Lorraine Worsley-CarterSince Titanic Belfast reopened its doors in 2023 following a multi-million-pound refurbishment programme, the museum has been on my ‘to-do’ list. So, what better excuse to pop across the sea to Belfast than my husband’s birthday?
Deciding which airport to use proved difficult, and one I believe travellers intending to visit the museum should think carefully about. Belfast City Airport is less than half an hour from Belfast itself, while Belfast International Airport is much further away. The beautiful marina in the Titanic Quarter provides a quieter and more leisurely atmosphere than the busy city, just a mile or so away, but a world apart.
With just 24 hours available for our visit, we chose the Titanic Quarter because, after all, we were travelling there to visit the world-class visitor attraction, which now boasts four exciting new galleries within the Titanic Experience. Titanic Belfast is located on the very spot where the famous ship was designed and launched.
I wondered what the difference would be post-2023 compared with the previous 10 or more years since Titanic Belfast first opened its doors.
From initial research, it was evident that much had been added, enhanced, researched and showcased.
The refreshed experience introduces ‘The Pursuit of Dreams’ as a new theme and combines immersive new technology with an original maritime heritage collection and the authentic Titanic story to deliver an enriched and emotive experience. Other new experiences include ‘Never Again, Ballard’s Quest’, and ‘The Lasting Legacy’.
Judith Owens MBE, Chief Executive of Titanic Belfast, said: “After years of planning, we are delighted to have launched what I believe is Titanic Belfast’s most emotive visitor experience to date. Three galleries have been reimagined and we reopened with four new themed spaces showcasing never-before-heard stories of the hopes and dreams of passengers, a collection of artefacts being displayed in Northern Ireland for the first time, and an original music score which beautifully encapsulates the stories and emotions throughout.”
So, on a sunny morning in April, we entered the iconic six-floor building, showed our pre-booked tickets to a team member at the door, picked up our ‘ Tour Headphones’ and began the self-guided “Titanic Experience”.
The story begins with a much older story, showing how Belfast became a shipbuilding champion, known as ‘Boomtown Belfast.’
We learned that the Titanic was built by the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding company in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Commissioned by the White Star Line, construction took place between 1909 and 1912, employing over 15,000 workers to create the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of its time. The ship was built in response to competition from the rival Cunard Line and was considered the most technologically advanced ship in the world.
The immersive experience enables visitors to be at the epicentre of the amazing sights and sounds surrounding the building of the Titanic.
A previously unknown series of five very rare photographs of Titanic’s launch in Belfast on 31 May 1911 are now on display. These images were taken by a local businessman and capture the hull moving down the slipways, the great gantry, and the launch platform. Later in the day, my husband Bob and I were to stand on the very same slipway.
Soon, with more understanding of why Titanic came to be, we stepped into the real magic as the Titanic Experience began to bring the story of RMS Titanic to life using immersive technology combined with original maritime heritage.
Titanic was launched from Belfast on 31st May 1912, left Belfast on 2nd April. On Wednesday 10 April 1912, shortly after noon, RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton’s White Star Dock on her maiden voyage to New York.
Her commander was Edward J. Smith, RD, RNR, who had arrived early that morning in preparation for the Board of Trade muster at 8am. As Commodore, or Senior Captain, of White Star, he often commanded the newest vessel in the company and was the highest-paid ship’s captain in the world in 1912.
While Titanic was making her way from Southampton to Cherbourg, her tender ships SS Nomadic and SS Traffic were already at the harbour, ready to ferry passengers out to the luxury liner. Nomadic transported first- and second-class passengers, while Traffic ferried third-class passengers. Nomadic is still docked outside the Titanic building, the only White Star ship in existence and as a doyenne of the sea, has her own amazing stories to tell.
The Titanic Experience continued to surprise as we turned the corner to be invited into electric cars which took us a thrilling and immersive journey through the shipyard and bows of the ship.
Soon we reached ‘The Sinking’. We saw a backlit double-height wall listing the names of all the passengers onboard Titanic on that fateful night, detailing whether they were lost or saved. Positioned prominently in front of those names was a Titanic life jacket, the first of the new artefacts now on display: an original Fosbery lifejacket recovered from an unknown Titanic victim. Only twelve lifejackets remain in the world out of a total of more than 3,500 that were onboard the ship. No records exist of the original wearer of this lifejacket.
The Ship of Dreams gallery allows visitors to embark on a reflective journey exploring the hopes and dreams of those impacted by the famous ship. We saw floor-to-ceiling projections depicting the dreams of the people who built her, those who sailed on her, and those who were heading to New York to start a new life.
Next were the large tumbling dominoes, showing the chain reaction of events which caused Titanic to sink and the measures later put in place to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. RMS Titanic sank with loss of more than 1,000 lives at 2.20am on the 15 April 1912.
One of the stories visitors hear concerns the missing binocular-box keys, which limited the vision of the lookout in the crow’s nest. The original keys for the binocular box on RMS Titanic are now on display. These keys belonged to Second Officer David Blair, who was reassigned just before Titanic’s maiden voyage. Due to his hasty departure, he inadvertently kept the keys in his pocket, including the one belonging to the binocular box. Lookout Fred Fleet, who survived, later told the official inquiry that if they had had binoculars, they would have seen the iceberg sooner. When asked how much sooner, Fleet replied: “Enough to get out of the way.”
Having the opportunity to delve into witness testimonies from the British and American inquiries and hear first-hand accounts of what happened onboard Titanic on that tragic night provides incredible insight into the sinking of the vessel and the ships endeavouring to reach her as quickly as possible.
For decades, Titanic lay on the seabed, surrounded by mystery, until we passed through “The Void” — the period of years when the ship was missing — before following Dr Robert Ballard’s quest to fulfil his lifelong dream of discovering the wreck of Titanic.
We were able to learn where his inspiration came from, hear about the top-secret US Navy mission that led him to search for Titanic, understand the challenges of covering such a vast area in a short space of time, and witness the moment the team shouted: “It’s a boiler!”
The entire setting is fully immersive, with projections programmed in sync with a fully lit centrepiece scale model of the ship that transforms with each sequence. A bespoke musical score further elevates the visitor experience in this stunning space.
We then descended the staircase to a stunning collection of original Titanic artefacts on display, including the sheepskin coat worn by Titanic stewardess Mabel Bennett and the black-enamelled walking cane, complete with an electric light installed in the handle, which belonged to first-class passenger Ella White.
The artefacts are all of great historical significance and certainly evoke powerful imagery. They help visitors make emotional and human connections to the stories of Titanic’s passengers and crew, and this certainly happened for us when we saw the world-famous violin belonging to the ship’s heroic musician, Wallace Hartley.
We found this a particularly poignant moment, as my husband’s late father was a celebrated violinist, and we were grateful that fate never took him onboard Titanic, whereas fate did take Wallace Hartley there. His story remains one of bravery and honour.
A gift from his fiancée, Maria Robinson, the violin is German, circa 1880, with a tail plate bearing a silver hallmark from Chester, 1910, engraved with the words: “For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement from Maria.” As one of the rarest and most iconic objects of the twentieth century, this violin bears testimony to the courage and spirit of the bandsmen who brought hope and comfort until the very end. Their actions inspired the popular expression “And the band played on”, used to describe bravery in the face of adversity.
Also on display is a two-page letter from Wallace Hartley’s friend and fellow musician, who wrote: “Jolly good luck, old chap. Would give more than a trifle to be with you. Don’t forget to drop me a line at 61 Lea Road. Bon Voyage and Bon Santé, Bill.” The letter and other personal belongings, along with a letter from Hartley’s father, were recovered with Hartley’s body by Mackay-Bennett.
It is an emotional experience exploring the different themes surrounding the designing and building of the ship, the dreams and optimism of people journeying towards a new life in America, the tragedy and stories of those who were lost, and the long journey towards discovering the wreck many decades later.
This world-leading visitor attraction definitely needs to be experienced in person, but hopefully this article gives readers a flavour of what is truly an incredible experience.
As we departed ‘The Ship of Dreams’ and entered modern times, we could immediately see how the significance of the Titanic story has impacted Belfast and captured the world’s imagination through film, theatre and literature. One opportunity as we left the exhibition was to strike a pose and capture our very own ‘Jack and Rose’ photo moment on the bow of the ship. For us, however, that felt impossible after such an evocative visit.
The £4.5 million investment has been fully funded through the Titanic Belfast Gallery Refreshment Fund, which was established when the building opened as part of the commercial operator agreement and is held by the charity owner, Maritime Belfast Trust.
For further information on the new Titanic Experience, visit Titanic Belfast
Sarah Antonie
