Samson & Goliath

The biblical names Samson and Goliath were given to two of the largest monuments of Belfast. The Harland & Wolf built ship cranes were completed around 1970 in a bright yellow color proudly displaying the letters of the ship building company that commissioned them in the Belfast Harbor. Deceivingly, they have nothing to do with the early shipbuilding history of the city, and in fact were only constructed near the end of Belfast's reign over the industry. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, Belfast was the premier site of shipbuilding from the late 19th century until the late 20th century. The infamous Titanic as well as the Britannic and Olympic ships were all created for White Star Line in Belfast's Harbor. It is commonly known that the ships were fine when they left this harbor... A number of shirts sport the saying "RMS Titanic: Built by Irishmen, sunk by Englishmen".

Seen here above Albert Bridge

Seen here above the Lagan River while walking along the toe path

Seen here from across the harbor at Clarendon Docks

Although rarely used today, the cranes have been deemed a protected monument and for good reason. The 100 meter tall crane structures that remain from the ship building days of the city represent an important piece of Belfast's heritage while also dominating the skyline with their industrial form and bright yellow color. The cranes can be seen from many places throughout the city.

I understand that they are not entirely decommissioned and are somtimes used today for construction of other large pieces of machinery. One example I recently was mentioned to me was wind turbines.