In its 111th voyage, the MV Explorer is exploring the Atlantic Ocean. This series provides information about ports and their relationships with the Atlantic Ocean; read on for some fast facts about Southampton, our latest port of call.
- The MV Explorer sailed 244.5 nautical miles from Dublin to reach Southampton, England. It is 2,475 nautical miles from our departure city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Southampton.
- A total of 8 field labs, corresponding to different on-board courses, left from the ship to various parts of England. 194 participants took part in the field labs.
- London is approximately 1 hour away by train from Southampton, and 2.5 hours by bus.
- We were docked in Southampton for 4 days and 3 nights. Stay tuned for upcoming posts this week about what we saw and did!
Other Fun Facts:
- Jane Austen, one of the authors we are studying about on board the MV Explorer, briefly lived in Southampton between 1806 and 1809.
- Titanic departed from Southampton, England just before noon on April 10, 1912; Captain Edward John Smith steered the ship towards the first port of Cherbourg, France that was about 70 miles away. After its second stop in Queenstown, Ireland, the Titanic set out for New York City, but after approximately 375 miles of travel, sunk on April 14, 1912.
- The Mayflower and Speedwell were both in Southampton in August 1620.The Pilgrims wanted to depart from Southampton; however, they ended up leaving from Plymouth, England.
- The July 2007 edition of the Daily Echo voted Southampton as one of the best places for to live for singles aged 18-30.
- Will Champion, Coldplay’s drummer and the final member to join the band, was born in Southampton. Before achieving transnational stardom, he was in a band called Fat Hamster.
- Southampton was the first town in Britain to try fish fingers in 1955.
