Titanic under construction in Belfast

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams. And for good reason. She was the largest moving object ever created by the hands of man. She had such luxurious appointments that she put most fine European hotels to shame. She was a floating city, and all who saw her marveled at her size and grandeur. Pirrie and Ismay inspect the hull of Titanic During a summer evening dinner in 1907, Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star lines, discussed with Lord James Pirrie, of the Belfast shipbuilder Harland and Wolff, the possibilities building two gigantic ships (with a third to follow) to finally beat out the Cunard lines for passenger business in the Atlantic. For the year and a half following, the plans were laid for the largest ship ever dreamed of. She would weigh in 50% heavier than the Cunard Lusitania, and would be more than 100 feet longer. Titanic and Olympic in the Belfast shipyards On March 31, 1908, the first keel plate was laid for Titanic in the newly constructed berths at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast. Nearly 15,000 men worked on the two ships, Olympic and Titanic. On October 20, 1910, the Olympic was launched and towed to her fitting-out basin for completion. Then, on May 31, 1911, the freshly painted black 26,000 ton hull of Titanic was ready to be backed into harbour. It took Titanic only 62 seconds under her own weight to clear the berth and come to a complete stop in Belfast Harbour. Titanic is launched on May 31, 1911 at 12:13pm At the beginning of March the Olympic briefly joined her sister, having returned to dry dock for the replacement of a propeller blade (picture below). Titanic and her sister ship, the Olympic More to come... For more information, I highly recommend the book "Titanic: An Illustrated History", with text by Don Lynch and paintings by foremost Titanic historian Ken Marshall, who was chief consultant for James Cameron's film. Excellent book.

Michael Sherman <mset@cmu.edu>