Lost souls of the Titanic remembered on anniversary of the tragedy in Belfast

The famous White Star Line ship sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912 off the coast of Newfoundland.

It was making its way from Southampton to New York city when it struck an iceberg and sank.

The death toll was eventually established at 1,512, with 713 lives saved.

A memorial service takes place each year at the Titanic Memorial Garden in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.

The centrepiece of the garden is a nine metre long plinth – containing fiften bronze plaques inscribed with the names of all those who perished in alphabetical order.

It was officially opened in April 2012 – 100 years to the day since the disaster occurred.

Although many incomplete lists of those who died had been compiled over the years, the names on the City Hall memorial was the first to include all of the passengers, the crew members, the Harland & Wolff ‘guarantee group,’ the musicians and the postal workers on board.

This is now known as the comprehensive ‘Belfast List’.

Addressing those who gathered for the service, including some descendents of the victims, Belfast Titanic Society president Susie Millar spoke about the loss of her great-grandfather – one of the many crew members who died when the Belfast-built ship sank.

Ms Millar was joined by Belfast’s lord mayor Councillor Ryan Murphy as she laid a wreath in memory of all of the victims.

This year is the 112th anniversary of the sinking.

The discovery of the wreck of the Titanic was made on September 1, 1985 – almost 2.5 miles under water in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The ship was hundreds of miles south east of Newfoundland, Canada when it sank.

The plants in the memorial garden were specifically selected to provide an interesting display around the springtime anniversary, when more people would be visiting what is now a popular tourist attraction.

In a social media post on Monday, the Maritime Belfast Trust said: “Today we remember RMS Titanic, the lives lost and all those impacted by the sinking 112 years ago.”