Kara’s Titanic Memorials Page

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Memorial Lighthouse
The Nomadic
Olympic Suite
Women’s Memorial
Bandsmen’s Memorial
Captain Smith’s Statue
Ballarat Rotunda
Titanic Model

This page aims to show some of the memorials and places related to the Titanic, her passengers and crew. All the photographs are fairly recent, and have been taken by myself or friends. Each of the entries has just one picture on the main page, but more pictures are linked to from the text.

The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, New York

This is the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse on the corner of Fulton Street and Water Street in New York, at the entrance to the South Street Seaport Museum. Raised by public subscription in 1915, it originally stood on the corner of the roof of the Seaman’s’ Church Institute of New York, at South Street and Coenties Slip.

Titanic Memorial Lighthouse © Tracy Gostick

Click here to get a picture of the plaque. The inscription on the plaque reads:

          T I T A N I C  M E M O R I A L  L I G H T H O U S E
This lighthouse is a memorial to the passengers, officers and
crew who died as heroes when the steamship Titanic sank
after collision with an iceberg.

LATITUDE 41°46' NORTH
LONGITUDE 50°14' WEST
APRIL 15, 1912

This lighthouse was originally erected by public subscription
In 1915 it stood above the East river on the corner of the old
Seaman's' Church Institute at the corner of South Street and
Coenties Slip from 1915 to 1967. The time ball at the top of the
lighthouse would drop down the pole to signal twelve noon to
the ships in this harbour. This time ball mechanism was activated
by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in
Washington, D.C.

In July 1968 the Seaman's' Church Institute moved to its present
quarters at 15 Street. That year the Titanic Memorial
Lighthouse was donated by the Kaiser-Nelson steel and salvage
corporation to the South Street Seaport Museum. It was erected
on this corner at the entrance to the museum complex in
in May 1976 with funds provided by the Exxon Corporation.

South Street Seaport Museum

The Nomadic, Paris

Moored on the River Seine, opposite the Eiffel Tower, the Nomadic is the last surviving member of the White Star fleet.

nomadicb

Nomadic, Paris, France © Marian Ottewell

It was originally used as a tender at Cherbourg, taking passengers out to the Olympic and Titanic as they moored out of of the harbour, due to the lack of docking facilities for such massive ships. The Nomadic and her sister, the Traffic, were both specially built by Harland and Wolff to service the Olympic class liners. The Traffic was sunk, whilst under German command from occupied France, during WWII. The Nomadic survived and has since been used as a restaurant and a conference centre. Currently she is privately owned, but not being used for any commercial purpose. Click here for more pictures of the Nomadic.

Olympic Suite at the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick, England

wsdoor

One of Olympic’s revolving doors now forms the entrance
to the White Swan Hotel © Kara Ottewell

The Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, launched on October 20th 1910, finished its sea trials and brought spectators to Belfast on May 31st 1911, to see the Titanic being launched down Harland and Wolff’s specially constructed slipway. The Olympic, Titanic, and later the Britannic (originally to be named Gigantic) formed a trio known as the “Olympic class” liners designed to provide the greatest luxury ever known on the lucrative transatlantic route to America. The Britannic, launched on February 26th 1914, was “conscripted” as a WWI troop carrier in December 1915, and sunk due to mine or torpedo damage on November 21st 1916 in the Mediterranean. The Titanic made its maiden voyage on April 10th 1912, and met its end on April 15th 1912 after colliding with an iceberg in the Atlantic off the Grand Banks. However, the Olympic, which became known as “Old Reliable”, made its maiden voyage on June 14th 1911 and retired in 1935, despite several accidents and near misses in the intervening years.

When the Olympic was scrapped in 1937, some of its fittings were bought at auction by the White Swan Hotel at Alnwick, England. Click here for more pictures of the Olympic’s fittings at the White Swan Hotel.

Titanic Women’s Memorial, Washington D.C., U.S.A.

womens_memorial Titanic Women’s Memorial © Steve Perez

The Titanic Women’s Memorial is in Potomac Park, Washington D.C., next to the Washington Channel. People often assume that it is dedicated to the women who died, but in fact it was raised by the women of America, including Titanic widows, as a memorial to their menfolk lost in the tragedy. Originally located at the site of what is now the John Kennedy Memorial Centre for the Performing Arts, it was moved to its present location in 1972.

Click here to read the inscription and see a closer view.

Titanic Bandsmen’s Memorial, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia

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Titanic Bandsmen’s Memorial © Scott Carnie

The Titanic Bandsmen’s Memorial is one of the few memorials in the Southern hemisphere, and is at the small town of Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. It was erected very soon after the sinking, and is in the town’s main park. The inscription and closeup view are on their own page. Thanks to Scott Carnie for sending me these picture after visiting my web page.

Captain Smith’s Memorial, Lichfield, U.K.

captainsmith

Captain E.J. Smith is one of the central characters in the story of the Titanic. Highly popular with his passengers, some of whom would even change the dates of their trips to travel on his ship, he has been labelled both hero and villain over the years. The statue in the picture stands in Beacon Park, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Click on the picture for more details.

There’s a nice web page with more Captain Smith and Titanic information called Interesting Facts but don’t forget to come back to this page after you’ve visited.

Ballarat Rotunda, Victoria, Australia

ballaratxrotundaxplaque

This memorial to the bandsmen of the Titanic is in Ballarat, Australia. The rotunda (or bandstand) is topped by a fantastic wind vane on the top as you will see if you follow the link from the picture. Broken Hill in New South Wales, and Ballarat in Victoria, were two of Australia’s biggest mining centres and all mining towns, as in England or Wales, had very strong band or music sub-cultures, and band unions. Strong feelings of brotherhood with their ocean going counterparts, compelled the local bandsmen to raise money for a suitable memorial to be erected. Many thanks to Andrew Rogers for these photographs and the background information.

Titanic Model at Belfast City Hall

Belfast City Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, from Saturday, April 10th to Saturday, April 17th 2004, in cooperation with the City of Belfast and the Belfast City Council, “Titanic – The Exhibition” will be showcasing a small portion of its collection at the “Titanic at Home Exhibition”. Opening times Saturday 11am, Sunday 12 noon, Monday to Friday 10am. Close 5pm each day. The exhibition includes this impressive 18ft 1:42nd scale Titanic model, made by Peter Davies-Garner of Germany. It was constructed from the original working drawings of Harland & Wollf Shipyards. Many thanks to Paul Fryer for the photographs and background information.