Titanic: The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax

Exhibition

Put yourself in another place and time. Our permanent exhibit tells the story of Titanic’s creation and demise, drawing out the key role Halifax played in the disaster. While Titanic’s survivors went to New York, most who perished came to Halifax. The cable ship crews braved awful conditions to recover bodies and invented a unique system to solve the mystery of many unidentified victims. Many kept pieces of Titanic wreckage in their family for generations, preserving wonderfully carved pieces of her woodwork found as flotsam after the ships’ sinking on April 15, 1912. Glimpses of their personal stories and those of the victims who are buried in Halifax are the essence of the museum’s Titanic connection. Visitors will be introduced to life aboard Titanic -- from the crew stoking the boilers to the immigrants in third class to the passengers travelling in first-class style. Sit in a reproduction of a rare Titanic deck chair and imagine what it would have been like to relax aboard deck of the most luxurious vessel in its time. In addition to a Titanic deck chair, there are over 50 objects including artifacts (collected as flotsam at the time of the great ship’s sinking) and historic photographs.

Titanic victims are landed from Minia at the Naval Dockyard in Halifax.

MMA, M2009.74.2

Titanic - Halifax Connection

Considered one of the greatest marine disasters in recorded history, the story of RMS Titanic begins in Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, when the vessel left on her maiden voyage. For some of those who lost their lives aboard the ill-fated ship, Halifax, Nova Scotia is where the story ended.

Titanic - Halifax Connection

top view of a pair leather children’s shoes is believed to be from Body No. 4, the “Unknown Child”

Titanic Shoes of the Unknown Child

This pair of leather children’s shoes (Accession Number: M2005.4.1 A+B ) is believed to be from Body No. 4, the “Unknown Child”. This very young boy, recovered by the crew of Mackay-Bennett, was buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax.

Read the story of the Titanic Shoes

Titanic's 1st class staircase closely resembled Olympic's, shown here in the Museum's exhibit. US Library of Congress US Z62-26812

RMS Titanic

As the twentieth century dawned, many felt marine tragedies were a thing of the past. Science promised solutions to everything, from poverty to disasters. The engineering marvels of the age were steamships. Steel hulls, turbines and electricity enabled ships to quadruple in size in the ten years before 1912.

Learn more RMS Titanic