A MACABRE account of how the last bodies of the victims of the Titanic were found in an abandoned lifeboat a month after the disaster has surfaced after 104 years.

The three male corpses were discovered in the collapsable boat 200 miles from the wreck site by the passing British liner RMS Oceanic on May 13, 1912.

The captain manoeuvred the ship towards the object in the water and the crew and passengers goulishly watched with binoculars as it dawned on them there were bodies still on board.

The witness account described how the corpses were unrecognisable and one was so badly decomposed the arms came off when lifted by crew members onto the Oceanic.

The bodies were wrapped in canvass and buried at sea after prayers were said.

Along with the account, there are three black and white photographs showing the recovery process.

One picture shows six crew members being lowered on an Oceanic lifeboat into the Atlantic while a second shows the small boat rowing towards the object in the water in the distance.

The last snap shows two seamen stood on the Titanic lifeboat which is taking on water.

The small craft was later identified as Collapsible Boat A, the last available lifeboat from the Titanic.

The three corpses are believed to be two firemen from the engine room and first class passenger Thomson Beattie, 37, who was dressed in his dinner jacket.

A wedding ring bearing the inscription ‘Edward to Gerda’ was also found on the boat.

This belonged to Gerda Lindell who died while trying to reach her husband Edward in the lifeboat. Edward died from exposure while holding his wife’s ring and his body was lowered overboard to make the unstable boat lighter.

Official records relating to the disaster show the boat was never launched from the ill-fated liner after it struck an iceberg and started sinking on the night of April 14, 1912.

It was washed over the side when the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves and about 30 people in the freezing water climbed on it in a desperate attempt to survive.

Most of them succumbed to exposure and died and 12 were rescued by another lifeboat before the collapsible boat was allowed to drift away.

The account has now come to light after it was put up for sale at auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, said: “These are three first generation photographs of the recovery of Titanic’s last lifeboat.

“Accompanying them is a very graphic handwritten description by a passenger of the condition of those on board and the recovery operation.”

It is not known who the Oceanic passenger was who wrote the description The account is being sold in Devizes on Saturday.