Titanic and Southampton - the special relationship between the two

After departing from Belfast where she was built, Titanic left Southampton on April 10. We look at the special relationship the city has with the ill-fated liner

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic arrived left Southampton with her passengers to launch her maiden, yet famously ill-fated, voyage. Over 500 households in Southampton lost at least one family member in the Titanic disaster.

After arriving from Belfast in Northern Ireland on 3 April, where the world-famous ship was built, Titanic remained docked in Southampton for a week before welcoming passengers and crew aboard on April 10 and setting out to sea at noon that day. From Southampton, Titanic docked in Cherbourg, France and finally Queenstown, now Cobh, in Co Cork in Ireland before heading for New York City.

As the main port of call for the Titanic, the city of Southampton has a very important relationship with the ill-fated ship. Not only did passengers board the Titanic at Southampton, but many of the ship’s crew did as well.

At Southampton, 920 people boarded Titanic with more than half being third-class passengers: 179 were First Class, 247 Second Class, and 494 Third Class.

Of the 908 crew members aboard Titanic, 724 were from Southampton. Of the 685 crew members who perished when Titanic sank, 549 were from Southampton.

Today, Southampton features a walking trail of locales significant to Titanic, as well as several memorials commemorating the Southampton natives who perished in the Titanic’s disaster in 1912:

The Titanic Engineers Memorial

Located in East (Andrews) Park, it memorializes the engineers who died in the shipwreck. The bronze and granite memorial was originally unveiled by Sir Archibald Denny, president of the Institute of Marine Engineers on April 22, 1914.

The Titanic Musician's Memorial

The musician's memorial first unveiled by Titanic survivors in 1990 after the original memorial was destroyed by air raids in 1940. The newer memorial remembers the musicians who continued to play their instruments on the deck of the Titanic as the ship was sinking in an attempt to keep passengers calm.

Titanic Postal Workers Memorial 

Located in Southampton's main Civic Centre building, the memorial plaque is made from a spare propeller from the Titanic and commemorates the postal workers who died on the Titanic along with a book of remembrance. When it sank, Titanic was transporting almost 3,500 sacks of mail containing an estimated 7 million pieces of mail. 

Southampton’s SeaCity Museum also features several exhibitions and artifacts from the Titanic.

Southampton played such  a large role in Titanic's story that a song was named after the city for the 1997 blockbuster hit 'Titanic' - listen to it here:

This article originally appeared on our sister site IrishCentral,  in April 2019.