The RMS Titanic was a British registered four funnelled ocean liner built for the transatlantic passenger and mail service between Southampton and New York.
Constructed at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, the Titanic was on her maiden voyage, the largest vessel afloat.
On April 10th 1912 the Titanic sailed from Southampton with 2,200 passengers and crew. Four days later the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank. 1500 people died and 700 survived.
We are grateful to Robert F Charleston who supplied the following poem on The Loss of the Titanic, written at the time by his grandfather T J Charleston and published first in ‘The Cornishman’ newspaper.
The Loss of the Titanic
Titanic, Titanic, thou destroyer of life
Thou has parted many a man from children and wife
And many little children thou has plunged in the deep
Innocent as lamb, to take their last sleep.
No doubt some hundreds lay fast asleep
As her living cargo she gave to the deep
But hundreds more had to watch the awful end
That trip would bring, you can depend.
Through being a monarch – as many thought –
Hundreds to a watery grave were brought
As every one on board did think
It was impossible for the ship to sink.
… continued later …