The passengers of a cruise ship retracing the route of the ill-fated liner RMS Titanic have held an emotional memorial service at the exact spot where the ship sank on its maiden voyage a century ago.
At 11.40pm last night - the time the ship hit the iceberg - passengers gathered on the decks of MS Balmoral, which has been retracing the route of the doomed voyage.
After a moment of silence, three floral wreaths were cast onto the waves as the ship's whistle sounded in the dark before the names of those who lost their lives were read out by the captain.
Poignant: Passengers take part in the Titanic memorial service 100 years after the disaster at the site where it sunk in the North Atlantic. About 50 of the 1,309 passengers on board have a direct link with the doomed liner
Respect: Rev. Canon Huw Mosford, leads the service marking the 100th year anniversary of the Titanic disaster, aboard the MS Balmoral Titanic cruise ship, in the North Atlantic ocean
One hour and twenty minutes later, a Christian memorial service was held.
About 50 of the 1,309 passengers on board Balmoral have a direct family connection to the
sinking.
sinking.
The Balmoral left Southampton last Sunday for a 12-night cruise to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the liner that hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage.
Jane Allen, from Devon, whose great-uncle perished on the Titanic, said the moment vividly reminded her of the horror of the disaster.
Emotional: A crew member throws a wreath overboard during the Titanic memorial service at the wreck site
A wreath floats after being thrown into the sea during the Titanic service of remembrance
Sadness: Passengers take part in the Titanic memorial service 100 years after it sank
'All you could hear was the swell splashing against the side of the ship. You could see the white breakers stretching out to sea,' she told the BBC.
'You are in the middle of nowhere. And then you look down over the side of the ship and you realise that every man and every woman who didn't make it into a lifeboat had to make that decision, of when to jump or stay on the ship as the lights went out.'
Patricia Watts, 81, a retired teacher from Bristol, who is travelling with her husband David, 80, remembered her grandfather, George MacKie, 34, from Southampton, who was a second-class steward on board the Titanic.
Patricia Watt with her husband David, holds a picture of her grandfather George Mackie, who died on Titanic
Cruise ship passengers and crew said prayers Sunday at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years ago
Three wreaths lie on the memorial cruise ship before they are thrown into the North Atlantic to remember those who died on board Titanic
Before the service she said: 'When we get to the wreck site there will be some sadness, but I think also some sense of release.
'I shall feel a sense of accomplishment that I have achieved what I set out to do. I think the service will be a very memorable occasion, slightly sad, but also for a lot of people it will be the event of the cruise.'
A service was also being held at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast on the 100 anniversary
Another cruise ship, Journey, which has travelled from New York, also held a service at the site of the disaster, 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
In Belfast, a minute's silence also held during another poignant service.
A great, great nephew of the ship's doctor helped to unveil bronze plaques listing more than 1,500 passengers, crew and musicians who died when the liner struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912.
The boat was built in a Belfast shipyard and relatives of workmen who made and crewed the vessel were present for today's ceremony.
Jack Martin, a 12-year-old descendant of Dr John Simpson, lay a wreath and said: 'I am proud that I am keeping the memory of my ancestor alive and it keeps memories fresh.'
A letter penned on board the Titanic by the Belfast doctor to his mother is to be brought back to Belfast for exhibition.
The letter, from assistant ship surgeon Dr John Edward Simpson, was written on notepaper headed RMS Titanic and brought ashore at Cobh, County Cork. From there it was posted to his mother, Elizabeth, who lived in south Belfast.
Dr Simpson was married and had one son when he took the commission on Titanic. He had previously worked on another White Star Line ship - the Olympic.
In the letter, Dr Simpson said he was settling into his cabin well and that the accommodation on board his new vessel was larger.
Jack's father John Martin today said it meant a lot to him that the note was to be on display in Belfast.
'It is the last tangible object that we have from John Simpson, everything else that he had was lost,' he said.
'It is the last thing that we know he actually touched, that means a lot to the family.'
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (centre) attends a requiem service at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Belfast, on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago
The service, held beside the city hall, took less than an hour and featured solo pieces by singer Brian Kennedy and reflections from actor Dan Gordon and minister the Rev Ian Gilpin.
Belfast Lord Mayor Niall O`Donnghaile, Jack Martin and a representative of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, where the vessel was built, laid wreaths at the new memorial.
The names of the dead, from all classes on the doomed liner, are engraved in alphabetical order on five bronze plaques.
When the Titanic sank with its three classes of passenger, a disproportionate number of victims were in third class. This is the first time all, including crew, are recognised on one memorial.
Doomed: A photo taken of the 'unsinkable' Titanic in 1912 which sank in the North Atlantic on April 15
The Rev Ian Gilpin said: 'We behold the Titanic memorial, we remember all those who perished and whose names are herein inscribed - men, women and children who loved and we loved, their loss still poignantly felt by their descendants.
'In the permanence of granite, marble and stone may there be a permanence in our remembrance, in diversity, in the colour and fragrance of the flowers of the memorial, that the memorial be an acknowledgement of the diversity of humankind.'
After the wreath-laying a minute's silence was held for private reflection then the hymn Nearer My God to Thee, which was played by the band before the ship sank, rang out.
He said: 'This setting is dedicated to two people, one who died very old and one who died very young.
'Within my own experience, they mirrored the huge range of people who lost their lives as a result of the Titanic disaster.'
Dr Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck in 1985, was in Belfast for today's ceremony and delivered a memorial lecture yesterday.
A funeral pall to commemorate the disaster will also be unveiled at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral, in Belfast.
Childhood home of Titanic captain to be put up for sale 100 years after tragedy
Captain Edward Smith's childhood home has gone up for sale and is on the market for £80,000
The house where Titanic captain Edward John Smith was born is up for sale at a bargain price.
The skipper of the ill-fated liner grew up in the two-bed Victorian terrace in Well Street, Hanley, Staffordshire, which is now on the market for £80,000.
The history of the humble home attracted the current owners to buy it 10 years ago and now they hope to pass it on to a historical custodian who can make the most of its past.
Neil and Louise Bonner snapped the house up for less than £50,000 as an investment and rented it out.
But now on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, they have put it on the market.
Mr Bonner, 64, who is a journalist said: 'It's been fascinating to have had a connection to the Titanic story. It's certainly provided an interesting talking point over the years.'
The couple from Stafford are hoping to capitalise on the interest in the centenary year of the loss of the passenger liner which collided with an iceberg and sank off the coast of Newfoundland.
More than 1,500 people including Captain Edward John Smith died in the 1912 tragedy.
He and his pottery worker parents are believed to have lived in the house for more than a decade. He worked at a local steelmaker before heading off to sea aged 13, where he progressed from ship's boy to captain.
Mrs Bonner, 60, who is a retired university lecturer, said: 'It's hard to understand what motivated him to go to sea.He came from a typical working class Potteries family and he went on to achieve so much.
'The house has already attracted interest from Germany and America.'
Estate agent Tabatha Cartlidge said: 'The history of this property is likely to be the draw for potential buyers. We anticipate it may attract interest from across the world.'
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