Lovely Liverpool: Part 3 (Titanic Sites)

This final Liverpool post is dedicated to the biggest Leonardo DiCaprio fan and Titanic aficionado: Debbie Flax.

Albert Dock

Down by the Albert Docks there are a number of really cool museums to see.  They include, the Liverpool Tate (modern art gallery), the International Slavery Museum, the Museum of Liverpool, the Beatles Story gallery, and the Liverpool Maritime Museum.  Because Liverpool thrived for many years on shipping, the Maritime Museum is quite extensive.  It has two permanent exhibits: one about the Royal Navy during WWI and WWII, and one entitled "Titanic & Liverpool: The Untold Story."

Hold on!  The Titanic never docked in Liverpool, so why would the Maritime Museum have a permanent exhibit to tell its story?  Great question!

White Star Line building

Liverpool was actually the official city of berth of the Titanic, which is why it was inscribed on the ship's stern.  This is because the White Star Line, the company that built the Titanic, the Olympic (the Titanic's sister ship), and the Britannic (to name a few), was headquartered just a block from the docks.

Fun fact: White Star has been bought, sold, and absorbed by various other companies and is now part of Carnival Cruise Lines.

Props from Titanic film

The Titanic exhibit was a very comprehensive experience.  Not only did it contain some pretty cool artifacts recovered from the wreckage, it had newspaper headlines from all around the world, dated before and after the sinking.  There were detailed biographies of the ship's officers, blueprints used to build Titanic and Olympic, letters from Molly Brown (yes, she was a real person and survivor), as well as props from the 1997 film with Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.  There was even a first class ticket from a passenger who decided last minute not to go.

My consensus: it was very well done and definitely worth seeing if you're ever in Liverpool!

Titanic and Olympic blueprints

recovered items from wreck