The city from which Titanic departed on its ill-fated voyage is marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking.
The ship set sail from Southampton on 10 April, 1912, but sank at 06:47 (UK time) five days later with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.
Commemorations are being held across the city, with a special service at St Mary’s Church from 14:00 BST.
Remembrance events will be held across England, including in Captain Edward Smith’s home city of Stoke-on-Trent.
A plaque will be unveiled in the Staffordshire street where he was born, while a flare was let off next to his statue in Lichfield on Saturday night.
Titanic’s chief wireless officer Jack Philips, who has been credited with helping save hundreds of lives, will be remembered in a service in his hometown of Godalming in Surrey.
In Maryport, Cumbria, the birthplace of the founder of the White Star Line Thomas Henry Ismay, a service of remembrance will be held later.
Bishop of New York
In Liverpool, where the ship was registered and was home to many of its crew members, events will be held at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.
A three-day Sea Odyssey street theatre event marking the disaster starts in the city on 20 April.
In Southampton, the Reverend Dr Julian Davies will lead a service at St Mary’s Church where the Bishop of Southampton, the Right Reverend Jonathan Frost, will also give a blessing.
He said: “Visiting schools in the run-up to the commemorations, children are so engaged with the story finding in it all sorts of things adults wouldn’t see.
Wreaths have been laid at the Titanic Engineers’ Memorial in Southampton“The simplicity of their outlook, recognising the courage, bravery and humanity in the midst of a crisis.
“I hope this afternoon in the service, where many will gather, there will be something of that story.”
The Bishop of New York, the Right Reverend Mark Sisk, has also been invited to give an address at the service, which will include readings and music from the Salvation Army Band and the City of Southampton Orchestra.
Mary South, whose grandfather was a steward on board, said: “When I was about eight or nine I asked my father why I didn’t have a grandfather from his side of the family and he said he died on a big ship – and that was that.
“My grandmother went into what can only be described nowadays as a deep depression, they called it a decline then, and it was really two years before she came out of it.
“There’s part of me that says I think [the events surrounding the anniversary] have got a little bit out of hand, slightly maudlin, but there’s also a part of me that says it is important to remember, not only Titanic, but all the hundreds of seaman that have been lost over the years.”
Pick up survivors
Wreaths will be laid at Sir Arthur Rostron’s grave in West End, Eastleigh, Hampshire.
The captain of the Carpathia was hailed a hero after changing course to go to the aid of the stricken ship and pick up survivors.
On Tuesday, descendants of some of those who died threw wreaths from the Southampton dock where the ship departed a century earlier.
A minute’s silence was also observed in the city, which had been home to more than 500 of the crew who died.
The city has more memorials to the disaster than anywhere else in the world.
BBC