Relatives of the 1,500 passengers and crew who perished when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank a century ago were among the hundreds of people paying their respects at the famous ocean liner's home port in Southhampton, England Tuesday.

Approximately 650 relatives of the lost gathered at the city's port for a ceremony to mark 100 years to the day since the luxury White Star Line ship set sail for New York.

A recording of the behemoth ocean liner's whistle resonated throughout the docks, renewing the city's collective memory of the ship that took the lives of 549 Southhampton residents-turned-crew.

The assembled also paused for a moment of silence in a ceremony that ended with the hymn believed to have been the last played aboard the sinking Titanic: "Nearer My God To Thee."

Southampton had sent 724 of its sons and daughters to work on that ill-fated maiden voyage, enough to comprise a full three-quarters of the ship's crew.

Reporting from the southern English coastal city, CTV's Ben O'Hara-Byrne said many of their relatives and descendants were on hand to lay memorial wreaths, place flowers in the water and join the flotilla that honoured the Titanic's departure.

There were also groups of school children carrying placards with the names and photos of both victims and survivors, in honour of the city's newly-opened SeaCity Museum which features a permanent exhibition dedicated to the Titanic.

"Southampton's relationship to Titanic is probably different than most other places," O'Hara-Byrne told CTV's Canada AM.

"This was really a tragedy of grand scale here, so it's taken a long time to figure out how they should remember. At the same time a lot of people here are happy to be able to talk about it, happy to be able to meet others whose family was also on that boat."

When the ship departed Southampton on April 10, 1912, city residents came out and lined the quay, cheering in pride as the Titanic began its voyage.

Five days later, after the ship struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning hours of April 15, the city's joy turned to disbelief, then grief.

For many years the tragedy wasn't a topic openly discussed in Southampton, O'Hara-Byrne said. The losses ran so deep that many in the community preferred to avoid the subject and get on with their lives.

One account in the city's archives suggested there was "hardly a single street in Southampton that hadn't lost someone on that ship."

"It was truly a tragedy of epic proportions for the city of Southampton," O'Hara Byrne said.

The city's Titanic Relief Fund provided financial assistance to some 900 descendants of the perished, with the last payouts made in 1998.