15th April 1912 – a date that shook the western world – the day the great ship, the Titanic, sank, over 1,500 people drowned, a catastrophe so awful and so unexpected that it continues to fascinate and haunt us today.The 31st of May 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the launch of the Titanic. It was a launch witnessed by thousands, all gathered at various vantage points in Belfast to send off ship number 401 at 13 minutes past noon.In Titanic – Belfast’s Own, Stephen Cameron looks at this most famous of ships from a new perspective. He tells of the conception and birth of SS 401, as she was known in the yard.Extensively illustrated, and packed with detailed information on her early days, this is the story of bringing a dream to life. So ambitious was this dream that men were to die before ever the ship was launched. But even when she had left Ulster’s shores to sail to Southampton on the first leg of her fateful voyage, the Titanic had not finished with the people of Ulster. In a gripping and heart-rending chapter Stephen Cameron writes of Ulster people who sailed with the mighty ship. For many it was to be their last journey, as the dream turned to nightmare and the glory to pain.
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