Henry Aldridge & SonsThe life jacket worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli when the Titanic sank in 1912.

On the night of April 14, 1912, Laura Mabel Francatelli was preparing to go to bed on the RMS Titanic when she heard a loud noise. She immediately went up to the deck, boarded a lifeboat, and watched in shock as the Titanic sank into the cold, dark waters of the North Atlantic. Now, the life jacket she wore that cursed night has been sold at auction for $906,000.

Although there were over 3,000 life jackets on the Titanic that night, most have been lost to history, and a few survivors' jackets went to museums. Francatelli's life jacket stands as a haunting relic of one of modern history's worst disasters, being the only Titanic survivor's life jacket sold at auction.

The Story of Laura Mabel Francatelli's Titanic Life Jacket

Laura Mabel Francatelli was a passenger on the RMS Titanic during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. Francatelli was traveling in first class with the famous fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon and Lucy's husband, Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon.

Encyclopedia TitanicaSurvivor Laura Mabel Francatelli shortly after being rescued from the Titanic.

According to a letter Francatelli wrote later, she felt the Titanic hit an iceberg while she was preparing for bed on the night of April 14, 1912. "I heard a noise," she wrote, "that shook me and everything in my room."

Francatelli left her cabin and learned that the ship had hit an iceberg - but they were told there was no danger. However, the situation on the ship suggested otherwise. People were running up and down the stairs, and Francatelli saw water in the corridors as she made her way toward her employer's cabin.

ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty ImagesThe Titanic shortly before the start of its maiden voyage in Southampton. April 10, 1912.

As Lucy Duff-Gordon was getting dressed, a man passed by and told them to put on life jackets. According to Henry Aldridge & Son, this rare relic "has twelve cork-filled canvas pockets, shoulder supports, and side straps." For Francatelli, wearing this jacket made the danger of their situation even more apparent. "I felt like marble," she wrote in her letter, "but we prayed with Madame [Duff-Gordon] for God to protect us and keep us safe, if that was His will."

Then the three of them went up to the ship's deck, where many people were being called to board lifeboats.

"I told Sir Cosmo, 'I think we are sinking,'" Francatelli recalled in her letter. "He said, 'Don't be silly, let's get away from here.'"

How Laura Mabel Francatelli Survived the Sinking of the Titanic

National ArchivesA lifeboat similar to the one Laura Mabel Francatelli boarded.

According to Francatelli, she and Lucy Duff-Gordon were given a place in the lifeboats, but they refused to leave Cosmo behind. The three of them were taken aboard one of the last lifeboats to leave the ship - Lifeboat No. 1 - along with "two other American gentlemen" and seven crew members. From this perspective, Francatelli watched as the great ship sank into the ocean, about 200 meters from the Titanic.

"We saw everything and watched that enormous thing sink rapidly," Francatelli recounted in her letter. "Then there were terrible, terrible explosions and everything went dark. Then came the horrifying screams and cries of 1,600 precious souls fighting for their lives in the water. Oh, I will never forget that dreadful night, swimming in the ocean with that little boat, listening to that terrible agony in the freezing cold."

However, Francatelli and the others in the lifeboat did not return to rescue more people, even though their boat could have taken more passengers - a decision that later led to some controversy. As a result, about 1,500 people lost their lives in this sinking; Francatelli and the other survivors were rescued a few hours later by the RMS Carpathia.

Henry Aldridge & SonsThe life jacket Laura Mabel Francatelli took from the Titanic has now been sold for $906,000.

On that ship, Francatelli and seven other survivors from Lifeboat No. 1 all signed her life jacket. The faded signatures are still visible today.

The life jacket had been kept out of the public eye for decades. Twenty years ago, a private collector purchased the life jacket from Francatelli's family.

Now, this rare life jacket has been sold at auction for an astonishing price as another extraordinary relic from the sinking of the Titanic.