It is perhaps the best known of all Southampton stories. It tells of courage, sorrow, bravery and survival.

As the years roll by few remain behind who were actually around in Southampton on that day in 1912, when the legendary White Star liner, Titanic left on its ill-fated maiden voyage that was to pass into history as one of the biggest maritime disasters of all time.

Now the story is being told again, this time in a major exhibition that takes visitors on a voyage back in time and down beneath the Atlantic to the watery grave - now the resting place for Titanic.

On that fateful night in the early hours of April 15 the freezing Atlantic waters claimed 1,522 lives, many of them crew from Southampton, leaving only 705 survivors.

The strength of this fascinating and remarkable display is not in re-telling the account of Titanic, as there can only be a few people who have not heard of the "unsinkable'' ship that left here, carrying the rich and the famous of high society, to founder after striking an iceberg, but in bringing modern generations face-to-face with the past.

There are now more than 200 actual items recovered from the seabed two and half miles down around the wreck of Titanic.

They will form the dramatic centrepieces of the exhibition at London's Science Museum.

These are not replicas or imitations, they are the real thing. There is Titanic's bell that sounded out the iceberg warning, china used in the ornate and glamorous dining rooms, clothing, jewellery and even banknotes and papers that have survived 90 years at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Amazingly there are also perfume bottles, still with the scent lingering after so many decades.

From the start you find yourself personally involved in the exhibition as at the entrance you are handed a copy of a Titanic ticket bearing the name of a passenger. Passing through the display galleries visitors discover the class of the passenger, the conditions in which they travelled and then finally in the memorial section whether the person was lost or saved.

Visitors are urged to touch the face of a man-made iceberg and imagine what it must have been like to be thrown into sea then at minus four degrees. There is a chance to experience what it was like to travel First Class on Titanic with a reconstruction of one of the ship's most luxurious staterooms.

On average a First Class passenger would have paid £500 each, equivalent to £27,940 at today's prices, for a ticket but some even paid £900, equal to £50,290 now for the most sumptuous surroundings.

Second Class was made up of businessmen, middle class families looking for a new life in America, brides-to-be and holidaymakers.

Those in Third Class, who shared a cabin fitted with four bunk beds, would have paid £7 (£395 today) for a ticket from Southampton to New York.

Around 350,000 people are expected to visit the exhibition between now to almost the end of September. All will be stopped in their tracks as they enter the display and are greeted with a huge, stark two-and-a-half ton piece of Titanic's hull, one of the largest parts of the ship ever to be recovered.

Resting on a bed of sand and under special rippling lighting effects the huge piece of Titanic seems to be still beneath the waves. But without a doubt it is the personal items that make the most impact; there is an ivory hand mirror, a shaving brush, a teapot and egg cup, playing cards, a jar containing olives and even a silk top hat. They touch the emotions more than anything.

The Titanic Artefact Exhibition is at The Science Museum in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London from May 16 to Setember 28.

For more information log on to www.science.museum.org

- Originally published February 2003.