The fate of the RMS Titanic is known across the world – many accounts have been told about the maiden voyage of the giant passenger liner. Setting off from Southampton on 10 April 1912 with 2,223 people on board – the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40pm on 14 April 1912 and sank, resulting in the loss of 1,517 people. However, many people don’t know about the origins of the Titanic and how and where she was originally constructed.
Many people will say that the creation of the Titanic began in 1907 – with the original concept of a grand luxury liner, however, construction of the liner did not actually commence until March 31, 1909 in Belfast (Ireland) by Harland and Wolff. The giant liner and her sister ships collectively made up the ‘Olympic class’ vessels of the White Star Line, this new fleet of liners were specifically designed to cater for an elite class of passengers. Only the very best décor and fittings were planned for the Titanic and her sister ships – offering a higher standard of accommodation than had ever been seen before.
The designers and builders of the Titanic had a sole intention – to construct the largest ever ship to sail the oceans – and to this end, White Star Line ensured that no expense would be sparred during the construction phases. The actual building of the Titanic took 3 years and cost $7.5 million dollars – a staggering amount at the time. In excess of 3000 men were employed to build the Titanic and press releases by the White Star Line claimed that the liner was ‘designed to be unsinkable.’
Clearly building techniques have moved on somewhat in recent years, but at the time, the construction methods used for the Titanic were considered to be the very best available. Although the stability of the liner has since been questioned by a number of experts in naval engineering – at the time, the Titanic was intended to be a revolution in passenger liner building.