THE eyes of the world will be on Southampton tomorrow when the city marks the day 100 years ago that Titanic set sail on her ill-fated maiden voyage.

Hundreds of children will stage a poignant tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in the disaster as Southampton opens the doors to its new £15m Titanic-themed SeaCity Museum.

More than 600 children will parade through the city holding placards of the Southampton residents who served on RMS Titanic.

In total 685 crew members lost their lives when Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, on its way to New York.

Some 538 crew were registered to a Southampton address. Their names, along with other known information, will be inscribed on the back of placards with an image of the crew member on the front.

At 12.30pm the procession, led by music from Southampton Brass, will start at the Titanic Engineers’ Memorial in East (Andrews) Park.

The children will parade along Above Bar and west along Commercial Road towards the new SeaCity Museum in Havelock Road.

The event, staged by Southampton City Council in partnership with schools and community groups from across the city, will mark the opening of the museum.

At 1pm the Mayor of Southampton, Councillor Terry Matthews, will open the museum with Olympic champion rower and TV presenter James Cracknell.

They will be joined by two Southampton schoolchildren whose great-grandfather survived the sinking, which claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people Eight and six-year-olds Henry and William Ward, who attend Bitterne Park Junior and Infant schools, will take part in the ceremony as descendants of Shirley based George Kemish, who was a fireman on Titanic.

The museum is a culmination of a five-year project to showcase Southampton’s Titanic links and maritime heritage.

It has been built in the former police station and magistrates’ courts at the Civic Centre.

A striking new pavilion has been added to the 1930s building to create further exhibition space.

The museum tells the story of Southampton’s crew and the impact the tragedy had on families in the city.

It also tells the stories of people who have arrived in and departed from the city since prehistoric times.

Find out more about Titanic

You can find out more about Titanic and the disaster's impact on Southampton with the Daily Echo.

Throughout the coming weeks, we will be showcasing unique content in our Titanic mini-site.

In the meantime, you can discover key sites across the city relating to the tragedy, the latest news relating to the ship or even find out some of the key facts behind the vessel, her demise and the people who perished and survived, including a list of all the crew members and the locations of their homes in Southampton.