'Unsinkable' man's watch offers insight into shipwrecks

An antique pocket watch gifted to a stoker who survived four major ship sinkings in five years is going up for auction.

The watch belonged to Arthur John Priest, from Southampton, who gained the nickname the unsinkable man after surviving RMS Titanic in 1912, RMS Alcantara in 1916, HMHS Britannic in 1916 and SS Donegal in 1917.

It will be sold at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire on 4 November at 14:00 GMT, with a guide price of £2,000.

Sheena Grainger, from Bespoke Auctions, said: "I don't know whether he was unlucky or just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Following his extraordinary series of escapes, Priest retired from life at sea.

According to accounts of his life, he claimed that fellow sailors no longer wished to work alongside him, fearing that his presence brought bad luck, an auction house spokesperson said.

When the Titanic sank, Priest was working in the ship's boiler room, and was rescued from the sea by one of the lifeboats.

He suffered frostbitten toes and an injured leg from the sinking.

The engraving on the watch suggests it was given as a thank you for Priest's actions to save a man's life when the Britannic sank after striking a mine in the Aegean Sea in 1916.

Bespoke Auctions said it has been unable to identify who Priest saved from the sinking, or who presented him with the watch.

An auction house spokesperson added: "The watch offers a fascinating potential historical connection to a man whose life became one of the most remarkable survival stories associated with Titanic and her sister ships."

Grainger said: "I think he was probably quite unlucky but anyone who chooses seafaring as a career knows it's a risky business, especially during wartime.

"He had a very hard career, and was an incredibly humble man so I don't know if he'd appreciate the fuss he got.

"In terms of everything he survived, it's quite extraordinary," she added.

After the SS Donegal sank in 1917, he left the maritime industry entirely, and died in Southampton on 11 February 1937.

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