A LIFEJACKET which could have saved a stricken passenger aboard the doomed Titanic liner is now on display at a Southampton museum.

But the story could have been much different, had it not been for a pair of opportunistic hands.

The 105-year-old jacket, made from linen and cork, was pilfered by a worker after it was taken to a New York warehouse to be destroyed.

It is not known if the lifejacket was used on the fateful night the Titanic sank, or if it was later collected with the debris left floating in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The jacket has now made its way to the SeaCity Museum in Southampton, where it will be put on show as part of its Titanic exhibition.

Maria Newbery, curator of maritime and local collections for Southampton City Council, said: “Survivors of the Titanic were picked up by a ship called RMS Carpathia, which came along in the early morning, and they would have been taken to New York.

“But there were other ships that went out to look for possible survivors and pick up debris.

“All of the debris was taken to a warehouse in New York and the intention was it should have been destroyed.”

However, one cunning warehouse worker saw – and seized – his chance to steal a piece of history for himself.

“This particular life jacket was taken as a souvenir by someone who worked at the warehouse,” Maria said.

“The guy who has taken the jacket kept it and I think, when he died, it was sold at auction in America.”

Maria said the winning bidder for the jacket ended up bequeathing it to a man called Ashley Noakes, who has since lent the museum the artefact.

“We are very excited because there are so few items that survived the Titanic,” Maria added. “Obviously, this item is rather special.”

The Titanic, which was the world’s largest passenger ship, sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912. The tragedy claimed more than 1,500 lives.

There were only 16 lifeboats and four collapsible boats on board, sufficient for only 1,178 people, one-third of the liner’s total capacity.

Of the 885 crew, only 23 were female. Some 699 boarded in Southampton, and four in ten were natives of the city.

The last remaining survivor, Millvina Dean, died in 2009, aged 97. She was just nine-weeks-old at the time the Titanic sank.

The wreck was discovered in 1985 and lies 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, around 12,500 feet below the surface.