Visited with Irishmanlost and BillAnd.
Ok, so that's not the "official" name for this shipyard but I guess this is what it's most famous for. It smelt like all good docks should smell like, i.e. fish and poo. It was where the famous ship was built by the equally famous shipbuilders, Harland & Wolf. Her sister ship, 'The Olympic' was also built here. At the moment, there's not a great deal to see there because they are in the middle of building a tourist attraction devoted to the ship due to open in 2012 with funding from the National Lottery. Unfortunately we couldn't get into the paintshop because it is being used for filming so afterwards, we took a wander down the docks to see the Harland & Wolf cranes close up (report coming later).
Here's a bit of history about the construction of The Titanic (again, not written by me but big thanks to Mr. Wikipedia who can put it into a more comprehensible paragraph than I ever could)
"The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner, built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, designed to compete with rival company Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania. The Titanic, along with her Olympic-class sisters, the Olympic and the soon to be built Britannic (originally named Gigantic), were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever to operate. Construction of the RMS Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co., began on 31 March 1909. Titanic's hull was launched on 31 May 1911, and her outfitting was completed by 31 March the following year. Titanic was 882 ft 9 in (269 m) long and 92 ft 6 in (28 m) wide, had a gross register tonnage of 46,328 tons, and a height from the water line to the boat deck of 60 ft (18 m). Titanic contained two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple expansion, inverted steam engines and one low pressure Parsons turbine which powered three propellers. There were 29 boilers fired by 159 coal burning furnaces that made possible a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h). Only three of the four 63 feet (19 m) tall funnels were functional; the fourth funnel, which only served as a vent, was added to make the ship look more impressive. The ship could hold a total of 3,547 passengers and crew and, because she carried mail, her name was given the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS (Steam Ship). There were insufficient lifeboats on the Titanic for all passengers, though the legal requirements of the day were met."
Steps down into the dry dock..or a slide if you're feeling brave
Apparently The Titanic was never actually stored in this bit because it would have been far too small. The Titanic would have been 5 times the length of this.
One of the Harland & Wolf giants can be seen in the background here
One of the cranes looks like it's trying to shoot a bird
A peek into the building they are converting
Ok, so that's not the "official" name for this shipyard but I guess this is what it's most famous for. It smelt like all good docks should smell like, i.e. fish and poo. It was where the famous ship was built by the equally famous shipbuilders, Harland & Wolf. Her sister ship, 'The Olympic' was also built here. At the moment, there's not a great deal to see there because they are in the middle of building a tourist attraction devoted to the ship due to open in 2012 with funding from the National Lottery. Unfortunately we couldn't get into the paintshop because it is being used for filming so afterwards, we took a wander down the docks to see the Harland & Wolf cranes close up (report coming later).
Here's a bit of history about the construction of The Titanic (again, not written by me but big thanks to Mr. Wikipedia who can put it into a more comprehensible paragraph than I ever could)
"The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner, built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, designed to compete with rival company Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania. The Titanic, along with her Olympic-class sisters, the Olympic and the soon to be built Britannic (originally named Gigantic), were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever to operate. Construction of the RMS Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co., began on 31 March 1909. Titanic's hull was launched on 31 May 1911, and her outfitting was completed by 31 March the following year. Titanic was 882 ft 9 in (269 m) long and 92 ft 6 in (28 m) wide, had a gross register tonnage of 46,328 tons, and a height from the water line to the boat deck of 60 ft (18 m). Titanic contained two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple expansion, inverted steam engines and one low pressure Parsons turbine which powered three propellers. There were 29 boilers fired by 159 coal burning furnaces that made possible a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h). Only three of the four 63 feet (19 m) tall funnels were functional; the fourth funnel, which only served as a vent, was added to make the ship look more impressive. The ship could hold a total of 3,547 passengers and crew and, because she carried mail, her name was given the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS (Steam Ship). There were insufficient lifeboats on the Titanic for all passengers, though the legal requirements of the day were met."
Steps down into the dry dock..or a slide if you're feeling brave
Apparently The Titanic was never actually stored in this bit because it would have been far too small. The Titanic would have been 5 times the length of this.
One of the Harland & Wolf giants can be seen in the background here
One of the cranes looks like it's trying to shoot a bird
A peek into the building they are converting
