THE granddaughter of the Southampton sea captain who saved the lives of more than 700 survivors of the Titanic disaster, visited the city’s port today.

Rosemary Pettet’s grandfather was Sir Arthur Rostron, master of the Cunard liner, Carpathia, who answered the SOS from Titanic as she was sinking in the Atlantic.

Later this year a series of events will be held to mark the centenary of the sinking of Titanic, after she hit an iceberg on her ill-fated maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912.

Mrs Pettet, who lived in Southampton until she was 21, was visiting the Queen Elizabeth to see one of the ship’s ultra-luxury suites, which has been named after her grandfather.

“My grandfather was a quiet man, who never talked about his part in the Titanic story,’’ said Rosemary, aged 73.

“I remember him when I was a little girl as the most meticulous man, a quality which played such a big part in his planning of the rescue.’’ Sir Arthur Rostron, who lived at Chalk Hill, West End, was hailed as one of the heroes of the Titanic tragedy.

After being made Commodore of the Cunard fleet, Sir Arthur retired from the sea in 1931, nine years before he died in 1940 and was buried at West End church.