The handwritten note was penned by second-class passenger Henry Price Hodges, who was travelling from Southampton to Boston to visit relatives. Addressed to a friend in Southampton, the letter describes the fine weather and positive atmosphere on board the liner.

Written on 10 April 1912 and postmarked in Queenstown – now Cobh in Ireland – the correspondence was sent from the Titanic’s final port of call before the ship sailed into the Atlantic.

Hodges, who paid £13 for his second-class ticket, was among the more than 1,500 people who lost their lives when the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912.

More than a century later, the poignant piece of maritime history is expected to sell for between £25,000 and £35,000 at auction, Sky News reports.