Introduction

What was built in 1911? The RMS Olympic was a British luxury liner ship that is famous for being the twin sister ship of the Titanic, and the RMS Olympic was the biggest cruise ship in the world back after the Titanic sunk. The RMS Olympic was launched on October 20, 1910. The RMS Olympic was in service from 1911- 1935. The Olympic was also the sister ship of the hospital ship, Britannic. 

The Biggest Ship in the world

The RMS Olympic took 22 months to build in Belfast, Ireland. It was under construction from 1908- 1911. After the keel was finished, construction on the hull and the main superstructure began. The Olympic is the twin sister ship of the Titanic, a little bigger than the Titanic. There was a lot of rich people on the Olympic. They added 48 more lifeboats after the Titanic sank. When the Olympic became a transport troop ship, it carried over 1,000 soldiers. The Olympic transported a record 38,000 passengers during 1921.

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The first ships ordered were the Olympic and Titanic; the Britannic was added later. The Belfast firm of Harland and Wolff began construction of the Olympic on December 16, 1908 with the laying of the keel. Olympic weighed around 44,000 tones. She cost $7.5 million and took 22 months to complete. That's about $223 million bucks at today's prices. The nearest thing today to an Ocean Liner is a cruise ship. It was painted white for the benefit of photographers. The Olympic's length is 883 feet. 

Construction

After work finished on the hull and main superstructure, the Olympic was launched on October 20, 1910. At the time of its completion in 1911, the Olympic was perhaps the world's most luxurious liner. It was also the largest, with a length of approximately 882 feet (269 metres) and a gross tonnage of 45,324. 

Launching The RMS Olympic

Maiden Voyage

Too much fanfare, the Olympic embarked on its maiden voyage on June 14, 1911, traveling from Southampton, England to New York City. The ship was captained by Edward J. Smith, who would later helm the Titanic. In September 1911 during its fifth commercial voyage, the Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke near the Isle of Wight, southern England. It was later determined that suction from the Olympic had pulled the Hawke into the ocean liner. Both ships suffered major damage, and the Olympic did not return to service until November 1911.

Titanic disaster

On April 14, 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 of 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 the rescue. When Olympic was about 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) away from Titanic's last known position, she received a message from Captain Rostron of Cunard's RMS Carpathia, 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 sank at 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 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 April 21. 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 B 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. 

Post Titanic- refit

The number of lifeboats carried by Olympic was increased from 20 to 68, 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. 

Adding More Lifeboats

Becoming a troop transport ship

1915- 1918

Following Olympic's return to Britain, the White Star Line intended to lay her up in Belfast until the war was over, but in May 1915 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, to be used as a troop transport, along with the Cunard liners Mauretania and Aquitania. The Admiralty had initially been reluctant to use large ocean liners as troop transports because of their vulnerability to enemy attack; however, a shortage of ships gave them little choice. At the same time, Olympic's other sister ship Britannic, which had not yet been completed, was requisitioned as a hospital ship. Operating in that role she would strike a German naval mine

and sink in the Aegean Sea on November 21, 1916. Stripped of her peacetime fittings and now armed with 12- pounders and 4.7- inch guns, Olympic was converted to a troopship, with the capacity to transport up to 6,00 troops. On 24 September 1915 the newly designated HMT (Hired Military Transport) 2810, now under the command of Bertram Fox Hayes, left Liverpool carrying 6,000 soldiers to Mudros, Greece for the Gallipoli Campaign. On October 1 lifeboats from the French ship Provincia which had been sunk by a U- boat that morning off Cape Matapan were sighted and 34 survivors rescued by Olympic. Hayes was critcised for this

action by the British Admiralty, who accused him of putting the ship in danger by stopping her in waters where enemy U- boats were active. The ship's speed was considered to be her best defence against U- boat attack, and such a large ship stopped would have made an unmissable target. However, the French Vice- Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet took a different view, and awarded Hayes with the Gold Medal of Honour. Olympic made several more trooping journeys to the Mediterranean until early 2016, when the Gallipoli Campaign was abandoned. In 1916, considerations were made to use Olympic to transport troops to 

India via the Cape of Good Hope. However, on investigation it was decided that the ship was unsuitable for this role, because the coal bunkers, which had been designed for transatlantic runs, lacked the capacity for such a long journey at a reasonable speed. Instead, from 1916 to 1917, Olympic was chartered by the Canadian Government to transport troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Britain. In 1917 she gained 6- inch guns and was painted with a dazzle camouflage scheme to make it more difficult for observers to estimate her speed and heading. Her dazzle colors were brown, dark blue, light blue and white. Her many visits to 

Halifax Harbour carrying Canadian troops safely overseas, and back home after the war at Pier 2, made her a favourite symbol in the city of Halifax. Noted Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer made several paintings of her in Halifax. A large dance hall, the "Olympic Gardens" were also named in her honour.  After the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, Olympic also transported thousands of American troops to Britain. 

Attack on U- 103

In the early morning hours of 12 May 1918, The U- Boat 103 launched a torpedo at the Olympic, but missed, The U- Boat went in front of the Olympic and launched another torpedo and the Olympic dodged it again. The U- Boat tried to escape, but the Olympic hit the U- Boat because the U- 103 was in front of the Olympic and the U- Boat split in half and filled up with water instantly. The U- 103 got rammed and sunk by RMS Olympic. After the incident, the Olympic had a couple of dented hull plates and a twisted prow, but managed to make it back safely to Southampton, England 

Return To Passenger Service

In August 1919, Olympic returned to Belfast for restoration to civilian service. The interiors were modernised and the boilers were converted to oil firing rather than coal burning. This modification would reduce the refueling time from days to 5 or 6 hours; it also gave a steadier engine R. P. M and allowed the engine room personnel to be reduced from 350 to 60 people. During the conversation work and drydocking, a dent with a crack at the centre was discovered below her waterline which was later concluded to have been caused by a torpedo that had failed to detonate. The historian Mark Chrinside concluded that the faulty torpedo had been 

fired by the U- Boat SM U- 53 on 4 September 1918, while Olympic was in the English channel. Olympic emerged from refit with an increased tonnage of 46, 439 allowing her to retain her claim to the title of largest British built liner afloat, although the Cunard's Line's Aquitania was slightly longer. On 20 June 1920 she returned to passenger service, on one voyage that year carrying 2, 249 passengers. Olympic transported a record 38,000 passengers during 1921, which provided to be the peak of her career. With the loss of the Titanic and Britannic, Olympic initially lacked any suitable running mates for the express service; however 

in 1922 White Star obtained two formed German liners, Majestic and Homeric, which had been given to Britain as war reparations, these joined the Olympic as running mates, operating successfully until the Great Depression reduced demand after 1930.

Underwent a refit

The shipping trade was badly affected by the Great Depression. Until 1930 there had generally been around one million passengers a year on the transatlantic route, but by 1934 this had dropped more than half. Futhermore, by the early 1930s, increased competition emerged, in the form of a new generation of larger and faster liners such as Germany's SS Bremen and SS Europa, Italy's SS Rex and France's SS Ile de France, and the remaining passengers tended to prefer the more- up- to- date ships. Olympic had averaged around 1,000 passengers per journey until 1930, but this declined by more than half by 1932. 

Olympic's running mate Homeric was withdrawn from the transatlantic route as early as 1932, leaving only Olympic and Majestic maintaining White Star's Southampton- New York service, although this was occasionally augmented during the summer months by either MV Britannic and MV Georgic. During slack periods in the summer, Olympic and fleet mate Majestic were employed in summer recreational cruises from New York to Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At the end of 1932, with passenger traffic in decline, Olympic went for an overhaul and refit that took four months. She returned to service on 5 March 1933