Are we right to remember?

The story has been made into a multi-million-dollar blockbusting movie which launched the superstar status of Kate Winslett.

There are even sinking models of Titanic to put in your bath which are available to buy on the Internet.

Yet, behind the media frenzy surrounding the great liner, the stark facts remain.

More than 1,500 people perished in the freezing water on that fateful night of April 15, 1912, 549 of whom were from Southampton.

Most of the city's casualties were crew members. Stewards, stokers, and officers alike lost their lives as the 46,000-ton liner - "The Ship of Dreams" - slipped beneath the waters of the north Atlantic on her maiden voyage.

Try to visualise the impact on Southampton at the time.

Very few families in the St Mary's and Northam area of the city where most of the crew lived remained untouched by the disaster.

Imagine, if you will, a city suffering five Hillsborough- like disasters all at the same time.

The sheer scale of the losses explains in part why the disaster remains a sensitive subject in Southampton, nearly a century later.

However, as city bosses prepare for the 2012 commemorations of the sinking, it seems that at last the city is coming to terms with the tragedy.

Revival in the interest surrounding Titanic took off in the 1980s when undersea explorer Bob Ballard discovered the ship's wreck lying two and a half miles below the north Atlantic.

However, during 1997 interest reached fever pitch when the blockbuster movie starring Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio became one of the biggest film hits of all time.

Belfast, where the great liner was built at Harland and Woolf's huge shipyard in 1911, is already spending millions of pounds on a permanent heritage centre themed around the great ship.

Now, after many years, it finally appears that Southampton is getting in on the act.

City chiefs are planning an enormous programme of events leading up to April 2012 - the anniversary of the tragedy.

A consultation paper outlining the proposals was due to be endorsed by members of the city's ruling Liberal Democrat cabinet today.

The programme would culminate in the unveiling of a giant memorial to the victims of the tragedy, similar in scale and ambition to Newcastle's "Angel of the North".

However, civic leaders are determined that the proposed memorial will not be a drain on the public purse unlike Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower, which cost in the region of £36m to build and was completed five years too late.

Instead, they are hoping that the memorial can be paid for by public subscription - possibly with contributions from local businesses.

Other events planned include Titanic-themed cruises, a project to trace living relatives of Titanic's crew and passengers, selling replicas of the city's extensive collection of Titanic artefacts, and the setting up of a website dedicated to the tragedy.

One of the most important events in the build-up to 2012 would be the appointment of a high-profile media personality who would publicise the city's connection to the tragedy to world tourist organisations.

There are plenty of candidates city chiefs could choose from. There is of course actress Kate Winslett, but others could be approached such as Titanic director James Cameron and the discoverer of the wreck, Dr Bob Ballard.

It is not as if Mr Cameron has no connections with the city. He paid a visit to Southampton University 18 months ago where he was awarded an honorary doctorate recognising his work in undersea exploration.

Dr Ballard himself is also a strong candidate for the role of "media champion". He has also been one of the most vocal critics of attempts to raise artefacts from the wreck site and the insensitive way in which some people have tried to make money out of the disaster.

Business leaders in Southampton are also due to be approached by city leisure chiefs. They will be given the chance to come up with ideas on how to promote the story of Titanic to help pay for the commemorations.

They will be made aware of the possible pitfalls of being seen to exploit the disaster for purely commercial reasons.

City Council Cabinet member for tourism and leisure Councillor Peter Wakeford said the city had to strike the right balance between remembering the victims of the disaster - and at the same time not ignoring the opportunities it gave to promote Southampton as a world tourist destination. He said the permanent memorial would not be a drain on the public purse.

He said: "We need to fund it and that will not come out of taxpayers' money. It will be funded by contributions or by public subscription. There is no way we would want to go down the road of the Spinnaker Tower.

He added: "We have to handle it sensitively. There are people in this city who lost their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents in the sinking. From my perspective, we at the council recognise the tragic loss of life following the sinking of RMS Titanic and the huge impact it had on Southampton at that time.

"We want to mark that and also mark the impact the sinking had on subsequent revisions of maritime law. But we also have to respect the fact that it is an international story and we want to play our part in telling that story.

"To do nothing is not an option."

First Published Monday 21 November 2005