The Rev. Francis Browne, a Jesuit priest, sailed the first leg of the Titanic’s maiden voyage, between Southampton, England, and Cobh, Ireland -- taking a series of black-and-white photos of life onboard the luxury liner. He planned to stay on the ship to New York but was ordered by his superior to return home instead.

Browne was lucky. After striking an iceberg on April 15, 1912, the Titanic took 1,500 people with it to its watery grave miles below the surface of the Atlantic.

Browne survived, thanks to the demands of his ministry, and so did his photographs, which were rediscovered in 1985 by a fellow priest.