Relatives Re-trace Fateful Journey of Titanic to Remember the Tragedy That Struck 100 Years Back

Relatives of those who were on The Titanic will embark on a memorial cruise by re-tracing the ocean liner's fateful journey across the Atlantic to mark 100 years since it went down in 1912. Philip Littlejohn, whose grandfather Alexander James Littlejohn escaped on a lifeboat as the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic, is among several descendants joining the cruise in two years' time, organisers said.

The Balmoral ship will leave Southampton on the southern English coast on April 8, 2012, bound for New York. It will hold a special ceremony at the exact time the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.

"It will be an emotional moment when we are over the wreck site to which I dived in 2001 and where grandfather left Titanic rowing lifeboat 13," said Littlejohn.

He will give a lecture on the cruise, organised by British firm Miles Morgan Travel, as will Arthur Cropley, whose great-uncle Charles Herbert Lightoller was a 2nd officer on the Titanic and also managed to escape.

The last survivor of the Titanic, Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean, died in May last year aged 97. She had been only nine weeks old when the Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage, drowning 1,517 of its passengers and crew.

Source-AFP