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RMS Titanic surfaces again at Halifax Public Gardens

The RMS Titanic still lies in the inky depths of the North Atlantic after its ill-fated maiden voyage but a model of the ship returned to Griffin's Pond in the Halifax Public Gardens on Saturday.

Replica ship is the third to be placed in Griffin's Pond in three decades

CBC News ·
A group of people is seen sitting on a bank with a large Titanic model in the water in the foreground.
People gathered on the banks of Griffin's Pond on Saturday to see the model being moved into position. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

The RMS Titanic still lies in the inky depths of the North Atlantic after its ill-fated maiden voyage more than a century ago but a model of the ship returned to Griffin's Pond in the Halifax Public Gardens on Saturday.

An enthusiastic crowd lined the banks of the pond to watch as the latest model was rowed out to its mooring spot.

Two men are seen in a rowboat pulling a model of the Titanic behind them
The latest model of RMS Titanic was placed in Griffin's Pond at the Halifax Public Gardens on Saturday. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

Built by Brad Browne of the Maritime Ship Modelers Guild, the new replica ship is the third to grace the pond and the first to be 3D-printed.

The first Titanic model was placed in the pond in the mid-1990s. 

Browne documented the construction of the 90-kilogram replica online, noting that some of the modules used in the project took 50 hours to print.

A plastic model of the Titanic in progress is seen sitting outside a garden workshop.
The 3D-printed model was made by Brad Browne of the Maritime Ship Modelers Guild. (Brad Browne)

The printed modules are reinforced with multiple layers of fibreglass.

A metal keel strike plate is fitted inside and outside to provide support and act as ballast.

An excited Deanna Ryan-Meister, president of the Titanic Society of Atlantic Canada, was at the Public Gardens to see the new model moved into position.

A replica of the Titanic floats in a body of water with the bank of a pnd in the background.
The 3D-printed Titanic model launched in the Halifax Public Gardens on Saturday. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

According to Ryan-Meister, there is a tradition of launching pond models in Victorian gardens dating back to the 1800s.

She credited the large turnout for the event to the fact it coincided with the 40th anniversary party for the Friends of the Public Gardens and was held on a weekend.

A woman wearing a pburgundy fascinator speaks to the camera
Deanna Ryan-Meister is president of the Titanic Society of Atlantic Canada. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

Ryan-Meister said the previous Titanic launches were staged on weekday mornings in April or May, limiting the number of people who could attend.

She said the presence of the model is a poignant reminder of the role Halifax played after the Titanic struck an iceberg south of the Grand Banks and sank on April 15, 1912.

The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912 during its maiden voyage.  Of the more than 2,200 individuals on board, approximately 1,500 perished in its sinking in the North Atlantic Ocean
The British liner Titanic sails out of Southampton, England, at the start of its doomed voyage on April 10, 1912. (Canadian Press/AP)

Ships were dispatched from Halifax to respond to the disaster and 150 of the victims brought back to the city were buried in Halifax cemeteries. Ryan-Meister said the local effort took nearly two months.

"That's how long the recovery took and the burial of bodies and things like that," she said. "So when people come, they get that sense of the Titanic history. It keeps the history alive."

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With files from Jeorge Sadi

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