City hardest hit by loss of life in Titanic sinking remembers those who perished

The tribute was the last act in a special ceremony held at berth 44 at Southampton docks from where the White Star ship departed on April 10 1912.

During the ceremony, a minute’s silence was held for more than 1,500 passengers and crew who died when the ship sank after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York.

A recording of the Titanic’s whistle was also played across the docks at noon – the exact moment the liner left her mooring – and about 650 relations of the dead paid tribute.

Southampton bore the brunt of the death toll with 549 – more than a third of the total – from the city dying in the disaster on April 15 1912.

Civic dignitaries also paid their respects in the ceremony hosted by television personality Fred Dinenage, whose great uncle James Richard Dinenage – a first class steward – died on the Titanic, aged 47.

The service ended with the hymn Nearer My God To Thee, which was said to have been played by the ship’s musicians as Titanic sank.

The ceremony, which also told the story of the sinking, is the start of a week of events in several countries marking the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

These culminate in a service above the wreck site on board the MS Balmoral with 1,309 passengers who have paid as much as £6,000 to sail to the site of the sinking.

Titanic’s departure was re-enacted by the tug tender Calshot, which was built in the same era to manoeuvre the world’s greatest ocean liners, as it sailed from berth 43/44 followed by a flotilla of small craft.

Vanessa Beecham, from Southampton, paid tribute to her great uncle Edward Biggs, a fireman aboard who died aged 21.

She said: “I enjoyed the ceremony which was tasteful and moving” .