The White Star Line’s RMS Titanic departed Southampton, England, for the United States on 10 April 1912 with 2,206 passengers and crew on board, but she never reached her destination as she struck an iceberg during her maiden voyage. The ocean liner sank within a few short hours, and with a relatively small number of lifeboats on hand (and many launched only partially loaded), most passengers were lost at sea.
Formerly a magistrate court building, the state-of-the-art Southampton SeaCity Museum opened in Southampton, England, in April 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the Titanic’s launch. The museum does not focus solely on the Titanic, however, but also tells the story of the people of Southampton and the city’s maritime heritage.
The museum, located in the heart of Southampton’s Cultural Quarter, is visually stunning. A monumental clock tower casts shadows over the Civic Centre and through the museum’s ample skylights. The tower is roughly the same height as the Titanic’s funnels and serves as a scale for the magnitude of the ocean liner.
Visitors cross a gangway in the Grand Hall to enter Southampton’s Titanic Story, an exhibit dedicated to the ship and her demise. They are led past a wall of playing-card-sized pictures, an emotional mosaic of crew member photos. Certain crew members receive further detail, such as Captain Edward Smith, who had been commodore of the White Star Line for eight years when he took the helm for the Titanic’s maiden voyage. His sword lies in a display case along with other memorabilia.
The centerpiece of the gallery is the 1:25-scale model of the ocean liner, with a cross-section diagram of the Titanic’s hull to help conceptualize the ship’s intricate layout and detail. Touch screens play contemporary footage filmed on board RMS Olympic, one of the Titanic’s sister ships, and the museum includes some of her interior furnishings to give an idea of the level of on-board luxury. The “Honor and Glory” panel carving that graced the top of the Olympic’s grand staircase is nearly identical to the one on board the Titanic.
Stepping away from opulent luxury, SeaCity Museum includes a few Titanic games. Visitors can attempt steering a simulation ship’s wheel or shovel coal into the glowing boilers, which include alarm bells that ring loudly if you shovel too little or too much coal.
The Disaster Room gallery replays chilling oral testimonies from survivors, describing the events that led up to the ship’s collision, subsequent sinking, and rescue by RMS Carpathia. A pocket watch from one crew member, eternally stopped at ten minutes to two, is among the more notable artifacts on display. In another gallery, a preserved courtroom depicts the Titanic inquiry and tribunal with cinematic screens, commentary from original court records, and audiovisual elements that allow visitors to sit as judges and hear witness statements from surviving members of the crew.
On the opposite side of the Grand Hall is the “Gateway to the World” exhibit, which examines Southampton’s history and role as a migration hub with an extensive archaeological exhibit and an impressive seven-meter-long replica of RMS Queen Mary and various other ship models. A large interactive city map in the middle of the room shows Southampton during various eras, helping put the city into context.
The SeaCity Museum puts Southampton on the map, both before and after the 20th century. It is an important visit for anyone interested in the Titanic or curious about a seafaring community that has existed at the head of the Solent since 1000 AD. The museum is well worth your time.