HMT Olympic

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, ''Titanic'' and ''Britannic''. This included service as a troopship during the First World War, which gained her the nickname ''Old Reliable''. 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 the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1910–13, interrupted only by the brief tenure of the slightly larger (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 careers of ''Titanic'' and Britannic.

''Olympic'' was withdrawn from service and sold for scrap in 12, April 1935; demolition was completed in 1937.

The other two ships in the class had short service lives: in 1912, ''Titanic'' collided with an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank in the North Atlantic; ''Britannic'' never operated in her intended role as a passenger ship, instead serving as a hospital ship during the First World War until she hit a mine and sank in the Aegean Sea in 1916.

Background and construction

Built in Belfast, Ireland, ''Olympic'' was the first of the three s – the others being and . They were the largest vessels built for the British shipping company White Star Line, which was 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 ''Titanic''s loss.

The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, who had a long-established relationship with the White Star Line dating back to 1867. Harland and 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 and 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 and Wolff put their designers to work designing the ''Olympic''-class vessels. It was overseen by Lord Pirrie, a director of both Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line; naval architect Thomas Andrews, the managing director of Harland and 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 and 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 first ship – which was later to become ''Olympic'' – had no name, but was referred to simply as "Number 400", as it was Harland and 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.

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 and Wolff upgraded their facility in Belfast; the most dramatic change was the combining of three slipways into two larger ones. ''Olympic'' and ''Titanic'' were constructed side by side. ''Olympic''s 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. Her launch was filmed and the footage still survives. The launches of ''Titanic'' and ''Britannic'' were later filmed too, though only ''Britannics survived. Her hull was repainted black following the launch. The ship was then dry-docked for her fitting out.

''Olympic'' was driven by three propellers. The two three-bladed side propellers were driven by two triple-expansion engines, while the four-bladed central propeller was driven by a turbine that used recovered steam escaping from the triple-expansion engines. The use of escaped steam was tested on the SS ''Laurentic'' two years earlier.

Lifeboats

''Olympic's'' lifeboat arrangement in 1911–12 was identical to ''Titanic's''fourteen regulation boats, two emergency cutters and the White Star complement of four collapsible boats. 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. Collapsible lifeboat B was stored on the port side roof of the officers quarters and collapsible lifeboat A was on the starboard side on the roof of the officers quarters.

Features

''Olympic'' was designed as a luxury ship; ''Titanic's'' passenger facilities, fittings, deck plans and technical facilities were largely identical to ''Olympic'', although with some small variations. The first-class passengers enjoyed luxurious cabins, and some were equipped with private bathrooms. First-class passengers could have meals in the ship's large and luxurious dining saloon or in the more intimate A La Carte Restaurant. There was a lavish Grand Staircase, built only for the ''Olympic''-class ships, along with three lifts that ran behind the staircase down to E deck, a Georgian-style smoking room, a Veranda Café decorated with palm trees, a swimming pool, Turkish bath, gymnasium, and several other places for meals and entertainment.

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, if not up to the second and first classes. 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 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 and Wolff used smaller air vents with electric fans, with a "dummy" fourth funnel used for additional ventilation. For the power plant Harland and 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 set up on an 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 1000 tons of coal per 24 hours for both ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania''.

Differences from ''Titanic''

Although ''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 ''Olympic''s first year in service. The most noticeable of these was that the forward half of ''Titanic''s A Deck promenade was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows, to provide additional shelter, whereas ''Olympic''s promenade deck remained open along its whole length. This was a major contributor to ''Titanic''s increased Gross register tonnage of 46,328 tons over ''Olympic''s 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 sidewalk 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''.

A reception area for the restaurant was added in the foyer of the B-Deck aft Grand Staircase on ''Titanic'', which did not exist on ''Olympic'', and the main reception room on D-Deck was also slightly enlarged. private promenade decks were added to the two luxury parlour suites on B-Deck on ''Titanic'', as well as additional First-Class gangway entrances on B-Deck. Cosmetic differences also existed between the two ships, most noticeably concerning the wider use of Axminster carpeting in ''Titanic''s public rooms, as opposed to the more durable linoleum flooring on ''Olympic''.

Most of these shortcomings on ''Olympic'' would be addressed in her 1913 refit, which altered the configuration of ''Olympic''s First-Class sections to be more like those of ''Titanic''. Although the A-Deck Promenade remained open for the entirety of ''Olympic''s career, the B-Deck promenade was vetoed and staterooms added like those on ''Titanic'', as well as a Café Parisien and enlarged restaurant. The 1913 refit also included modifications for greater safety after the loss of the ''Titanic'', including the addition of extra lifeboats and the addition of an inner watertight skin in the hull along about half the length of the ship. An extra watertight compartment was added bringing the total of watertight compartments to 17. Five watertight bulkheads were raised to B deck. Along with these improvements there were many others included in the 1913 refit.

Career

Following completion, ''Olympic'' started her sea trials on 29 May 1911 during which her manoeuvrability, compass, and wireless telegraphy were tested. No speed test was carried out. She completed her sea trial successfully. ''Olympic'' then left Belfast bound for Liverpool, her port of registration, on 31 May 1911. As a publicity stunt the White Star Line timed the start of this first voyage to coincide with the launch of ''Titanic''. After spending a day in Liverpool, open to the public, ''Olympic'' sailed to Southampton, where she arrived on 3 June, to be made ready for her maiden voyage.. Her arrival generated enthusiasm from her crew and newspapers. The deep-water dock at Southampton, then known as the "''White Star Dock''" had been specially constructed to accommodate the new ''Olympic''-class liners, and had opened in 1911.

Her maiden voyage commenced on 14 June 1911 from Southampton, calling at Cherbourg and Queenstown, reaching New York City on 21 June. The maiden voyage was captained by Edward Smith who would perish the following year in the ''Titanic'' disaster. Designer Thomas Andrews was present for the passage to New York and return, along with a number of engineers with Bruce Ismay and Harland and Wolff's "Guarantee Group" who were also aboard for them to spot any problems or areas for improvement. Andrews would also lose his life in the ''Titanic'' disaster.

As the largest ship in the world, and the first in a new class of superliners, ''Olympic''s maiden voyage attracted considerable worldwide attention from the press and public. Following her arrival in New York, ''Olympic'' was opened up to the public and received over 8,000 visitors. More than 10,000 spectators watched her depart from New York harbour, for her first return trip. During her third crossing, an observer of the Cunard Line was on board, in search of ideas for their new ship then under construction, the ''Aquitania''.

''Hawke'' collision

''Olympic''s first major mishap occurred on her fifth voyage on 20 September 1911, when she collided with the British cruiser . The collision took place as ''Olympic'' and ''Hawke'' were running parallel to each other through the Solent. As ''Olympic'' turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of ''Hawke'' by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action. ''Hawke''s bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with ''Olympic''s starboard side near the stern, tearing two large holes in ''Olympic''s hull, above and below the waterline, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. ''Olympic'' settled slightly by the stern, but in spite of the damage was able to return to Southampton under her own power; no one was killed or seriously injured. HMS ''Hawke'' suffered severe damage to her bow and nearly capsized; she was repaired, but sunk by the German U-boat in October 1914.

Captain Edward Smith was in command of ''Olympic'' at the time of the incident. Two crew members, stewardess Violet Jessop and stoker Arthur John Priest, survived not only the collision with ''Hawke'' but also the later sinking of ''Titanic'' and the 1916 sinking of ''Britannic'', the third ship of the class.

At the subsequent inquiry the Royal Navy blamed ''Olympic'' for the incident, alleging that her large displacement generated a suction that pulled ''Hawke'' into her side. The ''Hawke'' incident was a financial disaster for ''Olympic''s operator. A legal argument ensued which decided that the blame for the incident lay with ''Olympic'', and although the ship was technically under the control of the harbour pilot, the White Star Line was faced with large legal bills and the cost of repairing the ship, and keeping her out of revenue service made matters worse.« Maiden Voyage – Collision With HMS ''Hawke'' »
, ''RMS ''Olympic'' archive''. Accessed 21 May 2009.. However, the fact that ''Olympic'' endured such a serious collision and stayed afloat, appeared to vindicate the design of the ''Olympic''-class liners and reinforced their "unsinkable" reputation.

It took two weeks for the damage to ''Olympic'' to be patched up sufficiently to allow her to return to Belfast for permanent repairs, which took just over six weeks to complete.. To expedite repairs, Harland and Wolff was obliged to replace ''Olympic''s damaged propeller shaft with one from ''Titanic'', delaying the latter's completion. By 20 November 1911 ''Olympic'' was back in service, but, on 24 February 1912, suffered another setback when she lost a propeller blade on an eastbound voyage from New York, and once again returned to her builder for repairs. To return her to service as soon as possible, Harland & Wolff again had to pull resources from ''Titanic'', delaying her maiden voyage by three weeks, from 20 March to 10 April 1912.

''Titanic'' disaster

On 14 April 1912, ''Olympic'', now under the command of Herbert James Haddock, was on a return trip from New York. Wireless operator Ernest James Moore received the distress call from ''Titanic'', when she was approximately 505 miles west by south of ''Titanic''s location. Haddock calculated a new course, ordered the ship's engines to be set to full power and headed to assist in the rescue.

When ''Olympic'' was about away from ''Titanic''s last known position, she received a message from Captain Rostron of Cunard's , which had arrived at the scene. Rostron explained that ''Olympic'' continuing on course to ''Titanic'' would gain nothing, as "All boats accounted for. About 675 souls saved ..Titanic foundered about 2:20 am." Rostron requested that the message be forwarded to White Star and Cunard. He said that he was returning to harbour in New York. Subsequently, the wireless room aboard ''Olympic'' operated as a clearing room for radio messages.

When ''Olympic'' offered to take on the survivors, she was turned down by Rostron under order from Ismay, who was concerned that asking the survivors to board a virtual mirror-image of ''Titanic'' would cause them distress. ''Olympic'' then resumed her voyage to Southampton, with all concerts cancelled as a mark of respect, arriving on 21 April..

Over the next few months, ''Olympic'' assisted with both the American and British inquiries into the disaster. Deputations from both inquiries inspected ''Olympic''s lifeboats, watertight doors and bulkheads and other equipment which were identical to those on ''Titanic''. Sea tests were performed for the British enquiry in May 1912, to establish how quickly the ship could turn two points at various speeds, to approximate how long it would have taken ''Titanic'' to turn after the iceberg was sighted.

1912 strike

''Olympic'', like ''Titanic'', did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and so was hurriedly equipped with additional, second-hand collapsible lifeboats following her return to Britain. Towards the end of April 1912, as she was about to sail from Southampton to New York, 284 of the ship's firemen went on strike, for fear that the ship's new collapsible lifeboats were not seaworthy.. 100 non-union crew were hastily hired from Southampton as replacements, with more being hired from Liverpool.

The 40 collapsible lifeboats were transferred from troopships and put on ''Olympic'', and many were rotten and would not open. The crewmen, instead, sent a request to the Southampton manager of the White Star Line that the collapsible boats be replaced by wooden lifeboats; the manager replied that this was impossible and that the collapsible boats had been passed as seaworthy by a Board of Trade inspector. The men were not satisfied and ceased work in protest.

On 25 April, a deputation of strikers witnessed a test of four of the collapsible boats. One was unseaworthy and the deputation said that it was prepared to recommend the men return to work if the boat were replaced. However, the strikers now objected to the non-union strikebreaker crew which had come on board, and demanded that they be dismissed, which the White Star Line refused. 54 sailors then left the ship, objecting to the non-union crew who they claimed were unqualified and therefore dangerous, and refused to sail with them. This led to the scheduled sailing being cancelled.

All 54 sailors were arrested on a charge of mutiny when they went ashore. On 4 May 1912, Portsmouth magistrates found the charges against the mutineers were proven, but discharged them without imprisonment or fine, due to the special circumstances of the case. Fearing that public opinion would be on the side of the strikers, the White Star Line let them return to work and ''Olympic'' sailed on 15 May.

Post-''Titanic'' refit

On 9 October 1912, White Star withdrew ''Olympic'' from service and returned her to her builders at Belfast to have modifications added to incorporate lessons learned from the ''Titanic'' disaster six months prior, and improve safety. The number of lifeboats carried by ''Olympic'' was increased from twenty to sixty-eight, and extra davits were installed along the boat deck to accommodate them. An inner watertight skin was also constructed in the boiler and engine rooms, which created a double hull. Five of the watertight bulkheads were extended up to B-Deck, extending to the entire height of the hull. This corrected a flaw in the original design, in which the bulkheads only rose up as far as E or D-Deck, a short distance above the waterline. This flaw had been exposed during ''Titanic''s sinking, where water spilled over the top of the bulkheads as the ship sank and flooded subsequent compartments. In addition, an extra bulkhead was added to subdivide the electrical dynamo room, bringing the total number of watertight compartments to seventeen. Improvements were also made to the ship's pumping apparatus. These modifications meant that ''Olympic'' could survive a collision similar to that of ''Titanic'', in that her first six compartments could be breached and the ship could remain afloat.

At the same time, ''Olympic''s B Deck underwent a refit, which included extra cabins, more private bathing facilities, an enlarged ''Á La Carte'' restaurant, and a ''Cafe Parisien'' (another addition that had proved popular on ''Titanic'') was added, offering another dining option to first class passengers. With these changes (and a second refit in 1919 after the war), ''Olympic''s gross register tonnage rose to 46,439 tons, 111 tons more than ''Titanic''s.

In March 1913, ''Olympic'' returned to service and briefly regained the title of largest ocean liner in the world, until the German liner entered passenger service in June 1913. Following her refit, ''Olympic'' was marketed as the "new" ''Olympic'' and her improved safety features were featured prominently in advertisements. The ship experienced a short period of tranquillity despite a storm in 1914 that broke some of the First Class windows and injured some passengers..

First World War

On 4 August 1914, Britain entered the First World War. ''Olympic'' initially remained in commercial service under Captain Herbert James Haddock. As a wartime measure, ''Olympic'' was painted in a grey colour scheme, portholes were blocked, and lights on deck were turned off to make the ship less visible. The schedule was hastily altered to terminate at Liverpool rather than Southampton, and this was later altered again to Glasgow.

The first few wartime voyages were packed with Americans trapped in Europe, eager to return home, although the eastbound journeys carried few passengers. By mid-October, bookings had fallen sharply as the threat from German U-boats became increasingly serious, and White Star Line decided to withdraw ''Olympic'' from commercial service. On 21 October 1914, she left New York for Glasgow on her last commercial voyage of the war, though carrying only 153 passengers.

''Audacious'' incident

On the sixth day of her voyage, 27 October, as ''Olympic'' passed near Lough Swilly off the north coast of Ireland, she received distress signals from the battleship , which had struck a mine off Tory Island