<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Fitting - out, 1911--12 </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> Fitting - out, 1911--12 </Td> </Tr> <P> Titanic's sea trials began at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, 2 April 1912, just two days after her fitting out was finished and eight days before she was due to leave Southampton on her maiden voyage . The trials were delayed for a day due to bad weather, but by Monday morning it was clear and fair . Aboard were 78 stokers, greasers and firemen, and 41 members of crew . No domestic staff appear to have been aboard . Representatives of various companies travelled on Titanic's sea trials, Thomas Andrews and Edward Wilding of Harland and Wolff and Harold A. Sanderson of IMM . Bruce Ismay and Lord Pirrie were too ill to attend . Jack Phillips and Harold Bride served as radio operators, and performed fine - tuning of the Marconi equipment . Francis Carruthers, a surveyor from the Board of Trade, was also present to see that everything worked, and that the ship was fit to carry passengers . </P> <P> The sea trials consisted of a number of tests of her handling characteristics, carried out first in Belfast Lough and then in the open waters of the Irish Sea . Over the course of about 12 hours, Titanic was driven at different speeds, the turning ability was tested and a "crash stop" was performed in which the engines were reversed full ahead to full astern, bringing her to a stop in 850 yd (777 m) or 3 minutes and 15 seconds . The ship covered a distance of about 80 nautical miles (92 mi; 150 km), averaging 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km / h) and reaching a maximum speed of just under 21 knots (24 mph; 39 km / h). </P>

When did the titanic set sail from belfast