'Goliath' & 'Samson' cranes at, Harland And Wolff, Queen's Island, Belfast, BT3 9DU

The 'Goliath' and 'Samson' cranes are a pair of extremely large bridge cranes constructed between 1969 and 1972 as part of a redevelopment program for the Harland and Wolff shipyard on Queen’s Island, Belfast. Designed and built by the German heavy engineering company of Krupp, these cranes were constructed in conjunction with a large dry dock and industrial workshops to maintain the shipyard’s competitiveness. The cranes were designed to serve as a shipbuilding and assembly facility. 'Goliath', completed in 1969, stands approximately 196 metres high, while the slightly taller 'Samson', finished in 1972, reaches approximately 206 metres. Each crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 840 tonnes and runs on tracks aligned with the dry dock. Harland and Wolff, established in 1861, had grown to become a major shipbuilding company employing tens of thousands of people by the mid-20th century. The cranes are of industrial archaeological interest and are protected through scheduling.