As I was walking around Southampton I also popped into the SeaCity museum where they have their Titanic story and also 2 other exhibitions, one of Southampton's history and another about Southampton personages.
Titanic foundering poster
The Titanic story should be a largely known tragedy to anyone who have seen the Titanic movie and would know she sank after colliding with an iceberg on 14th April 1912. There's reams written about her and the museum exhibition mostly focuses on the aftermath of the sinking with displays of the passengers and crew that perished with her. This is understandable as many crews were from Southampton and Liverpool so at same time this would serve as a memorial although I think most close relatives of the deceased have mostly passed on by now. When she left for her maiden voyage she had 2208 passengers onboard, 1496 of them were lost and 712 rescued. The total amount has been discussed as the passenger list sank with the Titanic, these days copies have to be maintained in office.
Undated illustration of the foundering (credit: britannica.com)
For an industry professional many displays are self evident but probably interesting for laymen and children to know about ship mechanics and how they work. The museum was made quite child friendly. For me the most interesting part was the inquiry where I learned that the British board of trade specialists presided over by a judge, Sir John Charles Bigham, Lord Mersey, put more than 20000 questions to about 100 survivors and related crews of the accident. The main points discovered and things that come out in the wash was namely:
- Insufficient lifeboat capacity (although they were exceeding the requirements at the time) that led to new regulations through IMCO (the precursor to IMO) to have sufficient lifesaving capacity, also a lifeboat drill had not been carried out, these are today mandatory;
- Speed was 22 knots in poor visibility that reduced the reaction time if an iceberg was spotted;
- Lookouts lacked binoculars in the crows nest and it was also said that the night was absolutely dead calm so no ripples could be seen on the sea surface, today the lookout has been brought down from the crows nest and given binoculars;
- Radio watch was discovered that some ships could not maintain 24h duty (with only 1 radio officer) and regulations were altered for this too, today the radio officer has been made redundant by technology;
- Standardized distress signals regulations were revised so that all ships would understand them, these are today mandatory on the bridge (called the SOLAS No.1 poster);
- Calls were made for the establishment of an international ice patrol to monitor iceberg warnings, the Captain had not paid sufficient attention to the warnings in force.
The propellers (credit: britannica.com)
Also the Americans had their own inquiry on the other side of the pond but neither found fault in the British Board of Trade or White Star Line. They interviewed around 80 persons but majority were passengers than crew. The surviving CEO Joseph Bruce Ismay was largely vilified in media of the day. There was a lot of commotion of the m/v Californian's actions as they had been very close but they didn't get the distress signals or messages after their sparky had gone off duty. The m/v Carpathian had gotten the distress calls and was at the scene first and rescued all they could find alive.
Chart of her route (credit: encyclopedia-titanica.org)
In August 1985 Robert Ballard, working with the Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER; French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea), led an expedition from aboard the U.S. Navy research ship Knorr, they discovered the exact location of the wreck on 1st Sept 1985.
Captain Edward John Smith (credit: britannica.com)
Captain Smith was called the millionaire's Captain as he was very popular with the hi-so guests and officers were said to be ready to 'cut off their hands' to work under him. I've read some speculations that he was pressured to keep the speed despite foggy weather conditions by the Management, this was denied and never proven. The ship was also thought to be unsinkable due to the watertight compartments that had been built in her construction, maybe that made the Captain complacent about the dangers of ice. As she collided the iceberg impact caused 5 of the compartments (out of a total of 16) to rupture and as the water ingresses it went over the watertight compartment edges and spilled into the next one which then led her to break into two and subsequently sink in about 2h 40min.
On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage, she sank days later.
The Bettmann Archive (credit: britannica.com)
The Titanic technical specifications below:
Builder: Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Ireland, keel laid in 1907, launched in 1912
GT / NT: 46329 / 21831
Displacement: 52310 t
Length overall / beam / draught: 269.1 m / 28.1 m / 10.5 m
Height / depth: 53.3 m (keel to top of funnels) / 19.7 m
Installed power 24 double-ended and five single-ended boilers feeding two reciprocating steam engines for the wing propellers, and a low-pressure turbine for the centre propeller, output: 51,000 HP
Propulsion: Two three-blade wing propellers and one centre propeller with a single rudder
Economic speed / Max: 21kts / 23 kts
Capacity 2,453 passengers and 874 crew (3,327 in total)
Lifeboats: 20 (sufficient for 1,178 people)
Builder: Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Ireland, keel laid in 1907, launched in 1912
GT / NT: 46329 / 21831
Displacement: 52310 t
Length overall / beam / draught: 269.1 m / 28.1 m / 10.5 m
Height / depth: 53.3 m (keel to top of funnels) / 19.7 m
Installed power 24 double-ended and five single-ended boilers feeding two reciprocating steam engines for the wing propellers, and a low-pressure turbine for the centre propeller, output: 51,000 HP
Propulsion: Two three-blade wing propellers and one centre propeller with a single rudder
Economic speed / Max: 21kts / 23 kts
Capacity 2,453 passengers and 874 crew (3,327 in total)
Lifeboats: 20 (sufficient for 1,178 people)
Lot of additional information and trivia can be gotten online from following sources:
Cunard shipping company and m/v Normandie
The second exhibition in the museum revolved around Southampton and the history of the area, not much exhibits but again mostly infograms, diagrams and pictures. I did enjoy the miniature models of cruise ships on display in the 3rd exhibition.
Southampton historical timeline
800.000 BC - Early settlers and first farmers
8000 BC - End of last Ice Age
800BC - Iron age family
500 BC - First English hill forts
43 - Roman traders
122 - Hadrian's Wall
410 - End of Roman rule, Saxons & Viking era (Saxon woman)
1066 - Battle of Hastings, Middle ages (Bernard de Vire)
1485 - Tudors & Stuarts era (Roger Machado)
1509 - Henry VIII crowned (Judith de La Motte)
1642-48 - English Civil Wars (John Alden)
1714 Georgian era
1803-15 Napoleonic Wars
1837 Victorian era (Victorian emigramts)
1851 - Great Exhibition (Charles Arthur Day)
1901 - Twentieth Century (Transmigrants)
1939-45 Second World War (Basque children)
s/s Normandie
S/S Normandie entered service in 1935 for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days, and remains the most powerful (200.000 H.P.) steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. She held the Blue Riband many times. In 1942 when she was being converted into troop ship she caught fire and capsized in New York at pier 88. Eventually she was salvaged but scrapped in 1946 as economically unviable for restoration.
m/v Britannic
m/v Britannic
They also had a massive model of Queen Mary on display, she must be 6-7m long so one could possibly sit in her if floated. Below are some close up details of her.
m/v Queen Mary model
m/v Queen Mary, aft and forward views
m/v Queen Mary, upper fore deck
m/v Queen Mary, fore deck
m/v Queen Mary, bridge
m/v Queen Mary, lifeboat promenade
m/v Queen Mary, upper aft decks
m/v Queen Mary, poop deck
Jane Austen also spent time in Southampton in her days
"Jane Austen spent time in Southampton on several occasions, particularly in 1806-09, when she lived in Castle Square with members of her close family This exhibition explores Jane's life in Southampton and casts light on her circle of friends and relations.
The Austens' quiet life in Castle Square was punctuated by visits to friends and relations living in the neighborhood, many connected through the navy army or the East India Company. These included the Lance and FitzHugh families, where the men had been East India Company traders before settling in Southampton."
Famous Southampton laundry company that eventually changed name
Day & Summers yard
Day, Summers and Co of Southampton were shipbuilders, crane makers, and makers of steam engines for marine use since 1834. They built the steam yacht Medusa for Mr. Alfred Farquhar, R.Y.S. By 1928 they had been taken over by Thornycroft as they went for liquidation. Then later the yard became part of Vosper Thornycroft. By 1987 the Company had ceased trading.
m/y Medusa, built 1906 by Day & Summers
This miniature is a bit peculiar as it shows a rudder on the open bridge midships in front of the funnel and another steering position in the aft, on top the rudder column. Perhaps this was a backup arrangement because the visibility forward was not very good for collision avoidance.
m/y Medusa, built 1906 by Day & Summers
m/y Medusa, built 1906 by Day & Summers
Also found an online record of her with a picture of her afloat, great looking classic.
The model of Arandora Star didn't tell the story of her but that she used to be part of the Blue Star Line but apparently she was torpedoed during WWII.
Details of the Arandora Star Tragedy
The Incident: On July 2, 1940, at approximately 7:20 a.m., the vessel was torpedoed 75 miles west of Bloody Foreland, Ireland, by Gunther Prien.
Victims: Over 800 people lost their lives, with over 400 of them Italian civilians living in Britain, along with German internees, guards, and crew.
Causes of Death: The torpedo hit the engine room, creating a blackout, stalling the ship, and damaging many lifeboats.
Impact: The incident led to a change in British policy regarding the internment of "enemy aliens" and caused significant, lasting grief for the Italian-British community.
m/v Arandora Star
m/v Arandora Star
m/v Arandora Star
The Union-Castle Line was in their time very popular and many of their ships were built by Cammell-Lairds shipyard in Birkenhead. Some years ago I was rescuing Margarita L from the rocks of Salamina island in Greece, she was an ex Castle-Union ship RMS Windsor Castle, having had the chance to roam her decks for a few hours getting epic memories that still stay with me.
Union-Castle Line and cruise ship posters
"Union-Castle Line was formed in 1900 by the merger of Union Steamship Company and Castle Mail Packet Company, competitors on the route between Britain and the Cape. For more than 75 years Union-Castle Line ran regular passenger ships from Southampton to South Africa, leaving every Thursday afternoon at 4 o'clock.
Many Union-Castle ships were requisitioned as troopships during the Second World War and it took some years after the war before the company recovered.
Due to the competition from air travel the last passenger sailing from Southampton was in 1977 and by 1982 the company had sold its remaining ships.
Top
Launched in 1921, Windsor Castle was the last four-funneled ship to be built. She was also the first British passenger ship to be launched by a member of the Royal family. In 1921 Windsor Castle and her sister ship Arundel Castle became the only four-funneled ships to serve on a route other than to North America. However, as part of an attempt to make the ships more fuel efficient they were both rebuilt in the 1930s and the four funnels were replaced by two."
Union Castle House is more than just a residence; it is a landmark steeped in maritime history. Built in 1847 under the direction of Alfred Giles, this grand structure originally served as Southampton’s Custom House before becoming the headquarters of the prestigious Union-Castle Line in 1900—a shipping empire that once dominated trade routes between Europe and Africa.
Architecturally, this distinguished two-storey yellow-brick building showcases intricate period details, from its sash windows with original glazing bars to the stately stone entrance adorned with Tuscan columns. The hipped tiled roof, crowned with a louvred lantern, stands as a defining feature, whispering tales of the past to all who pass through its historic halls.
Today, Union Castle House stands proudly as a Grade II listed treasure, a place where history and modern luxury coexist in perfect harmony. With its rich heritage, unparalleled craftsmanship, and an address steeped in prestige, this remarkable residence offers an extraordinary lifestyle opportunity.
We are privileged to have sold this apartment before and others in the building ‘trust us’ these are not to be missed. (credit: Marco Harris, real estate agency)
The Union-Castle House still standing
Having been cultured out I walked back to the Ocean Village Marina but enroute I stopped at White Star Line pub on Oxford Street. There I enjoyed a plate of well microwaved mash and peas with Cumberland sausages that I think would have made the Head Chef of Titanic roll in his watery grave.
The "White Star Line" pub
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