SOURCE: Ulster Folk and Transport
Museum
Background to the Titanic
Disaster
Titanic
was built in Harland and Wolff’s
Queen’s Island shipyard in Belfast for the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company,
commonly known as the White Star Line. She was registered at 46,328 gross tons
with a length of 852.5 feet and at the time was the largest ship ever built.
After launch on the 31st May 1911, she was completed and delivered
on 2nd of April, 1912, to her owners. On the 10th of
April, 1912, Titanic sailed for Southampton in New York, calling at
Cherbourg in Northern France and Queenstown (now known as Cobh) on the south
coast of Ireland. On the night of 14th April, south of Grand Banks, Titanic
struck an iceberg. By 02.20am on the 15th
of April, 1912, Titanic had sunk with a loss of almost 1,503 lives. Only 711
were saved.