The photographs shown here reveal a remarkably detailed picture of Titanic and her sister ships, Olympic and Britannic. They vividly portray Edwardian Belfast, capturing the industrial might of the city in which they were built, and the optimism of the pre-First World War era.
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During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Belfast was one of the most important industrial centres in the world. Its shipbuilding, engineering, linen and ropemaking industries supplied many countries throughout the world. These photographs not only give us a unique view of Titanic, but they allow us to step back in time to the glimpse the economic, social and political elements that made up that ere.
These images, taken by the photographer William A. Green between 1910 and 1925, vividly capture the bustle of street scenes in and around Belfast City Centre.
These photographs, featuring some of Belfast’s most prominent public buildings, were taken by William A. Green during the years 1910 to 1925.
These images show Titanic’s sister ship, Britannic. Launched in 1914, just as the First World War broke out, she was used as a hospital ship, but was sunk by a mine in 1916 and never entered commercial service.
These images show Britannic being fitted out at the Harland & Wolff shipyard. They capture the huge scale of the three Olympic-class liners, Olympic, Titanic and Britannic.
Olympic (1911) was the first of an intended trio of superlative liners for the White Star Line’s North Atlantic service. This collection contains a rare aerial shot of the ship at sea.
These images capture the refined elegance of First Class accommodation on board Olympic.
These stunning images show the huge Arrol Gantry at Queen’s Island in the Harland & Wolff shipyard. It was inside this steel web that Olympic, Titanic and Britannic were built. The gantry remained in use until the 1960s.
The process of fitting out Olympic involved not just the installation of engines, boilers and electrical hardware, but also all the services and furnishings necessary to provide for the comfort and needs of passengers.
It took enormously large and powerful engines and machinery to power a ship weighing over 45,000 tons, as these photographs reveal.