Millvina Dean the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster was today Thursday April 11, 2002, due to open a rejuvenated exhibition to mark the 90th anniversary of the disaster. Ms Dean, 90, was only nine weeks old when the ship hit an iceberg in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage and sank on April 15 1912, claiming the lives of 1,500 people. The survivor will open Titanic Voices the 90th Anniversary Exhibition at the Maritime Museum in Bugle Street, Southampton. The permanent exhibition has been upgraded with new exhibits, including images from the interior of Titanic's sister ship RMS Olympic
The wedding ring and locket property of Carl Asplund and the wedding ring of Selma Asplund are seen at Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England Thursday, April 3, 2008. The locket and one of the rings were recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, they are all part of the Lillian Asplund collection of Titanic related items.
A heavily water stained leather bound journal bearing notes figures relating to the Asplund family, the property of Carl Asplund, is seen at Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England Thursday, April 3, 2008. The locket and one of the rings were recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, they are all part of the Lillian Asplund collection of Titanic related items.
A unique emigrant inland forwarding order to the White Star office in New York, is seen at Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England Thursday, April 3, 2008. The locket and one of the rings were recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, they are all part of the Lillian Asplund collection of Titanic related items.
Photographs of (from left) Felix Asplund, Selma and Carl Asplund and Lillian Asplund, are seen at Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England Thursday, April 3, 2008. The locket and one of the rings were recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, they are all part of the Lillian Asplund collection of Titanic related items.
A gold plated Waltham American pocket watch, the property of Carl Asplund, is seen in front of a modern water colour painting of the Titanic by CJ Ashford at Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England Thursday, April 3, 2008. The locket and one of the rings were recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, they are all part of the Lillian Asplund collection of Titanic related items.
An emigration contract/ticket, purchased by the Asplund family for passage from Southampton to New York, and used on the Titanic, is seen at the Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England Thursday, April 3, 2008. The locket and one of the rings were recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, they are all part of the Lillian Asplund collection of Titanic related items.
This photo provided by Christie's auction house shows a life preserver from the ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic found during the initial search for survivors and owned by the same family for 90 years. Going on the auction block in June, it is the first Titanic life jacket to be offered at auction in the United States, and is one of about six believed to have survived to this day, Christie's said Thursday, May 29, 2008.
Roberta Maioni, a survivor of the Titanic disaster.
Roberta Maioni, a survivor of the Titanic disaster.
The White Star Line badge that was given to Roberta Maioni, a survivor of the Titanic disaster, by a man she was said to have fallen in love with during the boat's maiden voyage.
Sheet music for "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey" from the Broadway production "Madame Sherry," (1910) is shown as part of the artifacts collection at a warehouse in Atlanta, Friday, Aug 15, 2008. The 5,500-piece collection contains almost everything recovered from the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which has sat 2.5 miles below the surface of the Atlantic ocean since the boat sank on April 15, 1912.
Third-class tea cup china used by passengers and the crew, is shown as part of the artifacts collection at a warehouse in Atlanta, Friday, Aug 15, 2008. The 5,500-piece collection contains almost everything recovered from the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which has sat 2.5 miles below the surface of the Atlantic ocean since the boat sank on April 15, 1912.
Currency, part of the artifacts collection of the Titanic, is shown as part of the artifacts collection at a warehouse in Atlanta, Friday, Aug 15, 2008. The 5,500-piece collection contains almost everything recovered from the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which has sat 2.5 miles below the surface of the Atlantic ocean since the boat sank on April 15, 1912.
The work shirt of W. Allen, a 3rd class passenger on the Titanic, is shown as part of the artifacts collection at a warehouse in Atlanta, Friday, Aug 15, 2008. The 5,500-piece collection contains almost everything recovered from the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which has sat 2.5 miles below the surface of the Atlantic ocean since the boat sank on April 15, 1912.
A seven of clubs card is shown as part of the artifacts collection at a warehouse in Atlanta, Friday, Aug 15, 2008. The 5,500-piece collection contains almost everything recovered from the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which has sat 2.5 miles below the surface of the Atlantic ocean since the boat sank on April 15, 1912.
The pearl penknife, recovered from the body of Edmund Stone, victim of the Titanic disaster
The Service ForD "E" deck key, belonging to First Class Steward, Edmund Stone, victim of the Titanic disaster
A compensation letter sent to Millvina Dean's mother from the Titanic Relief Fund.
A 100-year-old suitcase belonging to Millvina Dean, the last remaining survivor of the Titanic
One of the three Titanic propellers -- the stern section landed upside-down.Photographed by Leonard Evans on 2 September 2000 from submersible MIR 1 -- 2.38 miles below surface of Atlantic Ocean.
Bow of Titanic - Photographed by Leonard Evans on 2 September 2000 from submersible Mir-1 -- 2.35 miles below surface of Atlantic Ocean.
Titanic stoker William McQuillan was feared lost at sea, but his grave was subsequently discovered in Canada after 93 years... the last resting place of an Ulster-born Titanic victim.
An 18-carat gold pocket watch which is among the rare artefacts connected to the Titanic to be sold by Bonhams and Butterfields in Massachusetts in the US on May 1. The watch, which was damaged when disaster struck mid-Atlantic, belonged to Nora Keane, an Irish immigrant, living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with her brothers and sisters.
A pair of glasses is displayed in the Titanic: Aritifact Exhibition at the Metreon on June 6, 2006 in San Francisco, California.
Binoculars are displayed in the Titanic: Aritifact Exhibition at the Metreon on June 6, 2006 in San Francisco, California.
One of the images on display at the Titanic - Built in Belfast exhibition in Union Station, Washington DC.
Story of the Titanic sinking on the Belfast Telegraph front page
The Titanic Report at a book fair in the Wellington Park Hotel. The document, dated July 30, 1912, was the main attraction at the Belfast Antiquarian Book Fair in the Wellington Park Hotel. The report, which was published three months after the tragedy, was presented for sale by Arthur Davidson of Davidson Books at Spa, Ballynahinch
A deckchair removed from the Titanic just moments before it set sail from Cork.
Lillian Asplund, the last US survivor from the sinking of the Titanic, has died.
A ticket for the maiden voyage of Titanic.
People look at the 15 ton 13' by 30' portion of the First-Class C-Deck hull, one of the artifacts from the Titanic, at the Metreon on June 6, 2006 in San Francisco, California.
A telegraph wheel from the Titanic is displayed in the Titanic: Artifact Exhibition at the Metreon on June 6, 2006 in San Francisco, California.
Artifacts from the Titanic are displayed in the Titanic: Artifact Exhibition at the Metreon on June 6, 2006 in San Francisco, California.
A bowler hat is displayed in the Titanic: Aritifact Exhibition at the Metreon on June 6, 2006 in San Francisco, California. The exhibition opens on June 10, 2006 and will feature more than 300 authentic artifacts that have been recovered from Titanic's debris field. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
Shipyard worker William Parr (background) pictured in the Titanic gym along with instructor T W McCawley
Giant starboard anchor of the Titanic is raised for the last time. 1.55pm 11th April 1912 in a picture taken by Father Browne.
1st class dining room on RMS Titanic taken by Father Browne.
Marconi Room on RMS Titanic showing Harold Bride in a picture taken by Father Browne.
White Star Wharf, Queenstown (Cobh) showing crowds waiting to embark on the tenders in a picture taken by Father Browne.
Brilliant new footage of a first class cabin on the Titanic. A live television link-up shows spectacular footage of the captain's cabin
Brilliant new footage of a first class cabin on the Titanic. A live television link-up shows spectacular footage of the captain's cabin
Pipes and the captain's bathtub are shown in this July 2003 photo, of what remains of the captain's cabin on the Titanic more than two miles underwater in the north Atlantic. Recent research dives to the legendary shipwreck are showing the vessel is deteriorating faster than earlier thought.
Long-lost film footage of the Titanic, showing the doomed ship moving slowly through Belfast Lough, has been discovered in the loft of a house in Glasgow. The Titanic moored in Belfast before it set sail on its fateful journey
Long-lost film footage of the Titanic, showing the doomed ship moving slowly through Belfast Lough, has been discovered in the loft of a house in Glasgow.
Frances Godden of Bonhams auction house inspects a silver table centrepiece from the a la carte restaurant on the White Star liner Titanic which sunk in 1912.
A very rare lunch menu for the first full meal served aboard the Titanic, dated April 2, 1914.
A letter written by first-class passenger Miss Alice Lennox-Conyngham to her nephew Alan Duff on the Titanic. The letter, postmarked only three days before the liner hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, had been used as a bookmark for years by its unsuspecting owner before a chance conversation revealed its value.
Titanic Ship
First class tea cup china used by passengers on the Titanic
Third class china used by passengers and the crew on the Titanic
Lord Pirrie, the former head of Harland & Wolff and instigator of the Olympic Class liners constructed on the Queen's Island almost 100 years ago.
First Class menu from the RMS Titanic.
Lunch menu from the RMS Titanic.
Colin Cobb's Titanic Walking Tours. The pump house at Thompson graving dock.
Colin Cobb's Titanic Walking Tours. An original keel block from the Thompson graving dock
Colin Cobb's Titanic Walking Tours. The Thompson graving dock and pump house
Colin Cobb's Titanic Walking Tours. The Thompson graving dock and pump house where the Titanic's hull inspection and propeller work was done
Colin Cobb's Titanic Walking Tours. The tour reaches the gates through which the Titanic workers travelled each day.
The Titanic Building will immortalise one of history's most enduring tales
Titanic Building Belfast 2nd Day Open - 1 April 2012Sam and Hanna Irwin
itanic Building Belfast 2nd Day Open - 1 April 2012 Aideen O'Shaughnessy with her children Diarmuid and Niall
Jenna Scofield (left) and Roberta Sitlington dressed as 'yardmen' to take part in the 'yardmen walk'at Titanic Belast to raise funds for bowel cancer awareness
Titanic Building Belfast 2nd Day Open - 1 April 2012
Titanic Building Belfast 2nd Day Open - 1 April 2012 Organisers prepare for the 'Yardmen Walk and Cycle' being held at Titanic yesterdayto raise funds for bowel cancer awareness
Steven Patterson with daughter Anna and Ron Moore with daughter Rebecca (pink waistcoat)
31.03.12. PICTURE BY DAVID FITZGERALDThe opening of the Titanic Signature Building on Saturday 31st March. People queued on Saturday Morning to see the building.
31.03.12. PICTURE BY DAVID FITZGERALDThe opening of the Titanic Signature Building on Saturday 31st March. People queued on Saturday Morning to see the building.
31.03.12. PICTURE BY DAVID FITZGERALDThe opening of the Titanic Signature Building on Saturday 31st March. People queued on Saturday Morning to see the building.
31.03.12. PICTURE BY DAVID FITZGERALDThe opening of the Titanic Signature Building on Saturday 31st March. People queued on Saturday Morning to see the building. The Architect, Eric R Kuhne
Belfast Lord Mayor Niall O Donnghaile speaks at the opening of Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction in the old shipyard at Harland and Wolff, where the doomed liner was built
The opening of the new Titanic Belfast tourism project
The opening of the new Titanic Belfast tourism project
Crowds of tourists wait for the opening of the new Titanic Belfast tourism project
Crowds at the opening of the new Titanic Belfast tourism project
Titanic 100th anniversaryUlster Youth Orchestra at the opening of the new Titanic Belfast tourism project
First minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin Mcguinness open the new Titanic Belfast tourism project to the public
Guests dressed for the occasion arrive for the official opening of Belfast's impressive new tourist attraction, the 100-million pound ($160 million, euro120 million) Titanic Belfast visitor center, which offers a loving portrait of the excitement, ambition and opulence surrounding the doomed trans-Atlantic liner in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 31, 2012 (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
First Minister Peter Robinson with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness as they pose with rivet hammers in the new Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction that was officially opened today in the old shipyard at Harland and Wolff, where the doomed liner was built
(left to right) First Minister Peter Robinson with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Belfast Titanic CEO Tim Husband and 105yr old Cyril Quigley, who watched the Titanic being launched as a young child in 1911, in the Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction that was officially opened today in the old shipyard at Harland and Wolff, where the doomed liner was built
First Minister Peter Robinson with Belfast Titanic CEO Tim Husband meets 105 year old Cyril Quigley who watched the Titanic being launched as a young child in 1911 in the Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction that was officially opened today in the old shipyard at Harland and Wolff, where the doomed liner was built
Eric Kuhne from CivicArts in London the architect behind the new Titanic Belfast visitor centre strikes a pose outside the guilding, the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction that was officially opened today in the old shipyard at Harland and Wolff, where the doomed liner was built
Women in period costumes outside the front of the new Titanic Belfast the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction that was officially opened today in the old shipyard at Harland and Wolff, where the doomed liner was built
Entrance to the Titanic Belfast Experience
The new Titanic House Vistor centre lights up the skyline in the Titanic quarter, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sunday, March, 25, 2012. The £100 million (119.5 million euros; $158 million dollars) building is now finished and will open to the public on March 31. The world's biggest Titanic visitor attraction is to open in its Belfast birthplace later this month and it is 100 years to the day since the doomed ocean liner was completed in the same shipyard, Harland and Wolff. Northern Ireland hopes the eye-catching building will boost the tourism economy. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A sculpture entitled 'Titancia' marks the entrance to the Titanic Belfast Experience on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A sculpture entitled 'Titancia' marks the entrance to the Titanic Belfast Experience on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A giant steel name plate marks the entrance to the Titanic Belfast Experience on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: The recently completed Titanic Belfast Experience building is prepared for opening on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. The Titanic Staircase
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31st March.
A video recreation of the Titanic
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31st March.
Interactive pictures and computers in Titanic Gallery 3
A man looking at the interactive window which shows how the area the Titanic was built in looked before compared to how it looks now.
A slow rollercoaster showing old and reconstructed videos of how the Titanic was built
The entrance to the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March.
A man looks at an interactive map of the shipyard in which the Titanic was built.
Screens showing footage of life in Belfast at the time the Titanic was being built.
Aisling Dinsmore looks at the old Linen samples in Gallery 1 of Titanic Belfast
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. Linenopolis, Gallery 1.
The Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March.
Tthe Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31st March.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. Johnny Quinn (4) looking at windows in the first gallery.
One of the real lifeboats from the Titanic.
One of the lifeboats from the Titanic.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. Three screens giving visitors a virtual tour of inside the Titanic.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. A model of the Titanic.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. Kalista McErlane looks up at a painting of the Titanic.
Chains similar to those used on the Titanic.
Ali Hill looks at a photograph of the Titanic.
Second and third class cabins on the Titanic are recreated.
A first class cabin from the Titanic is recreated.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March. Three screens give visitors a virtual tour of inside the Titanic.
A slow rollercoaster shows old and reconstructed videos of how the Titanic was built.
Visual tour of the Titanic Belfast Signature Building which opens to the public on Saturday 31 March.
Michael Quinn (8) looks at the interactive pictures of the Titanic Drawing Rooms in Gallery 3.
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Computer video projections of passengers are displayed in a recreation of a second class cabin at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Visitors look down on a projection showing images of the wreck of the Titanic on the seabed at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Visitors look at a projection showing images of the wreck of the Titanic on the seabed at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Visitors look at a computer video projection of the interior of The Titanic at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Computer video projections of passengers are displayed in a recreation of a third class cabin at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A worker cleans the surface of an exhibit at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Visitors look at a computer video projection of the interior of The Titanic at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Visitors look at a computer video projection of the interior of The Titanic at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Computer video projections of a passenger and a crew member are displayed in a recreation of a first class cabin at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A boy looks up at a window etching depicting the launch of The Titanic at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A recreation of the Harland and Wolff shipyard is dominated by a large computer generated image at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A girl looks up at a painting depicting the launch of The Titanic at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A projection of the Harland and Wolff shipyard sits atop a recreation of the Arrol Gantry at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A boy runs across an interactive projection of the Harland and Wolff drawing Office at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: A visitor walks through a recreation of the Harland and Wolff shipyard at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Visitors walk through the atrium of the Belfast Titanic visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The panels lining the walls of the atrium are the same size and texture as those fitted to the hull of the ship. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 27: Sun beams into the atrium of the Belfast Titanic visitor attraction on March 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The panels lining the walls of the atrium are the same size and texture as those fitted to the hull of the ship. The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction opening on March 31, 2012. One hundred years ago the maiden voyage of the ill-fated passenger liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1911 with the loss of 1517 lives. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
This composite image, released by RMS Titanic Inc., and made from sonar and more than 100,000 photos taken in 2010 from by unmanned, underwater robots, shows a small portion of a comprehensive map of the 3-by-5-mile debris field surrounding the stern of the Titanic on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Belfast Telegraph:Page One/Titanic. 16/4/1912
This is an undated photo showing the bow of the Titanic at rest on the bottom of the North Atlantic, about 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. The first tourists to see the bow up close viewed it from the portholes of a tiny submersible in early September. (AP Photo/Ralph White)
Launch of the Titanic, published in the Belfast Telegraph 31/5/1911
This composite image, released by RMS Titanic Inc., and made from sonar and more than 100,000 photos taken in 2010 from by unmanned, underwater robots, shows a small portion of a comprehensive map of the 3-by-5-mile debris field surrounding the stern of the Titanic on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.
This composite image, released by RMS Titanic Inc., and made from sonar and more than 100,000 photos taken in 2010 from by unmanned, underwater robots, shows a small portion of a comprehensive map of the 3-by-5-mile debris field surrounding the stern of the Titanic on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Titanic was driven by two gigantic wing propellers measuring over 23 feet in diameter and a center propeller spanning more than 16 feet.
The Belfast shipbuilders of the Titanic are "unsung heroes" who made it possible for many of the passengers to escape, film director James Cameron has said.
The maker of the Oscar-winning movie was in the city to launch a new exhibition on the vessel at the Titanic Belfast visitor centre.
He said the designers of the ship worked as it sank to stop it from rolling over - allowing lifeboats to be lowered to evacuate people.
Cameron said: "I believe firmly that they are the unsung heroes of Titanic, that kept that ship upright, the stately image that we all think of when we think of Titanic sinking. It is important for us to continue to look back at history. There are still lessons to be learned, there were heroes on board the ship that we did not even realise how important they were... and they were Belfast men."
Cameron's film Titanic won 11 Oscars after its original release in 1997. A 3D version was produced to coincide with the centenary of the vessel's sinking earlier this year.
Cameron and producer Jon Landau opened the first exhibit dedicated to the film at the world's largest Titanic museum - Titanic Belfast. The display features props and costumes highlighted in some of the most memorable scenes from the film.
There are some items from Cameron's personal collection including the ship's wheel and other technical equipment. Costumes have been borrowed from 20th Century Fox, including the originals worn by the film's stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in their final scenes.
The newly opened museum is 100 yards from where Titanic's hull was launched and beside it is the drawing office where she was designed. She set sail from the city's River Lagan.
Cameron paid tribute to those behind Titanic Belfast. "It is a magnificent, dramatic building, the largest Titanic exhibition in the world, not only how it (shows) the history and legacy of Titanic itself and Belfast's part in the creation of the ship, but it is also such a celebration of Belfast's contribution to the building of so many fine ships, hundreds of ships, at a point where it was coming into its own as a major industrial power. It is a celebration of the city and the people."
He said although the film did not focus on the making of the vessel, there were traditional bodhran drums representing Ireland used in the soundtrack. "We wanted to get that bit of the soul of the ship, which is an Irish soul," he added. "That helps pull on the heartstrings and makes the emotion of that tragic story more powerful for the Irish."
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