The main Titanic construction facts
- Harland & Wolff built Titanic at Queen’s Island in Belfast for the White Star Line.
- Titanic was Harland & Wolff yard number 401 and the second ship of the Olympic class.
- The keel was laid on March 31, 1909, and the hull was launched on May 31, 1911.
- Launching was only the end of hull construction. Titanic then spent about ten months being fitted with machinery, interiors and equipment.
- J. Bruce Ismay told the U.S. Senate inquiry that Titanic cost $7.5 million to build.
- The design was a Harland & Wolff team effort rather than the work of Thomas Andrews alone.
How Titanic was built: the main dates
Titanic moved through several distinct stages between the first work on the keel and the start of passenger service.
| Date | Stage | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1909 | Olympic-class planning | White Star Line and Harland & Wolff developed the concept for very large Atlantic liners built around capacity, comfort and economical operation. |
| March 31, 1909 | Keel laid | Titanic’s keel was laid on Slip No. 3 at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast yard. |
| 1909–1911 | Hull construction | Frames, steel plates, decks, bulkheads and the main hull structure were assembled beneath the giant Arrol Gantry. |
| May 31, 1911 | Launch | The unfinished hull slid into the River Lagan. Titanic Belfast records a launch weight of 24,360 tons. |
| June 1911–March 1912 | Fitting out | Engines, boilers, funnels, electrical systems, cabins, public rooms, furniture and equipment were installed and finished. |
| March 25, 1912 | Registration | Titanic was registered at Liverpool with official number 131428 and signal letters HVMP. |
| March 31, 1912 | Completion milestone | Royal Museums Greenwich lists this as the completed date in its public fact sheet. |
| April 2, 1912 | Sea trials and handover | Titanic completed trials off Belfast and was formally handed over to White Star Line before sailing for Southampton. |
| April 10, 1912 | Maiden voyage | The finished liner left Southampton for Cherbourg, Queenstown and New York. |
Shipbuilding dates can differ according to whether a source means physical completion, inspection, sea trials or formal handover to the owner.
Titanic construction at a glance
These dates separate the main stages of building a liner. Launching did not mean Titanic was finished; fitting out continued for another ten months.
Harland & Wolff yard number
Titanic followed Olympic, yard number 400.
Keel laid
Construction of Titanic formally began on Slip No. 3 in Belfast.
Hull launched
The unfinished hull entered the River Lagan before fitting out began.
Recorded launch weight
Titanic Belfast gives this figure for the hull at launch.
Sea trials and handover
Titanic was accepted by White Star Line and left Belfast for Southampton.
Construction cost
J. Bruce Ismay’s figure to the 1912 U.S. Senate inquiry.
Royal Museums Greenwich lists March 31, 1912 as the completion date, while Titanic Belfast records formal handover on April 2 after sea trials. They describe different completion milestones rather than a contradiction.
Who built the Titanic?
Harland & Wolff Ltd. built Titanic in Belfast for the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, the legal company behind White Star Line. The shipyard also built Titanic’s sister ships Olympic and Britannic, giving the three liners a shared industrial and design history.
Titanic carried Harland & Wolff yard number 401. Olympic was yard number 400 and had been laid down first. Building the sisters close together allowed the yard to use the same huge infrastructure and to carry lessons from Olympic into changes made to Titanic before completion.
White Star Line was the customer and operator, not the physical builder. Harland & Wolff supplied the shipyard, design organization, labour, machinery and construction expertise that turned the Olympic-class concept into a working liner.
Where was Titanic built?
Titanic was built at Harland & Wolff’s Queen’s Island yard in Belfast. The area is now better known as Titanic Quarter, but in 1909 it was part of a vast industrial shipbuilding complex beside the River Lagan.
The Olympic-class ships were so large that the yard had to be prepared for construction on an exceptional scale. Olympic and Titanic rose side by side beneath the Arrol Gantry, a huge steel structure that provided access for workers and lifting equipment around the building slips.
Belfast is therefore more than the place where Titanic happened to be assembled. The city’s shipbuilding industry, workforce, drawing offices, engine works and heavy engineering capacity were essential to creating a liner of this size.
Construction began with the keel on March 31, 1909
The laying of the keel marked the formal start of Titanic’s construction. Titanic Belfast records that the keel was laid on March 31, 1909 on Slip No. 3, beside Olympic on Slip No. 2.
From there the hull grew upward and outward through frames, steel plating, decks and bulkheads. Titanic used a steel framework and hull plating joined with millions of rivets. Different parts of the hull required different riveting methods because workers could not always reach curved or confined areas with the same hydraulic equipment used elsewhere.
The hull also contained a system of transverse watertight bulkheads. These were designed to limit flooding after an accident, but they did not extend high enough to save the ship once water entered too many forward compartments and the bow settled progressively lower.
Titanic was launched on May 31, 1911, but it was not finished
Launching is often mistaken for completion. On May 31, 1911, Titanic’s hull left Slip No. 3 and entered the River Lagan. Titanic Belfast records the hull’s launch weight at 24,360 tons. The launch moved the ship into the next phase rather than sending it directly into passenger service.
There was no traditional christening ceremony and no bottle of champagne was broken over Titanic’s bow. White Star Line did not use that custom for its ships. After the launch, tugs moved the hull to a fitting-out berth where the work continued for months.
The launch attracted enormous public attention because the hull itself was already a remarkable industrial object. Yet much of what passengers later recognized as Titanic still had to be installed.
Fitting out turned the hull into a passenger liner
Fitting out included the machinery, boilers, funnels, electrical plant, plumbing, ventilation, lifeboats, navigation equipment and the thousands of interior details needed for passenger service. Cabins, staircases, dining rooms, lounges, kitchens and crew areas had to be completed inside the steel structure.
The machinery alone was a major project. Titanic carried 24 double-ended and five single-ended boilers. Steam powered two large reciprocating engines and a low-pressure turbine driving three propellers. Harland & Wolff built the engines in Belfast as part of the same industrial complex.
Furniture and decorative work created the visual contrast between first-class public rooms, second-class accommodation and the more practical third-class spaces. The interiors were not decoration added after the “real” ship was finished; they were part of the commercial purpose of a liner built to carry several different markets across the Atlantic.
Who designed Titanic while it was being built?
Titanic’s design was produced through Harland & Wolff’s design and drawing offices. Thomas Andrews became the best-known person associated with the design, but the surviving inquiry evidence also documents major roles for Lord Pirrie, Alexander Carlisle and Edward Wilding.
Carlisle supervised much of the early detailed work and general arrangements before retiring in June 1910. Andrews later headed the design department. Wilding was a naval architect directly involved in the design and later gave extensive technical testimony about Titanic’s structure, dimensions and stability.
The dedicated designer guide separates those roles in detail. That is a better answer than simply calling one man the creator of a ship that required thousands of drawings, calculations and specialized decisions.
Olympic influenced the Titanic that passengers finally saw
Olympic entered service before Titanic was finished, which gave White Star Line and Harland & Wolff real experience with the first ship of the class. Titanic Belfast notes that Titanic incorporated changes after almost ten months of Olympic operation.
The most visible exterior difference was the partly enclosed forward section of Titanic’s A-deck promenade. Experience with spray on Olympic helped lead to the enclosure. Interior accommodation also differed in places, so Titanic was not simply an exact duplicate even though the sisters shared the same basic design.
This continuing refinement is another reason no single frozen “Titanic design” existed at one moment. The project developed as construction continued and the first sister ship entered service.
How much did Titanic cost to build?
J. Bruce Ismay was asked directly about Titanic’s cost during the U.S. Senate inquiry. He answered $7.5 million. The Senate report also gave the equivalent as about £1.5 million and said the ship was built without a fixed cost limit being imposed on Harland & Wolff.
Historic currency conversions into modern money can vary enormously depending on whether someone compares consumer prices, wages, economic output or construction costs. For that reason, the strongest historical figure is the contemporary 1912 cost rather than one supposedly exact modern-dollar equivalent.
The final cost covered far more than steel hull plating. Titanic was a complete ocean liner with machinery, electrical systems, hotel accommodation, safety equipment, navigation systems and everything needed to begin commercial service.
Sea trials and handover came only eight days before Southampton departure
Titanic completed sea trials on April 2, 1912 in Belfast Lough and the Irish Sea. Harland & Wolff then formally handed the ship over to White Star Line. Titanic left Belfast the same day for Southampton, where final preparations were made for the maiden voyage.
Royal Museums Greenwich lists March 31 as the completion date, while Titanic Belfast lists April 2 as the handover date. Those dates can both be correct because shipbuilding records use different milestones: physical completion, regulatory preparation, trials and transfer to the owner.
On April 10, only eight days after the Belfast trials and handover, Titanic departed Southampton with passengers, crew, mail and cargo. The long construction story had ended; the ship’s operating life would last less than five more days.
How construction connects to the sinking
Titanic’s construction becomes especially important when visitors move from shipbuilding into the disaster. Watertight subdivision, bulkhead height, hull damage, pumping capacity and the lifeboat arrangement all affected what happened after the iceberg collision.
That does not mean one construction defect provides a simple explanation for the loss. The British inquiry examined design, speed, ice navigation, lifeboats and operating practice together. Titanic survived the initial impact for about two hours and forty minutes, giving time for evacuation but not enough boat capacity for everyone aboard.
The design page explains who made the ship, while the sinking pages follow how the finished systems behaved under damage they were never able to contain.
Sources for Titanic construction and Belfast shipbuilding
Shipyard records and inquiry evidence provide the clearest dates, builder information and contemporary cost figure.
- Titanic Belfast: Titanic Fact File Builder, yard number, keel date, launch date, handover date, machinery and registered details.
- Royal Museums Greenwich: RMS Titanic fact sheet Builder, yard number, dimensions, machinery, significant dates and passenger capacity.
- Titanic Belfast: March 31, 1909 keel laying Keel laying on Slip No. 3 and the more-than-three-year construction period.
- Titanic Belfast: May 31, 1911 launch Launch details and the recorded 24,360-ton launch weight.
- Titanic Belfast: The man who launched Titanic Launch preparations and White Star Line’s custom of launching ships without a christening ceremony.
- United States Senate Inquiry: J. Bruce Ismay testimony Ismay gives Titanic’s cost as $7.5 million.
- United States Senate Inquiry report: Titanic particulars Contemporary builder, dimensions and £1.5 million / $7.5 million cost summary.
- TitanicSurvivors.com: Who designed Titanic? Detailed division of design responsibilities within Harland & Wolff.
Continue the Titanic construction and design story
Frequently asked questions
Who built the Titanic?
Harland & Wolff Ltd. built Titanic in Belfast for the White Star Line.
Where was the Titanic built?
Titanic was built at Harland & Wolff’s Queen’s Island shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, now Northern Ireland.
When was Titanic built?
Its keel was laid on March 31, 1909. The hull launched on May 31, 1911, and the ship was handed over to White Star Line on April 2, 1912.
How long did Titanic take to build?
A little over three years passed from keel laying on March 31, 1909 to handover on April 2, 1912.
Who designed Titanic?
Titanic was designed by a Harland & Wolff team. Lord Pirrie, Alexander Carlisle, Thomas Andrews and Edward Wilding all had documented roles.
Did Thomas Andrews build Titanic?
Andrews was a senior Harland & Wolff shipbuilder and design leader, but thousands of workers and specialists built the ship.
What was Titanic’s yard number?
Titanic was Harland & Wolff yard number 401. Olympic was yard number 400.
When was Titanic launched?
Titanic was launched in Belfast on May 31, 1911. The ship was still unfinished and then entered the fitting-out stage.
How much did Titanic cost to build?
J. Bruce Ismay told the U.S. Senate inquiry that Titanic cost $7.5 million in 1912, equivalent to about £1.5 million at the time.
Was Titanic built in England?
No. Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland. Belfast is now in Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom.