RMS Olympic was a British ocean liner and the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of liners. Olympic had a career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935, in contrast to her short-lived sister ships, and the Royal Navy hospital ship . This included service as a troopship with the name HMT Olympic during the First World War, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable", and during which she rammed and sank the U-boat U-103. She returned to civilian service after the war and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable. Olympic was withdrawn from service on 12 April 1935, and later sold for scrap, which was completed by 1939.
Olympic was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1910–13, interrupted only by the brief service life (six-day maiden voyage in April 1912) of the slightly larger Titanic, which had the same dimensions but higher gross register tonnage, before the German went into service in June 1913. Olympic also held the title of the largest British-built liner until was launched in 1934, interrupted only by the short career of Titanic; Britannic, intended as a liner, instead served as a Royal Navy hospital ship for her 11-month life (December 1915 to November 1916), sinking when she struck a mine.Chirnside, Mark, RMS Olympic Specification File (November 2007)
Background and construction
Built in Queen's Island, Belfast, Ireland, Olympic was the first of three s – the others being and . They were the largest vessels built for the British shipping company White Star Line, which had a fleet of 29 steamers and tenders in 1912. The three ships had their genesis in a discussion in mid-1907 between the White Star Line's chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, and the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan, who controlled the White Star Line's parent corporation, the International Mercantile Marine Co. The White Star Line faced a growing challenge from its main rivals Cunard, which had just launched and – the fastest passenger ships then in service – and the German lines Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd.. Ismay preferred to compete on size and economics rather than speed and proposed to commission a new class of liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being the last word in comfort and luxury. The company sought an upgrade in their fleet primarily in response to the largest Cunarders but also to replace their largest and now outclassed ships from 1890, and . The former was replaced by Olympic while Majestic was replaced by Titanic. Majestic would be brought back into her old spot on White Star's New York service after Titanics loss.
The ships were built in Belfast by Harland & Wolff, who had a long-established relationship with the White Star Line dating back to 1867.. Harland & Wolff were given a great deal of latitude in designing ships for the White Star Line; the usual approach was for the latter to sketch out a general concept which the former would take away and turn into a ship design. Cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland & Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five per cent profit margin. In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million for the first two ships was agreed plus "extras to contract" and the usual five per cent fee.
Harland & Wolff's design work for the Olympic-class vessels was overseen by Lord Pirrie, a director of both Harland & Wolff and the White Star Line; naval architect Thomas Andrews, the managing director of Harland & Wolff's design department; Edward Wilding, Andrews' deputy and responsible for calculating the ship's design, stability and trim; and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard's chief draughtsman and general manager. Carlisle's responsibilities included the decorations, equipment and all general arrangements, including the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design..
On 29 July 1908, Harland & Wolff presented the drawings to Bruce Ismay and other White Star Line executives. Ismay approved the design and signed three "letters of agreement" two days later authorising the start of construction. At this point the lead ship – which was later to become Olympic – had no name, but was referred to simply as "Number 400", as it was Harland & Wolff's four hundredth hull. Titanic was based on a revised version of the same design and was given the number 401. Bruce Ismay's father Thomas Henry Ismay had previously planned to build a ship named Olympic as a sister ship to . The senior Ismay died in 1899 and the order for the ship was cancelled.Oceanic II – thegreatoceanliners.com
Construction of Olympic began three months before Titanic to ease pressures on the shipyard. Several years would pass before Britannic would be launched. To accommodate the construction of the class, Harland & Wolff upgraded their facility in Belfast; the most dramatic change was the combining of three slipways into two larger ones, allowing Olympic and Titanic to be constructed side by side. Olympics keel was laid on 16 December 1908 and she was launched on 20 October 1910, without having been christened beforehand. By tradition, the White Star Line never christened any of their vessels and for the launch the hull was painted in a light grey colour for photographic purposes; a common practice of the day for the first ship in a new class, as it made the lines of the ship clearer in the black-and-white photographs.. The launch was filmed both in black and white and in Kinemacolor, with only the black and white footage surviving. The launches of Titanic and Britannic were also filmed, though only Britannic'''s survived. Olympic hull was repainted black following the launch.
On 1 April 1911, Olympic was pulled into Thompson Graving Dock as part of its opening ceremony. Here, the hull was cleaned and painted. It was also the place where she received her propellers.Olympic was fitted with three propellers. The two three-bladed wing propellers were driven by two triple-expansion engines, while the four-bladed central propeller was powered by a turbine that used recovered steam escaping from the triple-expansion engines.. The use of escaped steam was tested on the two years earlier.« SS Laurentic (I) », White Star Liners. Accessed 29 June 2009.
Lifeboats Olympic lifeboat arrangement in 1911–12 was identical to Titanicfourteen regulation boats, two emergency cutters and the White Star complement of four collapsible boats.Jamestown Weekly Alert Titanic lacking in safety devices; Jamestown North Dakota, Thursday 18 April 1912 Two collapsibles were stored (collapsibles C and D) broken down under the lead boats on the port and starboard sides. The final two collapsibles were stored on the top of the officers' quarters on either side of the number one funnel. Collapsibles A and B were stored on the starboard and port sides of the funnel respectively.
After the 1913 refit, Olympic now carried 68 lifeboats, enough for all aboard.Mark Chirnside Titanic's Lifeboats: Fact & Fiction
Features Olympic was designed as a luxury ship; Titanic passenger facilities, fittings, deck plans and technical facilities were largely identical to Olympic, although with some small variations. The finest first-class staterooms were located on B deck and C deck, including four parlour suites and many staterooms equipped with private bathrooms. First-class passengers could have meals in the Jacobean-style main dining saloon or in the more intimate A La Carte Restaurant, completed in the style of the Louis XVI period. Meals in the Restaurant were at an additional cost, but passengers who elected to take all their meals in the Restaurant were given a rebate on their fare. The first-class accommodations were connected by two Grand Staircases, which became distinctive features of the Olympic-class ships.Les escaliers de 1 Classe, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009 The forward Grand Staircase ran from the Boat Deck to F deck, including three lifts which ran behind the staircase from A deck to E deck. The slightly simpler aft Grand Staircase connected A to C deck. The first-class public rooms included a Georgian-style smoking room, a veranda café and palm court, La Vie à bord du Titanic le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009 a swimming pool, Victorian Turkish bath, indoor squash and racquet court, Les Bains Turcs et la Piscine , le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009 gymnasium, Le Gymnase , le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009 and Adam-style reading and writing Room. In additional to the main lounge on A deck, Olympic also featured a large Jacobean-style reception room adjoining the main dining saloon.
The second-class facilities included a smoking room, a library, a spacious dining room, and a lift.New York Times – Olympic Like A City – 18 June 1911 encyclopedia-titanica.org
Finally, the third-class passengers enjoyed reasonable accommodation compared to other ships. Instead of large dormitories offered by most ships of the time, the third-class passengers of Olympic travelled in cabins containing two to ten bunks. Facilities for the third class included a smoking room, a general room, an enclosed common area, and a dining room.Olympic had a cleaner, sleeker look than other ships of the day: rather than fitting her with bulky exterior air vents, Harland & Wolff used smaller air vents with electric fans, with a "dummy" fourth funnel used for additional ventilation. For the power plant Harland & Wolff employed a combination of reciprocating engines with a centre low-pressure turbine, as opposed to the steam turbines used on Cunard's Lusitania and Mauretania. White Star had successfully tested this engine configuration on the earlier liner , where it was found to be more economical than expansion engines or turbines alone. Olympic consumed 650 tons of coal per 24 hours with an average speed of 21.7 knots on her maiden voyage, compared to 1,000 tons of coal per 24 hours for both Lusitania and Mauretania.
Differences from Titanic
The Olympic and Titanic were nearly identical, and were based on the same core design. A few alterations were made to Titanic and later on Britannic which were based on experience gained from Olympics first year in service. The most noticeable of these was that the forward half of Titanics A Deck promenade was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows, whereas Olympics promenade deck remained open along its whole length. The additional enclosed volume was a major contributor to Titanics increased gross register tonnage of 46,328 tons over Olympics 45,324 tons, which allowed Titanic to claim the title of largest ship in the world.
Additionally, the B-Deck First-Class promenade decks installed on Olympic had proven to be scarcely used because of the already ample promenade space on A-Deck. Accordingly, Thomas Andrews eliminated this feature on Titanic and built additional, enlarged staterooms with en-suite bathrooms. It also allowed a Café Parisien in the style of a French pavement café to be added as an annexe to the À la Carte Restaurant, and for the Restaurant itself to be expanded to the Port-side of the ship. One drawback of this was that the Second-Class promenade space on B-Deck was reduced aboard Titanic.