Titanic's Birthplace
All that remains of the Titanic's birthplace:
In April 1997, we snapped this photograph of the head of the Slipway
on which the R.M.S. Titanic was built, (upon learning that the historic
structure is now to be demolished).
This now unremarkable 772-foot-long concrete slipway stump was, then, the
birthplace of one of the twentieth century's most enduring legends.
But this is still a working shipyard today and the Titanic Slipway occupies
a site required for essential modernisation. Ironically, our preservation
of its image here means that, despite its physical demolition, it remains
visible world-wide (on the Web)!
From this raised platform, the great bow of Titanic rose some eleven storeys
tall, to dramatically and proudly dominate the 1909-11 Belfast city skyline.
Work began first on constructing the sister ship, Olympic.
In our wider-angled shot here, Olympic's slipway survives (far right), with
Titanic's slip to the left:
The construction of both the Olympic and the Titanic proceeded at an
astonishing pace. From the laying of the first keel plate on the Olympic
(16 December, 1908) to completion of her plating and riveting, took a mere
16 months!