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G81 1NX - Clydebank

The Titan Crane was the world first cantilever crane, designed by Sir William Arrol and built for John Brown's shipyard in Clydebank. 11 Titan Cranes were built for Clyde shipyards but only one remains today.

The crane weighs 800 tons, stands at 150 feet and required more than half a million rivets to build her. Perhaps the most famous ship which the crane helped build was the Cunard Line cruiser, RMS Lusitania.

According to Colin Castle, lecturer and author on the River Clyde, during the First World War, the crane would have been used to lift things like turbine engines, boilers, furnaces and sections of funnels:

"This yard was a hive of activity 100 years ago and you would have been deafened by the racket of the riveters."

"No hard hats though, the standard gear then was heavy boots and a bunnet."

But despite that, Colin points out that the technology the crane itself boasted was remarkably modern:

"The crane drive would be there the whole day with a list of lifts to workthrough. There was a telephone link to the cab driver, which when you consider the crane was completed in 1907, is pretty revolutionary."

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