Belfast’s TITANIC Heritage Harland AND When RMS Titanic sailed away on her maiden voyage on April 10th, 1912, she was hailed as ‘the new wonder of the world’. A remarkable feat of engineering, she was the largest and most luxuriously wolff appointed ship ever seen and, despite her tragic sinking five days THE WORLD’S later, she remains a source of enduring pride in the City where she was built – Belfast. GREATEST SHIPBUILDERS HARLAND & WOLFF The names ‘Titanic’ and ‘Harland & Wolff’ symbolise the great era of This guide will take you back to the source of the legend, the history of shipbuilding in Belfast, and in particular, the story of the firm Belfast shipbuilding. which built Titanic, Harland and Wolff. You can learn about Titanic Behind that itself, from the visionaries who conceived her, to the men who designed and built her, to her ill-fated maiden voyage. Finally, we remarkable success will take you around the many locations in Belfast associated with story is a fascinating the world’s most famous ship from the magnificent Belfast City Hall history that takes us to the impressive cranes – Samson and Goliath. back to the earliest So come back in time with us and relive the enthralling Titanic story days of Belfast. in the City of her birth. Titanic departing Belfast, April 1912 By this time, Queen’s Island had been linked to east Belfast, making access easier for the increasing numbers of workers at the firm. As the yard expanded it became like a small city, with thousands of men employed in the many different roles, from riveter to master craftsman, it Edward Harland Gustav Wolff Lord Pirrie now took to build the great liners. Working conditions were arduous and injuries were not uncommon but generations of workers, acknowledged widely for their skill and dedication, took a fierce pride in their work. William James Pirrie Crucial to the success of Harland and Wolff was the man who became a partner in 1874, William James Pirrie. Charismatic and charming, Pirrie was a visionary whose growing influence on the firm was crucial to its expansion. Following the death of Edward Harland in 1895, Pirrie, who had joined the firm as a 15-year-old ‘gentleman’s apprentice’, was his natural successor as Chairman. By this time, Harland and Wolff was recognised as the world’s greatest shipbuilders, responsible for the In 1909, when work began on the ship that magnificent flagships of the White Star Line, such as the Teutonic and Majestic, delivered in 1889 and 1890 HARLAND would become the most famous in the respectively. The growing emphasis on the scale of world, the RMS Titanic, Belfast was one the liners being built around the world led to a huge expansion of the facilities at Harland and Wolff, including of the world’s greatest ports and a world the construction of the gigantic Arrol gantry, 840ft long leader in many industries, including and 240ft wide. In 1904 work began on the Thompson Graving Dock, the largest in the world. This would be shipbuilding. necessary for the building of the most ambitious projects yet undertaken by a shipbuilding firm - the Olympic, Titanic and Britannic, the biggest ships yet built. & Queen’s Island WOLFF The City’s first major shipbuilding company was established in 1791, with the arrival of William Ritchie from Scotland. His first ship, the Hibernia, was launched in 1792; thus beginning a flourishing shipbuilding empire. Attractively laid out with tree-lined walkways, Queen’s Island’s first claim to fame was as a popular pleasure park, with a modest 112ft long glass, iron and wood building inspired by London’s Crystal Palace being constructed there in 1851. The island hosted a number of fetes and became a popular attraction for the public. A zoo, aquarium and aviary were added later before the building was destroyed by fire in 1864. By then, the island was already becoming known for another reason - the growth of a Belfast shipbuilding firm capable of challenging the pre-eminence of its major UK competitors. That story begins in 1854, with the arrival in Belfast of Edward Harland, a young English engineer, to manage the Queen’s Island shipbuilding yard. Ambitious, dynamic and a strict disciplinarian, Harland’s talent in engineering design would be complemented by the salesmanship of the man he took on as his personal assistant in 1857, the German-born Gustav Wolff. A year later Harland bought his employer out for £5,000 and started his own shipyard. In 1861 Wolff became his partner and, in 1862, the new company officially became known as Harland and Wolff. White Star Line Harland and Wolff built the first White Star vessel, the Oceanic, which was launched in 1870. Striking in its size and speed, it was considered remarkable too for its luxurious accommodation. Over the next few decades, Harland and Wolff would build over 70 ships for White Star, the most famous being Titanic. Queen’s Road , May 1911 The tragic sinking of Titanic in 1912 had a profound effect on Belfast, but it was by no means the end of Harland and Wolff’s success. William (now Viscount) Pirrie continued his plans for the expansion of the firm until his death in 1924. The Second World War, during which the yard suffered terrible damage from bombing raids, saw a dramatic but short-lived rise in production. But the growing popularity of aircraft travel triggered a sharp drop in demand for passenger ships, the last built by Harland and Wolff being the Titanic RMS Canberra in 1960. Today Harland and Wolff are world leaders in ship repair, design and structural engineering. The Future During the period Titanic was built Harland and Wolff typified the enterprise, innovation and ambition that made Belfast a world leader in many industries. A century later, as modern Belfast’s remarkable renaissance gathers pace, it is fitting that one of the most spectacular new waterfront developments in Europe should be sited on 185 acres of the old Harland and Wolff shipyard. The first phase of the £1 billion Titanic Quarter development, the Northern Ireland Science Park, a world-class centre of excellence for information technology, has already opened. Over the next 15 years, a new urban quarter of bars, shops, restaurants, marinas, homes and offices will emerge. At the heart of the new development will be a magnificent multi-million pound Titanic ODYSSEY COMPLEX ODYSSEY With her visitor attraction based around the former Harland and Wolff Headquarters Building unprecedented size and Drawing Offices, one of the largest listed buildings in Northern Ireland. and luxury combined ABERCORN BASIN with the tragedy of her sinking, no ship HAMILTON DOCK HAMILTON since has gripped the world’s imagination H&W DRAWING OFFICES H&W DRAWING like RMS Titanic. Her remarkable story begins in Belfast. Titanic BIRTH OF A LEGEND TITANIC SLIPWAY TITANIC OLYMPIC SLIPWAY OLYMPIC Titanic Quarter Planned Development Thompson Graving Dock Their names reflected their This was no simple task. Everything about Titanic was gigantic, from the vast steam engines and propellers to awesome size . its two 15-ton anchors, which needed teams of 20 horses to deliver. Hundreds of skilled craftsmen now made their When RMS Titanic set out on her maiden voyage on April 10th contribution building and decorating the cabins and rooms. 1912, she was the largest and most lavishly appointed ship ever Pirrie even employed leading artists to reproduce great seen, a truly remarkable feat of shipbuilding. Despite the deeply works of art around the ship. After successful sea trials on felt impact of her tragic sinking just five days later Titanic remains April 2nd, 1912, thousands lined Belfast Lough to proudly the subject of enduring pride in Belfast - the City where the world’s watch ‘the new wonder of the world’ set off for Southampton, most famous ship was designed, built and launched. where she arrived on April 4th. Titanic was conceived in 1907, following a discussion between The Golden Age of Travel Titanic Joseph Bruce Ismay, Chairman of the White Star Line and William Pirrie, Chairman of Harland and Wolff. The previous year White It was time for the first passengers, representing a broad Star’s great rivals on the lucrative North Atlantic route, Cunard, range of society, to board. For the wealthy, the maiden had launched the Lusitania and the Mauretania, whose size, speed voyage to New York on board the world’s most talked about and elegance heralded a new age in ocean liners. ship offered a pleasant social outing, while many of the poorer passengers had saved up the $36.25 cost of a third How could White Star restore their pre-eminence? The solution class ticket in the hope of finding a better life in America. arrived at by the two men would transform the world of shipping forever. First class passengers discovered a grand lounge decorated in the style of Versailles; a magnificent staircase beneath a huge On July 31st, 1908 the two companies agreed to the construction glass and wrought iron dome; a Parisian café with French of two new ships, Olympic and Titanic (the Britannic, originally waiters and the novel sight of an onboard swimming pool named the Gigantic, would be ordered in 1911). Their names and gymnasium. The first class staterooms or the parlour reflected their awesome size – Titanic and Olympic would be suites included two bedrooms, a private bath and their own over 880ft long with a 46,328 gross tonnage. The largest moveable private promenade. Even the third class passengers enjoyed man-made objects on earth, their length comfortably exceeded the better rooms, largely on the lower decks, than they would height of the tallest buildings of the time.