Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film

Good evening and welcome to Belfast, the city in the midst of the huge

commemoration for the most famous ship ever built. The Titanic. More

than 25,000 people applied to be part of tonight's event, in which

we will remember the many hundreds who perished, and those who

survived, but whose lives were changed forever by the events which

took place exactly 100 years ago tonight. Here, at the Waterfront

Hall in the heart of Belfast, just over a mile from where she was

constructed, you will see a series of short documentaries, here I

witness accounts of that fateful journey and see performances from,

among others, Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone, Nicola Benedetti, Alfie Boe

and Maverick Sabre, in an event which we hope will be a fitting

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

tribute. Live from the city where 100 years ago today, a passenger

liner called Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic, 400 miles

south-east of Newfoundland. The great liner was on route to New

York, during its maiden voyage. A ship described as practically

unsinkable by its owners, the White Star Line, took two hours 40

minutes to fill with water and sink, with the loss of more than 1500

souls. Remarkably, more than 700 people survived what was to become

the most famous disaster in maritime history. There was peace

and the world hadn't even tenor to its way. Nothing was revealed in

the morning, a trend of which was not known the night before. It

seems to me that the disaster about to occur was the event that not

only made the world rabbit's eyes and awake, but will kick with a

start. Keeping it moving at a rapidly accelerating pace ever

since. With less and less peace, satisfaction and happiness. To my

mind, the world of today awoke 15th April, 1912. The news of the

Titanic disaster was received with almost disbelief. There are stories

of grown men actually in tears in the street. Here was the greatest

ship in the world. This was a maiden voyage. She was unsinkable.

She hits an iceberg. You have a very wealthy and the very poor. To

some degree nature overpowered them all. I think fundamentally, Titanic

is a signifier for the inevitable failure of The Wanted technology.

The fragility and fallibility of human ambition. And also, the

# Long afloat on shipless oceans # I did all my best to smile

# 'til your singing eyes and fingers

# Drew me loving to your isle # And you sang

# Sail to me # Let me enfold you

# Here I am # Did I dream you dreamed about me?

# Were you hare when I was fox? # Now my foolish boat is leaning

# Broken lovelorn on your rocks, # For you sing, touch me not, touch

me not, come back tomorrow # O my heart, o my heart shies from

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

# I am puzzled as the newborn child # I am troubled at the tide

# Should I stand amid the breakers? # Should I lie with death my bride?

# Hear me sing, 'swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you

# Here I am, here I am, waiting to The Edwardian age in which Titanic

was built is an Era synonymous with social change. It was a time of

great opulence for some, but a harsh, tough life for most. For

people of every class, though, Titanic offered the chance to

travel to Weylandt defined by its optimism. The United States of

America. The North Atlantic crossing in the early 20th century

was the most profitable steamship routes in the world, with British

ships competing with French, Belgian and especially German

liners for passengers. Scores of ships crossed and recrossed the

Atlantic, carrying everyone from the rich and famous in first class,

to emigrants in steerage class, hoping to start a new life in the

land of opportunity. The United States was a magnet for the largest

number of European immigrants in the 19th century and into the early

20th. Because it was the hottest, most dynamic economy in the world.

It was the place where growth was exponential. At last I was going to

America, really, really going at last. The boundaries burst, the

arch of heaven sword. A Million Suns shone out for every stop. The

winds rushed in from outer space, roaring in my ears - America,

America! New year of -- New York had exploded in size over the last

80 or 90 years. It had become one of the world's great cities. It was

immensely rich. Fifth Avenue at that time was the greatest

millionaire's row the world has ever seen. We were building

buildings like Grand Central and the public library. It was a very

vibrant and assertive City at that time. This was the age of the

Carnegies and the Astors, the plutocrats who got rich in the

gilded age. The wrist -- the richest of them all, John Pierpoint

Morgan, who dominated American industrial finance. His library,

built of pink marble from Tennessee, still stands in midtown Manhattan.

JP Morgan was probably the most powerful banker who ever lived. He

was a formidable figure. There is no banker today who has 1% of that

power and prestige that JP Morgan had. Keen to have a slice of the

lucrative North Atlantic liner business, Morgan bought the British

company White Star Line in 1902 for $32 million. The equivalent today

of $837 million. His business plan for the White Star Line was

basically to build not a monopoly, but more or less a cartel. Where he

would dominate the transatlantic travel business, and to cook it up

with railroads, so you could have a through trip from Chicago, taking

you all the way to Paris. White Star Line's main competitor, Cunard,

had great success with their new liners, which had been designed for

speed. For his plan to work, Morgan needed to build three supersize

luxury liners. The idea was they would be half as large again as the

Cunard liners. They were not to be the fastest ships at sea, but they

would offer superlative standards of accommodation and comfort and

with high standards of safety. Morgan, along with White Star

Line's managing director, Bruce Ismay, thought that the race for

the North Atlantic was as much about fashion and comfort as it was

about speed. They knew that to attract the rich elite used to

wining and dining in the luxury Hotels of the age, the shipper's

own accommodation needed to be equally lavish. This was an attempt

to provide the best service, a floating hotel. They wanted to make

sure that their impact was of the biggest, best ship. The ship

haven't been built before people were talking about this gigantic

ship that was the most luxurious ever. In that sense, the world was

already so - not already expecting something incredible from the

Titanic before it had even set sail. The contract to build the ships

went to Harland and Wolff in Belfast. The year was 1908. Work on

the Olympic, Britannic and the most luxurious of them all, Titanic,

# Oooh oooh, New York # Grew up in a town

# That is famous as a place of movie scenes

# Noise is always loud # There are sirenes all around

# If I could make it here # I could make it anywhere

# That's what they say # Seeing my face in lights

# Or my name in marquees found down Broadway

# Even if it ain't all it seems # I got a pocketful of dreams

# Baby, I'm from # New York, concrete jungle where

dreams are made of # There's nothing you can't do

# Now you're in New York # These streets will make you feel

brand new # Big lights will inspire you

# Hear it for New York, New York, New York

# On the avenue, there ain't never a curfew

# Ladies work so hard # Such a melting pot on the corner

selling rock # Preachers pray to God

# Hail a gypsy cab # Takes me down from Harlem to the

Brooklyn Bridge # Someone sleeps tonight with a

hunger # For more than from an empty

fridge # I'm going to make it by any means

# I got a pocketful of dreams # Baby, I'm from

# New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of

# There's nothing you can't do # Now you're in New York

# These streets will make you feel brand new

# Big lights will inspire you # Hear it for New York, New York,

New York # One hand in the air for the big

city # Street lights, big dreams, all

looking pretty # No place in the world that can

compared # Put your lighters in the air

# Everybody say yeah, yeah yeah # New York, concrete jungle where

dreams are made of # There's nothing you can't do

# Now you're in New York # These streets will make you feel

brand new # Big lights will inspire you

Belfast News Letter, 21st October, 1910. It is a matter of real

gratification to all of us in Belfast that the Olympic and the

Titanic should be built here. In undertaking the construction of

vessels of such enormous proportions, it is felt that

Harland and Wolff are maintaining their own splendid tradition, and

at the same time, indicating the right of the bolster capital to be

reckoned as one of the greatest shipbuilding centres in the world -

- Ulster. Belfast in the 1900s was a vibrant, industrial, it had grown

rapidly in the past 100 years. It was bursting with some confidence

and pride. It was unlike any other city in Ireland. More like the

industrial cities of Britain. Its wealth was based on the production

of linen, engineering and shipbuilding. In March, 1909, the

building of Titanic began in Hollande and Wolff shipyard. She

was to be built alongside her sister ship, Olympic. This was the

biggest shipyard in the world but it needed to be expanded to build

what would become the largest moving objects on the planet.

was a major shipbuilding challenge to construct a ship as biggest

Titanic. A huge steel gantry was built over the slip ways that were

laid down. It was a huge investment in infrastructure. Built up by the

chairman, Lord Pirrie, this was the most sophisticated shipyard in the

world. Lord Pirrie had served his time 3D shipyard man and boy. He

began as an apprentice, and then became a partner. He worked his way

up. He was the archetypal visionary, businessman from Belfast. When

Titanic was being built, 15,000 people poured through the gates of

Harland and Wolff every day. build a ship like Titanic requires

a huge number of specialist shipbuilding trades from riveters 2

platers two painters and plumbers, as many traits as you could think

of were required. You were building a floating town. Many thousands of

people were dependent on the shipyards for employment but not

all of them could secure full-time A lot of people would be casually

employed. They would go down every day to get picked on. It was a

rather demeaning experience. They would all be at that big gates and

the foreman would come to the gates and he had infinite power to save

you, you, you -- to save you. drawing offices with the vision

that the ship was conceived now lay empty. In 1909 dozens of

draughtsmen worked in these offices, drawing sections of the ship to

scale. They were overseen by Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer and

nephew of Lord Pirrie. Outside these windows, those paper plans

were being transformed into ships of steel. The steel hull had to be

erected on the ship away and it had to be plated and the whole

structure was held together by steel pins. Millions of rivets were

used. There was a relatively small amount of electricity being used in

those days but the shipyard was ahead of the time and it had its

own generating station to provide electricity for machinery and for

lighting the entire site. Harland and Wolff dominated the landscape,

and they could visibly see the signs of shipbuilding. The shipyard

cranes and countries were visible at the end of every street other

prisons of the shipyard loomed over our little working-class houses --

and the presence of the shipyard. Belfast impresses you as being very

rich and bezique and out of the water, beyond the Custom House,

rose some huge shapeless things, which I found to be a shipbuilding

yard, where rink 10,000 men were hammering iron and steel for a

great ocean liners. The noise of wheels, who has, cracks, spindles

and steam hammers filled my ears and made my head ache. The working

conditions 100 years ago were like nothing we could tolerate today.

You did physical, heavy, dirty, dangerous work, all day.

Particularly a riveter, going up sometimes et feet onto scaffolding,

he would go up at 5 o'clock in the morning and the planks would be

covered with ice, the droppings. Injury was accepted and death was

not uncommon. During the building of the Olympic and Titanic, a

report listed 246 accidents, of which eight were fatalities.

great grandfather was a riveter, Robert James Murphy. He was the

riveter who fell to his death on the Titanic. His son up with the

same name had fallen to his death on the scaffolding six months

earlier on the Olympic. An extraordinary coincidence. I just

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

# Dream. # You have to dare to dream.

The taking of the ship's Hall to the water for the first time was an

important stage in the construction of the ship. She's moving into the

water and is a float for the first time and it marks the transition

from an inert mass of steel to a living and floating vessel on the

When Titanic was launched, she became the largest moving object on

the planet. She was 882 ft and nine inches long. Fitting out the most

luxurious ship in the world took another 10 months. On April 2nd,

1912, Titanic sailed to Southampton Large numbers of people did come to

see the Titanic leaving Belfast. This was a ship the size that

people could not imagine and of course it generated a huge amount

of interest. People knew people who had worked on it and there was a

great excitement about its setting Titanic's arrival in Southampton

marked the start of the huge operation of preparing the ship for

the voyage to New York. Cargo, post, food and drink had to be loaded in

great quantities and the crew had to be interviewed. There was 900

crew on the Titanic, 300 in the engine department, but 500 were to

look after the passengers, including stewards and things like

that. Nearly 700 of the crew who were taken on from the maiden

voyage came from Southampton. Titanic represented state of the

yacht technology in every way. She had electric cranes for handling

package, 10,000 electric light bulbs, elevators powered by

electricity, and these wonders true passengers to the ship. A dedicated

boat train brought many of the first class passengers directly

from London Waterloo to the quayside in sup Hampton. People

getting on board the Titanic would have come from all walks of life so

Southampton Docks would have been a massive confusion of noise and

bustle, he people with large trucks and people with facts on their

backs with all their worldly possessions, so there would have

been confusion but also excitement. And then in the middle of all the

commotion, the boat train arrives with more passengers and they have

to be taken inside quickly. Once you make sure your luggage was on

board, you would then walk up the main reception areas and waiting

for you would be the band, playing one of a number of songs as part of

the official welcome to this wonderful ship. That was your first

experience of the Titanic. Music, lot of people waiting with drinks,

giving you canapes. It was all part of this experience, that you were

part of an exclusive party setting sail on a big adventure. Dear Mrs

Burbidge, you cannot imagine how pleased I was to find your

exquisite basket of flowers in the sitting room on the steam a four-

star but what a ship! So huge and so magnificently appointed! Our

rooms are furnished in the best of taste and most luxurious! Very

The passengers would have expected a huge range of music. Musical

numbers, ragtime, an early form of jazz. The musicians have to know a

huge amount of music. First-class passengers would be given a music

booklet that simply had titles and numbers next to the titles. Someone

she would shout out, number one, the Barber of Seville overture by

There were more than 352 tunes on the White Star Line's list of music.

And it was the responsibility of the bandleader, Wallace Hartley, to

ensure that his fellow musicians knew every one of them by heart.

Hartley was just 33 years old, from Colm, in Lancashire. He worked on

miners before. The band would have played in various parts of the ship.

They wouldn't always played together, they'd split up. A trio

might go to the Cafe Parisian and play as a Palm Court trio. It was

known as a Palm Court real because they tended to be concealed by

potted palm trees. A quintet would play in the reception room in first

class, or it might play for dancers after meals. The tables would be

pushed back, the parquet flooring exposed, perfect for waltzing. The

band would strike up, and sometimes the band would play in the second-

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

class saloon. He would not play for My dear, the ship is like a palace.

There is a exercise DEC, a swimming bath, gymnasium and squash racket

court. A huge lounge and surrounding verandas. My carriage -

- cabin is ripping. Hot and cold water, a comfy bed and plenty of

room. Please write and tell me how you are getting on. One letter a

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

week ought not over Tai Yu. Your A maiden voyage in Southampton was

always an exciting thing. But on this day, 10th April, 1912, it was

more exciting than ever. Lightoller, Titanic's Second Officer, described

Titanic as a nest of these. But he said on a sailing day she was like

Titanic's captain for this maiden voyage was captain Smith, defection

at a known as E-Day, he was regarded as the millionaire's

captain. He was witty, charming and sophisticated. Everyone wanted to

sail with Captain Smith. The first stopping point for the Titanic's

maiden voyage was a Cherbourg. This was part of the grand strategy to

have the greatest and best people on board. This is where Europe's a

lead bordered the Titanic. People from high-society in Paris and

other parts of Europe as well, making up a large proportion of the

27 nationalities you can count on the ship's list. The people

travelling on the Titanic were a mixed bag of people, a Noah's Ark.

They were American multi- millionaires, like John Jacob Astor

IV, and his brand new wife. They were people like Isador Straus, who

owned Macy's. They were businessmen travelling back from business trips

to Europe. There were more than 30 millionaires on board Titanic - so

many that the press called it the millionaire's special. For it to be

known bet you were on his maiden voyage was part of not only society

gossip, but also part of a larger public knowledge of what you were

up to. After race six-week holiday in Italy, the silent screen star

Dorothy Gibson was returning to New York on Titanic to shoot a new

movie. She was the highest-paid film actress in the world. One of

more than 301st class passengers who'd paid up to �512 for a parlour

ticket - the equivalent in today's money of �45,500. But the majority

of passengers on board were in third, or steerage class. One could

say that the steerage class in the Titanic represented all resembled

life in New York or Chicago or any of the large American cities. It

was a polyglot mixture of the many peoples of Europe. Many of the

people were almost fleeing their former lives. There is one case in

particular, Michel Navratil, and his two sons, Michel Junior and

Edmond. He recently separated from his wife, and unbeknown to her,

he'd put them on board the Titanic to take them from America. In many

ways, he was stealing the children away from his former wife. After a

Cherbourg, the final port of call to pick at -- to pick up passengers

and Mail was Queenstown in Ireland. One of the loveliest and most

fascinating passengers on the Titanic was Father Browne. He was

booked in on a pleasure trip from Southampton to Cherbourg and then

to Queenstown. Father Brown, a keen amateur photographer, captured some

of the photographs of light on board Titanic to survive. Including

guests enjoying the first-class dining saloon, the biggest room a

float. Before we disembarked at Queenstown, Father Browne captured

these images of third-class steerage passengers waiting to get

on board. A total of 2.5 million people sailed from here during the

19th and early 20th centuries. Some 30,000 emigrated to America in 1912

alone. The people who were ready to board the Titanic in Queenstown

would have been prepared to leave their lives behind and to emigrate

for a new life in America. This was nothing new in Ireland. For many

people there were limited job opportunities. The choice for many

was obvious. Lead and make a new life for themselves overseas.

well as taking on 120 passengers at Queenstown, Titanic loaded 1385

mailbags. At 130 on April 11th, Titanic cast her moorings in

Queenstown and steamed out into the Atlantic. There were 2235 people on

board. Father Brown captured these last images of the ship as she set

# I know it doesn't seem that way. # But maybe it's the perfect day.

# Even though the bills are piling. # And maybe Lady Luck ain't smiling.

# But if we'd only open our eyes. # We'd see the blessing in disguise.

# That all the rain clouds are fountains.

# Though our troubles seem like mountains.

# There's gold in them hills. # So don't lose heart.

# Give the day a chance to start. # Every now and then life says.

# Where do you think you're going so fast.

# We're apt to think it's cruel but sometimes.

# And if we'd get up off our knees. # Why then we'd see the forest for

the trees. # And we'd see the new sun rising.

# Over the hills on the horizon. # There's gold in them hills.

# So don't lose faith. # Give the world a chance to say.

# A word or two my friend. # There's no telling how the day

might end. # And we'll never know until we see.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

# That there's gold in them hills. From the moment she had left

Queenstown, Titanic made excellent progress averaging his speed of 22

knots. As the good weather continued, she covered more than

500 miles a day. Titanic was The finds of shipbuilding has

reached a degree perfection in its highest form, which has put wind

and water almost at defiance. It has not only worked the see of its

terrors but it has imposed on its surface comforts and luxuries of

travel, surpassing anything on land. There was great emphasis at the

time on the safety arrangements of the ship and in promoting this, the

White Star Line used the term that the ship would be practically

unsinkable, and they were referring in particular to the system of

watertight compartments in the ship, and in the promotional literature,

the White Star Line were saying that the captain, by pressing a

button, could electronically close the watertight doors in the event

of an accident, practically making Bishop unsinkable, and of course

the inference in saying that was tantamount to saying that it was

unsinkable. The problem was there was no effective plan B and there

was a complacent failure of regulator, shipbuilder and ship

owner in not providing sufficient By the evening of April 14th,

Titanic was over half way across the Atlantic. We all knew perfectly

well that we were just about entering the region where icebergs

might be seen and had taken There had been the usual wireless

messages reporting the weather and I spokes, but as none of those I

spoke late on our course, it did not directly concern us. It then

came out but one vital message had never been delivered to the bridge.

That message came from a ship called the Musaba, warning all

ships of heavy pack ice, icebergs and field ice in an area lying

right ahead of the Titanic and what The collision took place at 11:40pm,

ship's time. About midnight, it was realised that the vessel could not

live and about five past 12, but order was given to uncover the

boats underneath. -- the order was On Sunday night, we were thrown out

of our bed bungs by the shock of the collision but we were not at

all afraid because everything was silent, the lights burned brightly.

We had no cause for alarm. But outside our door, we heard a rising

clamour and we went out and found the passages and corridors full of

running people. In a few moments, I felt the engines slow and stop. The

dancing motion and the vibrations ceased suddenly after being part of

our very existence for a few days and that was the first hint that

anything out of the ordinary was happening. I called out to my

daughter, Marjorie, as she was in her nightgown, with a blanket

around her. I started out of the door and my husband followed

immediately behind. Neither of us took any of our belongings from the

cabin and I remember that he even left his watch lying on the pillow.

We did not doubt an incident that we would return. -- for an instant.

The boat deck was running with people. Many women and children had

to be forced into the boats. They've got much more safe on the

deck of the big liner than enough small boats, 90 ft over the water

line. I had my husbands say, go, for God's sake be brave and go, I

will get on another boat! I stumbled to my feet. I saw over

their heads my husband's back as he walked steadily down the deck and

disappeared among the men. His face was turned away. So that I never

saw it again, but I know he went # God on high.

# Hear my prayer. # He is young.

# He's afraid. # Let him rest.

# Heaven blessed. # Bring him home.

# He's like the son I might have known.

# If God had granted me a son. # The summers die.

# One by one. # How soon they fly.

# On and on. # And I am old.

# And will be gone. # Bring him peace.

# Bring him joy. # He is young.

# He is only a boy. # You can take.

# You can give. # Let him be.

# Let him live. # If I die.

# Let me die. # Let him live.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

# Bring him home. The bottom of our boat slapped the

ocean as we came down, with a force that I thought must shock us

overboard. We were drenched with ice-cold spray but we hung on and

the men wrote us rapidly away from At midnight, 20 minutes after the

collision, it became clear to Captain Smith that the ship was

sinking. He called for all the boilers to be shut down and the

wireless operator was told to send the first distress call for

assistance. Orders were given to uncover the lifeboats and get

passengers and crew ready on Dec. - It seems that the band, just past

midnight, went to the boat deck and people wondered what was going to

happen but already broom up was beginning to spread that something

had happened to the ship -- rumours were spreading. The band decided,

in a really heroic spirit, to play cheery tunes. I think Jock Hume,

the violinist, said, we are going to cheer them up a bit with music

because they did not want the At 12:20pm, but order was given to

start loading the lifeboats with women and children first. It

quickly became clear that there were enough lifeboats for only half

of those on board. On the boat deck, the band played to keep everybody

calm. Some people when they are frightened, they run and panic and

others retreat to what makes them feel safe and what makes them feel

Duman, and for musicians that do music for the love of it, music is

what makes you feel safe -- feel safe and what makes them feel human.

I imagine playing was not only a comfort for the other people but a

huge comfort for them at a time when they did not know whether they

were going to live. It seems likely that the band leader, Wallace

Hartley, had not been ordered by the captain to play music. It was a

decision taken by him and his After finding her danger was the

situation was, he probably caught his men together and began playing.

He often said, music was a bigger weapon for stopping disorder than

anything on earth. He knew the value of the weapon he had and I

think he proved his point. The band played for more than two hours. The

ship's lights went out at 2:18 in the morning. All the lifeboats had

left, but there was still more than 1500 people on board the thinking

ship. Dashed sinking ship. Some survivors accounts describe how

Wallace Hartley dismissed his band Wallace Hartley had told a member

of the band with whom he had played on another ship that if disaster

were to strike, he was likely to play Nearer My God To Thee. It was

it him that meant a great deal to him. It was eight tune that his

father, as choirmaster of Bethel Chapel in Colne, had introduced to

that chapel. If you think that they had done their best to calm down

passengers and now the moment had come, there were no lights, the

lights had gone off, the water was coming around him, some passengers

who survived threat that it was circling around his knees. He is

playing his own requiem, he is playing that tune that he sang as a

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

It was about 2am when the Titanic finally sank. There were two

terrific explosions and several large screens as she went down.

watched the lights go out one by one and the huge ship sliding to

her grave on the starlit water. And so the last, long, slow death

struggle of the pride of Queen's Island. The greatest and newest

ship in the world. When the Titanic took her final punch, there was a

noise I shall never forget. Shouting, screaming and explosions.

100,000 fans at a cup final could not make more noise. We were too

far away from the Titanic when it went down to see those that had

leaked or those that had been washed into the sea. But we could

hear them for some time after. Then all was still and we knew that the

last of them had perished. Those who love them call them gone. But

they live on with the virility immortal. The courage of 1500 souls

who quietly gave their lives for others floods an entire world and

makes us humbly eager to give tribute by living no other lives. -

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

MUSIC - Shostakovich - The None of us in the life world's knew

whether any rescue ship had been reached by the Titanic's radio. All

during the light -- night we saw lights all around us, but they

proved only to be the flashlights The distress signals sent by

Titanic were received at the Marconi radio station at Cape Race

Newfoundland early in the morning From here, they were sent on or

around the world. They were also picked up directly by ships,

including the Cunard liner Carpathia. A captain responded

immediately and turned her course to sail for steam to the aid of

Titanic. She was just 58 miles away, but with a top speed of 17.5 knots,

she wouldn't arrive before Titanic had slipped beneath the waves.

Carpathia reached the scene at dawn. And over the next four hours,

picked up 712 survivors. sinking of the Titanic was probably

the first global news story, simply because of several factors. Firstly,

communication was much quicker than it ever had been before. Even as

the reports of the ship had sunk, it was wired out across the world.

But I think the expectations surrounding the making Boyd had

helped seed this terrible tragedy of becoming interested to everybody.

Such fanfare had gritted its departure. And no one thought

anything could go wrong. So when the news started to break, everyone

was in complete shock. In America, the New York Times was the first

paper to report the sinking, dedicating 12 pages to the disaster

the following day. At first, details were sketchy and White Star

Line's offices were besieged with the relatives demanding news of

their loved ones. In London, the saddest places of all were the

offices of the White Star Line. It was a tragic scene. And as a

heartbroken inquirers groped their way out of the Doors, the golden

spring sunshine which flooded Trafalgar Square only emphasise the

contrast between life and death. It was the women awaited. But the only

news of those sales were that the majority were women and children

that were saved. There was no news of the men. Only silence.

Belfast it was received with disbelief that a ship which had

been so recently at the heart of the city was now lying on the

bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. There was an immediate sense of public

grieving and a huge loss of life - match at the huge loss of life. You

can only imagine how they must have felt when they heard that news.

There are stories of grown men actually in tears in the street.

But there were few details of what had happened on the night of the

sinking. The only reliable information was that there were

more than 700 survivors on the Carpathia, and the world's press

was desperate to hear their stories. After three days' sailing, but

Carpathia finally reached New York. The competition awaiting the

Carpathia to get exclusive stories was intense. When the Carpathia was

first sighted, the press immediately rushed into action. A

number of reporters had already chartered tug boats and they

assembled as a flotilla. They followed the Carpathia along

towards pier 54. Once they got close enough, the reporters were

said to have been shouting back at the passengers, trying to get any

I shall never forget the night the Carpathia got in. The great peer

was packed with people. They were very quiet. There was no noise. No

confusion. They were admitted by ticket only and the police

regulations were perfect. I saw the red lights of the Carpathia turning

in, bringing with her what sad and dreadful news. There was an ominous

stillness as the gangway was made fast. And then, as the people came

off, such scenes as no one could Once ashore, the survivors gave

their accounts of the disaster. Not only did the personal stories come

out, but now there was a definitive list of those who'd survived. It

was confirmed that oboe 1500 people have lost their lives. -- over 1500

people. Included in the list were some of the richest, most prominent

people of the day. In total, 48 % and 80 % of the men on board were

unaccounted for. Nowhere was the wait for news more agonising than

in Southampton, home to 700 of the This morning the first for news

that has taught at Southampton for three days was at last assuaged. At

7 o'clock, a clerk came out of the White Star Line officers in the

docks and placed on the huge blackboard outside the list of the

saved among the crew. At that time there was no one about except the

women, who have waited there in the street almost without moving. None

of them certainly have slept since Tuesday night. But as the names

appeared, printed in big, blue letters, the dreadful gasp of

apprehension was heard. And the women pressed up close, eager and

Of the 700 crew from the city, more than 500 had died. It was said that

there was hardly a street in Southampton that haven't lost

someone on the ship. -- that had and lost someone on the ship.

My dear mother and all. I don't know how to write to you Wallwork

to say. I feel I shall go mad sometimes but as much as my heart

aches, it takes for you, too. For he is your son and the best that

ever lived. I have not given up hope till today that he might be

found. But I'm told all boats are # I never see the clouds fall on

you. # Baby tell me how.

# Is it what you do. # When the sun shines through the

rainbow. # I know the truth.

# Baby all my life I'll wait for you.

# At the boat yard we've been waiting.

# To the coast guard we've been waving.

# Hoping that the rumours are true. # I hope you'll come through.

# And I'll never lose you. # I never see the clouds fall on

you. # Baby tell me how.

# Is it what you do. # When the sun shines through the

rainbow. # I know the truth.

# Know that all my life I'll wait for you.

# Sharp winds are cold and scathing. # No matter how long I save it.

# Knowing, trusting and praying. # I know you'll come through.

# And I'll never lose you. # I never see the clouds fall on

you. # Baby tell me how.

# Is it what you do # When the sun shines through the

rainbow. # I know it's true.

# Baby all my life I'll wait for # Will you come through.

# Will you be true. # God I miss you.

# I see your face. # Empty space. # I am never leaving this place.

# I never see the clouds fall on you.

# Baby tell me how, is it what you # And when the sun shines through

the Rainbow. # I know the truth.

# I will wait for you. # I will wait for your thoughts.

# Baby. Baby, won't you tell me how.

# Tell me how! # I'll never see the clouds falling

on you. # Baby, tell me how, tell me how.

# Is it what you do? # I know the truth.

# I know that all my life, a weight see you.

-- I will wait for you. # I never see the clouds fallen you.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the people of New York took pity on

the survivors and left money and clothes for the 212 crew members

whose pay had been stopped when Titanic sank. On 20th April, the

crewmen were taken back to England. But in New York there still

The great mystery in the immediate aftermath of the Titanic is two of

these two children who do not have any parents? They get labelled the

Titanic orphans and their photographs are reproduced in

newspapers around the world. To try to find out who they were. The two

boys, who spoke only French, were being looked after by a first-class

passenger at her home on West 83rd Street. Eventually their identity

was discovered. The two Navratil boys have lost their father in the

tragedy and it was only by chance that their mother had read the

account of their arrival in New York and suddenly realised these

were her children, so of course she jumped on the first ship, headed

over and was reunited with her lost The grim task of recovering bodies

from the North Atlantic was given to their crew of Mackay Bennett,

chartered by White Star Line so. She recovered 306 bodies, including

that of John Jacob Astor. In his pocket he had $3,000 in cash, the

equivalent today of 70,000. Dressed in evening wear, the corpse of the

band leader Wallace Hartley was reported to be found with his music

Wallace Hartley's body was brought back to Liverpool. It was taken by

train all the way to Colne and there, a memorial service was held.

The crowd number was estimated at nearly 40,000. Dependents of the

band were not entitled to any compensation. The band had actually

gone on board a second class passengers. They were employees of

the agency in Liverpool, not of White Star Line, so White Star Line

scores thought they owed them no compensation. -- of course.

days after the funeral, the orchestral Association organised a

memorial concert for the musicians at the Royal Albert Hall.

musicians from many different orchestras arrived at the Royal

Albert Hall. They had an extraordinary array of conductors,

Elgar was one of them. The proceeds from the concert was to help the

families deal with their loss. There was a tremendous outpouring

of public Greece and this was the beginning of the Titanic memorial

industry -- public grief. Entrepreneurs sensed a ready market

and produced mementoes of the disaster. The most readily

available were postcards but there were also songs and music produced

all round the world, and for the first-class passenger and from star

Dorothy Gibson, the Titanic was an opportunity to turn tragedy into

profit. Within four weeks, she had released a film about the disaster

starving herself, wearing the dress she had worn at night. -- starring

herself. In Belfast, life returned almost to normal. At the Harland

and Wolff shipyard, which had lost nine men, work continued on

Britannic, the third in the trio of giant ships. But the scars of

Initially in Belfast there was a certain measure of embarrassment

that this had been made in Belfast and it was not something people

wanted to be associated with. I think over time that has changed.

People have become more interested in the Titanic, people see it more

as a recognition that something great was achieved and what it

means that the place where it was actually born. The Titanic, to so

many people in different ways, it represented a dream for the wealthy

owners it was the dream of dominance of the shipping route,

for the immigrants it was a dream of a better life, for my great

grandfather it was a dream of the next meal, food on the table, as do

the job. Everybody had their own As a result of those events 100

years ago, maritime regulations were changed. Ships had to carry

enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew. Bigger vessels had to be

equipped with a permanently manned Marconi set and an international

ice patrol was established, which runs to this day, but the thinking

of the Titanic did not deter the shipping yards from their quest to

build ever better and better ships. Just two months after Titanic sank,

a German ship took the title of the world's largest vessels, 52,000

tonnes. Modern passenger liners can be four times bigger. And what of

Belfast 100 years on? Queen's Island is once again thriving. On

the Hollande and walls site is a new exhibition commemorating the

Titanic -- Harland and Wolff. As the City braces her legacy and the

extraordinary achievements of the Edwardian shipbuilders. That

exhibition serves as a reminder of the human endeavour that built the

Titanic, the tragedy that befell her, the bravery of those on board,

and the souls who were lost that night. I hope that tonight we have

made a modest contribution to the legacy of the Titanic. From

everyone here in the Waterfront Hall and the thousands watch him in

Belfast, good night. -- watching in # I'll sing it one last time for

you. # You've been the only thing that's

right. # In all I've done.

# And I can barely look at you. # But every single time I do.

# I know we'll make it anywhere. # Light up, light up.

# As if you have a choice. # Even if you cannot hear my voice.

# Louder, louder. # And we'll run for our lives.

# I can hardly speak, I understand. # Why you can't raise your voice to

# To think I might not see those eyes.

# Makes it so hard not to cry. # And as we say our long goodbyes.

# Light up, light up. # As if you have a choice.

# Even if you cannot hear my voice. # Louder, louder.

# And we'll run for our lives. # I can hardly speak, I understand.

# Why you can't raise your voice to # Light up, light up.

# As if you have a choice. # Even if you cannot hear my voice.