The Building Ground



"Harland and Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland (1831–1895) and Hamburg-born Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834–1913, in the UK from age 14). In 1858 Harland, then general manager, bought the small shipyard on Queen's Island from his employer Robert Hickson.

When Harland died in 1894, William James Pirrie became the chairman of the company until his death in 1924. Thomas Andrews also became the managing director and head of the draughting department in 1907. It was during this period that the company built the RMS Titanic and her sister-ships RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic between 1909 and 1914, commissioning William Arrol to construct a massive twin gantry and slipway structure for the project. These were three of over 70 ships constructed for the White Star Line by the company, the last being the RMS Britannic in 1929".

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