Close up view of the Celtic being launched from Belfast Dockyard. The anchors can be clearly seen being dropped as she leaves the slipway. The Celtic was launched on 4 April 1901 from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, and set off on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 26 July. The first ship larger than the SS Great Eastern in gross tonnage, she was the first of a quartet of ships over 20,000 tons, dubbed The Big Four.