Titanic Reconstruction

ICR has forged an educational relationship with The Quilley School of Engineering in Eastleigh, Hampshire. By improving engineering conservation through education ICR has provided corporate sponsorship and technical support for an exciting and innovative engineering project to mark the centenary of the loss of the RMS Titanic on April 15th 1912.
To honor the Southampton residents that were lost during the sinking of Titanic the students are replicating a scale section of the ship’s bow using traditional skills and detailed plans secured for the project. Under the guidance of Stephen M Payne OBE, principal Naval Architect and designer of the RMS Queen Mary 2 and school governor, dimensions and plate geometry have been calculated and work has begun.
Keeping with tradition all the hull plating will be fastened to the frames by way of hot riveting a technique used to build our engineering heritage and now a fast disappearing skill.
Stephen Shaw, project director, contacted Ian Clark to seek advice on riveting and how the students could learn more about how this technique was used in the construction of RMS Titanic.
Ian Clark Restoration was delighted to support this project and agreed to supply the 1500 rivets required to build the replica and provided a one-day master class for the students where he demonstrated the art of hand and pneumatic riveting.
Ian Clark, a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and The Royal Institution of Naval Architects strongly believes in promoting engineering conservation through education and was able to take the opportunity to speak to the students in class about the importance of maintaining traditional engineering skills and the cultural wealth of our industrial heritage.
The students were encouraged to hammer up an individual rivet and take personal ownership of the structure thus leaving their own mark on history.
The completed replica bow section will be displayed as a piece of public art within the school grounds as a lasting legacy to the seafarers of Southampton who were tragically lost.