Suddenly, there was darkness, whole and inscrutable, shouts, horrible yells, rose in the middle of the creaks of the boat, then that was it.

Sometimes, 43 years after the tragedy, I still dream about it.

From the 2,229 passengers and crew, only 745 were saved.

After that night of terror, at first light, before the arrival of the Carpathia which would collect us dazed, completely exhausted, our boat and some others went back to the scene of the tragedy.

The waters were calm and bare, and nothing could suggest that the sea giant was engulfed there.

Alone, in front of us, two cathedrals of ice which were pinkening under the first sunlight offered a spectacle of rare beauty.