood & Underwood, which reads, "FIRST AUTHENTIC SNAPSHOT TAKEN BY MISS BERNICE PALMER A PASSENGER ONBOARD THE CARPATHIA SHOWING ICEBERG AND ICE FIELD RUN INTO BY TITANIC WHICH CAUSED THE GREATEST MARINE DISASTER." This photo was printed circa 1912, but it is a photo of a photo, so it is considered a Type III. The offering has been encapsulated and PSA Certified as "TYPE III AUTHENTIC."

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