RMS Titanic Remembered
Events Around the World
Events across the world are marking the Centenary of the Titanic Sinking in the Atlantic. The RMS Titanic was a British steamliner built by the
White Star Line. For her time, she was the largest passenger steamship
in the world. It employed the latest technology available at the time,
and was thought to have been "unsinkable". Unfortunately, as you know,
that wasn't the case.
The Titanic left
Southampton, UK on April 10, 1912, with 2,200 passengers and crew
onboard. This was the maiden voyage of this amazing new steamship. Four
days after leaving Southampton, the Titanic collided with an iceberg and
sank. Over 1500 people perished making it one of the most deadly
peacetime disasters in history. The high casualty rate was later
believed to be due to the insufficient number of lifeboats onboard,
something that has been corrected in modern day cruise liners.
Belfast
Just in time for the Centenary of the Titanic sinking, a large interactive exhibit, Titanic Belfast®, has opened in Northern Ireland. It extends over nine galleries, complete with special effects, dark rides, full-scale reconstructions, and other interactive features for the visitor to explore everything about the Titanic.
Your visit starts with the conception in Belfast in the early 1900s, through her construction and launch, to her infamous maiden voyage and catastrophic demise.
The journey goes beyond the aftermath of the sinking, to the
discovery of the wreck and continues into the present day with a
live undersea exploration centre. This will surely be a must-see attraction for years to come.
For most of the century following the Titanic disaster, it was a taboo to mention the "T-word" in Belfast, Northern Ireland, site of the shipyard that built that ship and her two sister ships, Olympia and Britannic. It was a reminder of the industrial failure that followed the disaster.
The cranes are silent now in the shipyard, as their focus shifted to servicing ships and marine infrastructure. They are staying out of the spotlight on the anniversary of the Titanic. The only involvement is sponsoring a requiem mass. Some 16,000 people packed the Belfast slipways where the Titanic was
built for a free, open-air concert Friday ahead of the 100th anniversary
of the luxury liner’s sinking.
Observances in Belfast include a choral requiem at the Anglican St.
Anne's Cathedral and a nationally televised concert at the city's
Waterfront Hall on Saturday, where thousands were expected to attend.
Southampton
Southampton, England was the departure port for the ill-fated Titanic. The anniversary is being marked by an orchestra which will play composer Gavin Bryars' work "The Sinking of the Titanic".
About
600 of the Titanic's approximately 900 workers hailed from Southampton,
a port city in England. More than 500 from the city died.
Maritime Museum, Southampton
The Maritime Museum, Southampton hosts a permanent exhibition featuring
the story of Titanic’s crew. Visitors can find out about the Titanic
crew roles onboard and personal stories. The Museum has collections of
audio of crew member’s memories of the night Titanic struck the iceberg
and the consequences for them and their families.
At Sea in Atlantic
The MS Balmoral and Azamara Journey are enroute to the spot where Titanic sank (41°43'57"N, 49°56'49"W) where a memorial service will be held some 400 miles (640 kilometers) off the coast of Newfoundland.
Miles Morgan Travel offered two cruises, Anniversary Cruise from New York on the Journey, and Memorial Cruise from Southampton on the Balmoral.
According to details released by Miles Morgan, at 2:20 a.m. ship's time on Sunday — 0547 GMT or 12:47 a.m. EDT — a
minister will lead prayers, floral wreaths will be thrown into the sea
and a shipboard band, which has been entertaining guests in the evenings
during the cruise, will play "Nearer My God To Thee," the tune the
Titanic's band kept up as the vessel went down.
In 1912 "ship's time" was determined by predicting when the sun would
be at its highest point and making that moment midday. On some vessels
the clocks were constantly updated.
It is an outdated practice but to ensure that the memorial is
held at exactly the right time, the Balmoral's clocks have been put
back to four hours and 27 minutes before BST. That means the ship is now effectively on Titanic time.
Halifax
Halifax, Nova Scotia, has a grim connection with the Titanic disaster. The White Star Line chartered several ships to assist in recovery
efforts following the sinking of the Titanic. Two Halifax-based ships,
the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia, were part of that recovery fleet. The
ships' crews recovered 328 bodies, with 209 being returned to Halifax.
The badly damaged or deteriorated bodies were buried at sea. Of the 119
buried at sea, 60 were unidentified at the time and 49 remain
unidentified today.
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On April 14th, watch live webcast of
Titanic Eve Night of the Bells
from 9:30pm to 12:30am AST.
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On April 15, watch live webcast of
Titanic Spiritual Ceremony
from 3:00pm to 4:30pm AST.
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On April 14th, experience Titanic wireless messages in real time on Twitter
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Titanic events in Nova Scotia
Related Blog Articles:
Note: Updated links on April 14, 2020 - some original links have been removed - since they were active only for the anniversary. Click on the links to learn more about the Titanic.
