The tragic story of the world's most famous ocean liner continues to fascinate, and to unveil all its mysteries. In 1997, James Cameron's now classic film shed new light on the story of the Titanic, the greatest peacetime maritime tragedy ever known. But by focusing on Rose and Jack's romance aboard the Titanic, the director somewhat obscured certain details of the liner's actual history. In particular, the Titanic didn't sail from Southampton to New York: she called at two ports before setting sail across the Atlantic. So, from which port did the world's largest ocean liner set sail? What was the Titanic's last port of call? We'll give you a clue: a famous umbrella brand set up shop near the port in 1986...

The Titanic, or the chronicle of a superlative story

The beginning of the 20th century marks the culmination and end of the Victorian era in England, which saw the British crown rule almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population. Indeed, it was during the long reign of the famous Queen Victoria (1837-1901) that England made its dramatic entry into modernity, taking the whole world in its wake: from the spectacular advances in civil engineering with the tunnel under the Thames and Tower Bridge spanning it, to the beginnings of the industrial age with the invention of the steam engine, England quite clearly dominated its neighboring European powers, while displaying the most violent social archaism. All this is magnificently illustrated by the story of the Titanic disaster.

The most comfortable, safest and elegant liners of their time

At the start of the Titanic's story - and perhaps at the end too - lies a matter of power and demonstration of strength. In 1907, the director of the White Star Line, in conjunction with a shipbuilding company, decided to build three liners to compete with those of the rival Cunard Line. These three liners were to be called Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic, and as their names suggest, they were to outperform their rivals in every way: more comfortable, safer and more elegant, to carry the world's greatest fortunes from one side of the Atlantic to the other.

That still doesn't tell us what the Titanic's last port of call was... Here's a 2nd clue: the Palme d'Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival was awarded to a film with the city's name in its title...

One of the greatest maritime disasters of our time

While the factors that led to the sinking of the Titanic are certainly not all known, it's not out of the question that the fierce competition between international airlines led the captain to push the engines to bring forward his arrival date in New York, and thus underline the superiority of the Royal Star Line over its competitors. Despite the dangers of the Atlantic...

The sinking of the Titanic left a deep impression on public opinion, which saw the liner's heralded exploit as proof of the triumph of technology and scientific progress over the vagaries of nature. As for the 24 passengers who disembarked from Southampton on the Titanic's last port of call, they were in for a good scare... and renewed faith in their lucky stars! 

3rd clue to answer the question "what was Titanic's last port of call ?" These 24 passengers who escaped the sinking of the Titanic by disembarking at the liner's last European port of call were making a trans-Channel trip...