On the Down side of the River Lagan lies Titanic Belfast. Located
on the slipway where the boat was launched, it is the world’s largest Titanic visitor
attraction. Built for £100 million, it is no surprise that, since its opening in
2012, it was an immediate success at home and abroad.
While the 150-year-old Harland & Wolff ship-building yard,
characterised by the still standing H & W yellow shipbuilding gantry cranes
nicknamed Samson and Goliath, built many, many ships that never sank, none of these
struck an iceberg off the coast of Canada and then went on to star in a hugely successful
Hollywood block-buster. If any had, then maybe that ship would be at the centre
of one of the most-visited tourist attractions on this island.
Instead it was the Titanic, the so-called Unsinkable Ship, which
sank in the early morning of 15 April 1912, having collided with that iceberg about
600 kilometres south of Newfoundland, that is at the heart of this exhibition. And
it is the story of this ship – its construction, its voyage and the tales of those
who travelled on her, including the 1,503 who died that fateful night (1,504 if
you count Leonardo Di Caprio) – that is told with great detail and respect throughout
its 12,000 square metres of informative space.
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