Titanic launch centenary to be marked in Belfast

[EnglishLady]

BBC News

A religious service will take place in Belfast on Tuesday to mark the 100th anniversary of the launch of the ill-fated Titanic.

The ship entered Belfast Lough on 31 May 1911 from Harland & Wolff, then the largest shipyard in the world.

During the service, a flare will be set off at 1213 BST, the exact time of the launch a century on.

The event, described as a celebration, will take place on the very slipway from which Titanic left the shipyard.

'Our shame'

It will be led by Reverend Chris Bennett, chaplain of Belfast's Titanic Quarter development on the site of the former Harland & Wolff docklands.

The congregation will hear music from two choirs who were involved in the life of the shipyards, as well as observing a moment of silence in remembrance of the 1,517 people who lost their lives on the ship's disastrous maiden voyage.

The passenger liner sank after hitting an iceberg en route from Southampton to New York in April 1912.

Speaking before the service, Mr Bennett said he was keen to ensure that celebration was the dominant mood at the event.

Once the flare is released at 1213 BST, he will lead 62 seconds of cheers, to mark the 62 seconds it took for Titanic to slide from its dry dock and into the Irish sea.

Mr Bennett said: "For the last 100 years Titanic has often not been mentioned. It's been our shame, our secret.

"We've almost had a hundred-year moment of silence, so really we're trying to rediscover the pride today."

'Remarkable story'

Titanic took three years to build and was the largest moving man-made object on earth at the time.

More recently £7bn has been invested in Belfast's Titanic Quarter and an interactive visitor centre is due to open in 2012.

An exhibition about the Titanic will also open on Tuesday at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, running until 31 August.

The exhibition will feature more than 500 original artefacts, and will include an outdoor interactive re-creation of a Titanic-era street.

Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said: "No ship has gripped the world's imagination like RMS Titanic.

"Her remarkable story begins at her birthplace in Belfast, and we highly recommend visitors to Belfast to discover the story of her creation through this exhibition."

 

[Turtle]

I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's just creepy. They're trying to rediscover the pride? A celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the launching of the worst designed ships in maritime history, a ship that was unsinkable, which on it's maiden voyage... promptly sank. Hip, hip, hooray. That's just awesome.

 

[EnglishLady]

I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's just creepy. They're trying to rediscover the pride? A celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the launching of the worst designed ships in maritime history, a ship that was unsinkable, which on it's maiden voyage... promptly sank. Hip, hip, hooray. That's just awesome.

I think the "celebration" was meant in a religious term, but I agree I think Mr Bennett should have stopped after the first sentence.

"Mr Bennett said: "For the last 100 years Titanic has often not been mentioned. It's been our shame, our secret"

 

[Turtle]

I'm not sure if it's a religious thing to mourn those who dies, but primarily a celebration of the shipyard and all the work that went into building that ship, or if it's a religious celebration (of what kind I cannot imagine). Either way, it smacks of creepy desperation to draw tourist dollars.

And even his first sentence, I'm assuming that he means Titanic isn't often mentioned around there locally. Because I hear it mentioned all the time. They made a movie about it and everything.

 

[EnglishLady]

I'm not sure if it's a religious thing to mourn those who dies, but primarily a celebration of the shipyard and all the work that went into building that ship, or if it's a religious celebration (of what kind I cannot imagine). Either way, it smacks of creepy desperation to draw tourist dollars.

And even his first sentence, I'm assuming that he means Titanic isn't often mentioned around there locally. Because I hear it mentioned all the time. They made a movie about it and everything.

I'm not sure how funeral services are held here but even in the UK you "celebrate" the life of the deceased.

Now for Mr Bennett .......

He says ""For the last 100 years Titanic has often not been mentioned. "

In other words it is always being mentioned - you are dealing with the Irish Language now .....Northern Ireland at that








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[Doggie Daddy]

I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's just creepy. They're trying to rediscover the pride? A celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the launching of the worst designed ships in maritime history, a ship that was unsinkable, which on it's maiden voyage... promptly sank. Hip, hip, hooray. That's just awesome.

I agree about the worst designed ships in maritime history, at the time of Titanic's sinking, her sister ship Britanic was already under constuction in the same shipyard that Titanic was built.

Construction on the Britanic was immediately halted until the engineers could find the cause of Titanic's sinking.

After making several changes to Britanic, which included the walls of the watertight compartments reaching all the way to the top deck, and a double hull, Britanic sank even faster than the Titanic a mere 4 years later off the coast of Greece.