ONE of the last letters written by the doomed captain of the Titanic is to be auctioned in Swindon.

Captain EJ Smith went down with his ship in the freezing waters of the Atlantic in 1912.

The tragedy was immortalised in the films Titanic and A Night to Remember.

He had previously served on another luxury liner, the Olympic.

But shortly after accepting his new post, he wrote in a letter on a slip of paper: "Reasonably for me, as you can understand, I will be leaving the Olympic with great sorrow, but obviously it's an honour for me.

"Best wishes, EJ Smith."

The letter goes under the hammer at Dominic Winter Book Auctions in Maxwell Street, either on Wednesday, December 12, or at the following sale next month.

The firm's documents expert, Richard Westwood-Brookes said: "Smith was given command of the Titanic for its maiden voyage as a mark of respect for the long and loyal service he had given the White Star Line.

"He was to have retired at the end of the voyage. Fate had other plans."

Mr Westwood-Brookes described the letter as a remarkable fragment.

The Titanic was considered to be unsinkable because of her then-revolutionary design, which included a series of stout bulkheads and watertight chambers.

But when she struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on the night of April 15-16, the gash torn in her side was so huge that sinking was inevitable.

The estimated sale price of the letter, thought to have been collected in a well-wisher's album, is between £500-£700.