Launch of the Titanic
On 31 May 1911 the 269 m Titanic was launched at Harland & Wolff in Belfast.
Robert Welch · Public domain · Source
To compete with Cunard’s fast ships, the White Star Line ordered three Olympic-class liners from Harland & Wolff in Belfast, competing on size and luxury rather than speed. The second, Titanic, was laid down in 1909 and launched on 31 May 1911 — 269 m long and 46,000 tons, the largest moving object afloat.
Her hull was divided into sixteen watertight compartments so that she could float with two flooded — or even the first four. The last of her four funnels was a dummy for ventilation. Her chief designer was Thomas Andrews. She carried twenty lifeboats, more than the rules then required (sixteen for ships over 10,000 tons), but enough for barely more than half the people she could carry.