Titanic letter at auction reveals near misses as it left harbour

It was the worst of omens for the gleaming new ship embarking on its maiden voyage.

As the Titanic left Southampton docks for a journey that has gone down in history, the ship came close to hitting two other liners.

Had they collided, it would have cut short the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage to New York and may well have averted the catastrophe that was to claim 1,500 lives when the boat struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912.