Added: 08/10/2005 |
The biggest docks in the world - Belfast docklandsIf asked what ship was the most outstanding and famous throughout the history of sailing, almost everyone would answer : TITANIC. It was the biggest and the most luxurious ship of its time. And this superliner was famously built in Belfast's now largely defunct docklands.
The largest dry dock in the world is located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Interesting to know that the oldest dry dock is in Portsmouth Naval Base (also in England) and dates back to 1495, though the Chinese had invented and used dry docks by at least 1070.
Not everyone knows what dry dock look like. But the things are easily guessed by the name. The dry dock is a place where ships come to be serviced or repainted, or may be repaired. Many ships are even built in dry docks, allowing them to be launched in a more gradual fashion than the gravity-assisted launches of yore. Dry docks are usually excavated from dry land on the shore. They can be of two types. First type is generally called "graving docks" and such docks are carved into the shoreline. The other type is freefloating structures.
But Belfast docklands not always were the same as nowadays. At the beginning it was only a shipyard located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Builders of the Titanic, Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries had started in this place.
The company Harland and Wolff was formed by Edward James Harland and Gustav Wilhelm Wolff in 1861. Harland had bought the small shipyard on Queen's Island from Robert Hickson in 1858. The shipyard has built many types of ships continuously since then, however, today their main business is ship repair and conversion work, ship design and bridge building.
But in those times a success of the business was made through several innovations. For example, they notably replaced the wooden upper decks with iron ones so, that the strength of the ships had increased; and what is more, they had given the hulls a flatter bottom and squarer section, which increased their capacity.
RMS Titanic was built, as her sister-ships RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic, between 1909 and 1914 in Belfast docklands. During this period William James Pirrie was the chairman of the company. He stay on this seat until his death in 1924.
Fabulous RMS Titanic (also SS Titanic) was the second of a trio of superliners intended to dominate the transatlantic travel business. They were owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, as it was said. Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of its launching. During Titanic's maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM (ship's time) on Sunday evening April 14, 1912, and sank two hours and forty minutes later at 2:20 AM Monday morning.
The sinking of Titanic is ranked as one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history and by far the most famous. This ship was popularly believed to be "unsinkable", because it was constructed with the use of the most advanced technology available at the time. The world was deeply shocked when despite the advanced technology and experienced crew, the Titanic still sank with a great loss of life. Titanic is persistently famous even in our days. There are several legends about what happened on board the ship. As the result of the catastrophe maritime law was changed. Titanic's wreck was discovered in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.
As with many famous events, many alternate theories about the sinking of the Titanic have appeared over the years. Theories that it was not an iceberg that sank the ship or that a curse caused the disaster have been popular reading in newspapers and books. Most of these theories have been debunked by Titanic experts, citing inaccurate or incomplete facts which the theories are based on.
The Belfast docklands hadn't stopped his work after the sinking of Titanic. It was busy during World War II, building 6 aircraft carriers, 2 cruisers and 131 other naval ships; and repairing over 22,000 vessels. It also manufactured tanks and artillery components. During this period the company's workforce peaked at around 35,000 people. That time the yard on Queen's Island was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe in April and May 1941 causing considerable damage to the shipbuilding facilities and destroying the aircraft factory.
Recently Harland and Wolff have focussed less on shipbuilding and more on design and structural engineering, as well as ship repair, offshore construction projects and competing for other projects to do with metal engineering and construction.
Belfast's sky-line is still dominated today by Harland and Wolff's famous twin cranes "Samson" and "Goliath".
Everyone who visits Belfast should pay attention to Belfast docklands, one of the main Belfast attractions. It is a great place in all respects.
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