A travel TikToker has gone viral with a tour of the last place the Titanic was seen on dry land – with social media users sharing their own personal connections to the tragedy.
Raymond Russell, 34, from Devon, was on a trip to Belfast and asked friends for tips of things to see off the beaten track.
He discovered the Thompson Graving Dock, located on the west side of Queen’s Island in Belfast, and shot a video to share with his 11,100 followers on TikTok.
The clip now has over 545,000 views and over 64,000 likes, with some people revealing their family members were either on the ship or had planned the voyage but luckily missed the departure.
“I came across the Thompson Graving Dock — it’s not really part of the main touristy places in Belfast,” Raymond told Jam Press.
“Most people visit the main Titanic Belfast museum.”
The dock was constructed in 1911 to allow the builders to work on the huge ship. Once completed, it was the largest in the world at 850ft.
It was made exactly to the size of the Titanic so the ship could be moved in, then the gates would be locked and the water pumped out so they could work on the sections of ship usually underwater.
To get more information, Raymond got in touch with Colin Cobb, a Titantic expert who had access to the site where the ship was last seen on land before its maiden voyage.
Raymond added: “There isn’t anything that Colin doesn’t know about the Titanic and the Thompson Graving Dock.
“Colin actually met James Cameron before filming the Titanic movie and advised him.”
When Raymond arrived at the Thompson Graving Dock, one thing that stood out was the sheer size.
Raymond said: “My imagination went into overdrive when Colin showed me original photographs of the famous ship in the dock.
“It really gave me an idea of the scale of the ship.”
Although it hasn’t been used in many years, the dock is well-preserved and still has many of the elements that were used to build the Titanic.
He said: “The original keel blocks that the Titanic would have rested on are still very much left in situ at the bottom of the dock.
“Around the outside of the dock there are some round pieces of metal that to most people would seem irrelevant but Colin Informed me that they were spare pulleys for the caisson gate that would have been able to be opened and closed to allow ships to enter the dock.”
Raymond also visited the Pumphouse for the dock, which he said is currently being converted into a gin distillery.
The video has left TikTok users emotional, with many sharing their own links to the famous ship – including having lost family members when the ship hit the iceberg.
“My great great grandad mist the Titanic by 10 minutes,” wrote one person,” to which Raymond replied: “Wow that was a lucky escape even though it probably didn’t seem it at the time of launch.”
Another user had a similar experience, adding: “My great grandpa missed the Titanic, so he ended up having to take another ship which came to NY on 4/15/12.”
“My great grandfather went down with the Titanic so seeing stuff like this I think keeps his memory alive,” added someone else.
Another user’s family member worked on machinery to extract artefacts from the ship, which is currently at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
“My great uncle was the builder of the little yellow submarine that was used to collect artifacts from the titanic,” they wrote. [sic]
A fifth user added: “1 great great grandad helped build titanic. other great great granddad in Canada brought supplies to the survivors coming off the water.” [sic]
“I love seeing things like this and gaining knowledge about old things, thank you so much for this information,” wrote another user, stunned by the haunting beauty of the spot.
Someone else wrote: “I remember going down there and being told to stand up to the wall and look up to imagine the size of the ship was so spooky.”
“Have they not used that dock since?”, enquired a TikTok user, to which Raymond replied: “It was last used in 2002 but the doors been sealed shut now as it was leaking.”
Someone else added: “I wish I could go there, you can just feel the history…”
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