Sinking Ships
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RMS Strathnaver and tug James Paterson photographed in Australia by Allan C.Green (prob.) in the 1930s. My colorization of the original image in the State Library Victoria archive.
"RMS Strathnaver, later SS Strathnaver, was an ocean liner of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). She was the first of five sister ships in what came to be called the "Strath" class. All previous P&O steamships had black-painted hulls and funnels but Strathnaver and her sisters were painted with white hulls and buff funnels, which earned them the nickname "The Beautiful White Sisters" or just "The White Sisters". Strathnaver and her sister ships RMS Strathaird and RMS Strathmore were Royal Mail Ships that worked P&O's regular liner route between Tilbury in Essex, England and Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Strathnaver remained in service for just over 30 years, being scrapped in 1962." (Wikipedia)
Yaaay its FINALLY 11-6 <3
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY ONE AND ONLY R
I LOVE U MOOOT & ANA WAJD MSTANSA CUZ I SAW U TODAY !!!
FDAAIT YOUR FACE ALMZYOUN ANA
"LEK MZEED AL7UB FEL 3AM ALJDED" <3<3
I JUST DUNNO WUT I HAVE TO SAY BS ALAH LAY7RMNI MNCH YA A'3LA NASI :**
song.6rb.com/songer/x/ksa/rashed/rashed_esken-3youni.rm
SWEET 15
UMWAAAAH , LOVE YOU.
This engine is one of a pair, I'm standing on the valve gantry of the opposing engine. Located at Kempton Park Pumping Station, Hanworth, Middlesex, UK. these engines are accessed at four levels. Beneath are the two pump floors out of shot. Operating on the triple expansion principal. Triple meaning the steam is used three times entering the high pressure cylinder first (RH), then into the intermediate cylinder (middle) and finally the low pressure cylinder (LH) before returning to the boiler via the condenser. I believe these are the largest working preserved triple expansion engines in the world. These give a feel for the size of the engines fitted in ill-fated RMS Titanic. Well worth a visit on steaming days. kemptonsteam.org/collection/triple-expansion-engines/
The RMS Laconia (1921) was a British ocean liner built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson for the Cunard Line. She served as a civilian transatlantic passenger vessel during the interwar period and was later converted into a troopship during World War II. She is most famous for her tragic sinking on September 12, 1942, which led to a highly controversial geopolitical event known as the "Laconia Incident".
On September 12, 1942, while sailing off the coast of West Africa with over 2,700 people on board—including British soldiers, civilians, Polish guards, and roughly 1,800 Italian prisoners of war (POWs)—the Laconia was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-156
Prompt: Create a digital fine art of the "RMS Laconia", in high rough seas, on a stormy evening, as it was struck by a torpedo, era 1921, 8k resolution, ultra-detail, panoramic wide view, no shoreline, no other ships, no people, no watermarks,
This digital fine art was created using Google Flow AI and Photoshop
The Carpathia was the first ship on the scene after the Titanic sank in 1912. It raced at high speeds through waters filled with icebergs to reach the survivors. Its crew pulled 705 men, women and children from lifeboats bobbing in the icy water.
On July 17, 1918, during the First World War, the Carpathia was traveling in a convoy from England to Boston when it was struck by two torpedoes from a German U-boat and began to sink. A third torpedo hit the ship as the lifeboats were being manned. Five crewmembers died, while the rest of the crew were rescued.
Prompt: Using the referenced historical image of the RMS Carpathia as the sole visual reference, create an ultra-realistic digital fine art painting that preserves the ship’s exact identity, proportions, hull form, superstructure layout, mast configuration, funnel shape and color (brick-red with black cap), deck arrangement, lifeboat placement, and period-accurate maritime details. On the bow the text "RMS Carpathia", Maintain historical fidelity and correct scale throughout.
Reimagine the scene with RMS Carpathia battling a rough open sea at sunset, with no shoreline, land, docks, or background structures visible anywhere in the frame. Surround the vessel with wind-driven waves and heavy swells, deep blue-green water with whitecaps, foam, and spray striking the hull. The ship should be underway, cutting through the waves with a strong forward motion, bow lifting and plunging naturally into the seas.
Lighting is dramatic sunset maritime light: a low sun near the horizon, muted crimson tones across broken cloud layers, contrasting with cool stormy blues in the sea. Subtle rim lighting outlines the hull, masts, and funnel, while realistic shadows and reflected sunset color ripple across wet steel plating and rolling water. Smoke from the funnel drifts naturally with the wind, softly illuminated by the sunset glow.
Camera perspective is ultra-wide and cinematic, positioned slightly above the waterline, emphasizing the ship’s full length and scale while maintaining natural proportions (no distortion). Composition is horizontal, with the vessel slightly off-center to allow expansive sky and turbulent sea for dramatic balance and depth.
Rendering style is hyper-realistic digital fine art realism with museum-quality detail: crisp edges, finely resolved steel textures, accurate rigging lines, realistic wave physics, atmospheric depth, and seamless integration between ship, sea, and sky. No noise, no grain, no blur, no painterly exaggeration, no modern elements. Output a single image in 4K resolution, horizontal aspect ratio, pristine and clean, suitable for large-format fine-art display.
This digital fine art was created using OpenAI Sora AI and Photoshop
Lifeboat from the RMS Mauretania.
A rainy and misty day on the North Norfolk marshes I was informed with authority that this was a lifeboat from the RMS Mauretania.
******************************************
© RgPhotographic 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this image may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (on websites, blogs) without prior permission.
On investigation, it was discovered that the chief officer—who had been on watch at the time—had caught his trousers in the lever of his chair when trying to get up, causing him to fall and rendering him unconscious. By the time he regained consciousness, RMS Mülheim was already bearing down on the shoreline.
RMS CUXHAVEN
GRIMSBY >>> WHITSTABLE
Whitstable
IMO: 9218533 - Built 2001
General Cargo - 80.25m X 11.42m
RMS CUXHAVEN
GRIMSBY >>> WHITSTABLE
Whitstable
IMO: 9218533 - Built 2001
General Cargo - 80.25m X 11.42m
RMS Olympic in her 1913 configuration, featuring a full compliment of lifeboats.
Made in PMG 0.6, Cropped in paint in order to capture the outline as water.
Spinning steel wool w/ smoke grenades in an abandoned mill at Photo Explorers Light Painting Workshop.
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic between USA and England from May 1936 until December 1967. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war. r. Queen Marywas one of the largest and fastest two troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 15,000 men in a single voyage, and often traveling out of convoy and without escort. Their high speed made it difficult for U boats to catch her. Following the war Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service.
Once open a times sailing Queen, permanently moored as a tourist attraction, hotel, museum, and event facility in Long Beach, CA since 1971. Queen Mary accompanied by Scorpion Class Russian submarine and it is next to the large dome which was home of Howard Hughes' plane Spruce Goose. Dome is used by cruise lines as aship terminal now.
RMS Tharsis heading up the Humber to the port of Goole. She is a 1801 ton coaster built 2012 and registered in the Netherlands.
Shot on film in Long Beach, California, USA, 2001/2002
RMS Queen Mary was one of the largest liners ever launched. She was in active service from 1936 to 1967 and has since been permanently moored in Long Beach, California, where she serves as a floating hotel, museum, and tourist attraction.
Legend has it that this liner was supposed to be christened "Queen Victoria". But when the managing director of Cunard called King George V to ask for permission to name the new ship after "the greatest queen of England", the king answered: "Oh thank you, my wife will be delighted!"
Camera: Leica R4 (10064)
Lens: Leitz Summicron-R 50 mm
Kodak Gold 100 consumer grade colour negative film, converted to B&W in post-processing
Developed in 2001/2002
Scanned in 2019 by www.meinfilmlab.de
This ship was wrecked in 2003 and has been gradually beaten up by the sea. It happened because the Officer of the Watch got up from his seat and his trousers caught in the chair. He fell and was knocked unconcious. When he came around, it was headed for the rocks
RMS TITANIC,..THE LAST KNOWN PHOTO.! (maiden voyage) Its mid-afternoon, April 11,1912...and shes steaming, westbound to New York, off the Irish Coast (Queenstown),with nothing but ocean ahead. And..in a little over 3 days travel she would be at the BOTTOM of the North Atlantic...April 15,2am.,after side swiping a huge iceberg, just off the Grand Banks (Newfoundland) ..Smoke from #3 stack indicates firemen laying down new bed of coal in those boilers..stack 4 was a 'dummy' used for fresh air-ventilation purposes ONLY
RMS Segwun is the oldest operating steam driven vessel in North America, built in 1887 to cruise the Muskoka Lakes in the District of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, a resort area with many lakes and rivers. Early in the 20th century, Muskoka was poorly served by roads. Vacationers were transported to lodges, or private cottages, via a fleet of steamships, including the Segwun. She is one of only four ships in the world still carrying the status of Royal Mail Ship.
Ports of call included Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Beaumaris, Port Sandfield, Port Carling, Bala.
Test roll - this is the only image with an anomaly
Sketch A3 au bic bleu, tracé direct
Pointillisme
ou
La loi du contraste simultané des couleurs
Elle a été énoncé en 1839 par le chimiste Eugène Chevreul dans un ouvrage intitulé "De la loi du contraste simultané des couleurs et de l'assortiment des objets colorés", où il analyse la lumière et la couleur. À l’usage du peintre, on retiendra le ton local : la couleur propre d’un objet.
Ce ton local, selon Chevreul, n’existe pas en soi, mais il est dépendant de la couleur des objets environnants.
Ainsi toute couleur perçue appelle sa complémentaire pour exister.
L’œil a tendance à appeler la couleur manquante, la complémentaire pour former un équilibre neutre dans notre cerveau.
D’autre part, à partir de deux taches de couleurs différentes, l’œil opère ce que l’on appelle un mélange optique, c’est-à-dire que ces deux couleurs (ou plus), distinctes sont perçues simultanément comme une combinaison, une fusion en une nouvelle couleur.
Ce principe a notamment été utilisé par les impressionnistes et les pointillistes. Au lieu d'employer un vert mélangé sur la palette (mélange mécanique), ils appliquaient sur la toile une touche de jaune juxtaposée à une touche de bleu, de façon à ce que la couleur se mélange par simple perception : d'où le terme mélange optique.
Cette découverte toujours valable, est abondamment utilisée dans les procédés de reproduction photomécanique (sérigraphie, imprimerie...).
Les surfaces colorées sont décomposées en points ou en trames de couleurs séparées (trois couleurs primaires + le noir = la quadrichromie), qui se fondent dans l'œil du spectateur...
Born to be GrafFuturist!
REMS
RMs staircase and entrance transposed and tropical sliding
windows fitted.In the sales fleet trying to atract overseas buyers.
photo Alan Farrow.
The water-tanker, RMS Watercourse, sailing down the River Thames and passing Coalhouse Point. Usually based on the nearby River Medway and currently at Gillingham.
Le Titanic était surnommé le paquebot de rêve, et il l'était, il l'était vraiment...
Titanic, name and thing, will stand as a monument and warning to human presumption.
I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.
One of the most magnificent vessels to ever sail the Atlantic ocean, the Titanic was the epitome of craftsmanship, technology and majesty. The history of the Titanic is a rich landscape of triumph, tragedy, and mystery with artifacts and information still surfacing even after nearly 100 years since the event. No other vessel in history has drawn as much attention as the history of the Titanic, and as a result, a myriad of books, films, and other forms of media have been released in order to recount the events of April 14, 1912 and offer new facts and insight into the tragedy.
Le désastre est un choc pour la communauté internationale car il prouve à tous que l'homme et ses réussites technologiques peuvent être dépassés par les puissances de la nature à une époque où le progrès scientifique semblait impossible à arrêter.
The wreck of the "RMS Mülheim" at Castle Zawn, between Sennen Cove and Land's End, Cornwall.
On 22nd March 2003, RMS Mülheim was on a voyage from Cork, Ireland to Lübeck, Germany, transporting 2,200 tonnes of scrap car plastic.
Allegedly the officer on watch went to stand up and got his trousers caught on the seat adjustment lever. This caused him to fall and knock himself out. He regained consciousness but not in time to avoid the ship grounding in Gamper Bay.
The crew were rescued by helecopter but the ship was declared a total loss. A salvage firm managed to remove most of the cargo.
The following October the wreck was observed to have broken in two and a few weeks later the sea drove the remains further along the coast to Castle Zawn.
The stern section remains recognisable in 2019, surrounded with many tons of steel debris, twisted and folded like paper by the power of the Atlantic waves.
11th September 2019.
On Explore #368, December 02, 2008
I just happen to like this grand old ship, having crawled around as much of the ship as possible and even into some areas I probably shouldn't have, I was fascinated with all the nooks and crannies this vessel has to offer.
Exposure: 0.3 sec (3/10) handheld
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 115 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Wikipedia says...RMS Queen Mary is an ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late 1920s and early 1930s. After their release from World War II troop transport duties, Queen Mary and her running mate RMS Queen Elizabeth commenced this two-ship service and continued it for two decades until Queen Mary's retirement in 1967. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Career
Name: RMS Olympic
Owner: White Star flag NEW.svg White Star Line 1911–1934
Cunard White Star Line Logo.JPG Cunard White Star Line 1934–1935
Port of registry: United Kingdom Liverpool, United Kingdom
Route: Southampton to New York
Ordered: 1906
Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number: 400
Laid down: 16 December 1908
Launched: 20 October 1910
Completed: May 1911
Maiden voyage: 14 June 1911
In service: 1911
Out of service: 1935
Identification: Official Number 131346
Code Letters HSRP
ICS Hotel.svgICS Sierra.svgICS Romeo.svgICS Papa.svg
Radio callsign "MKC"
Fate: Retired at Southampton after 24 years service & scrapped. Superstructure dismantled at Jarrow, England, and the hull at Inverkeithing, Scotland.
Status: scrapped (besides the Second Class Lounge)
General characteristics
Class & type: Olympic-class ocean liner
Tonnage: 45,324 gross register tons; 46,358 after 1913; 46,439 after 1920
Displacement: 52,067 tons
Length: 882 ft 6 in (269.0 m)
Beam: 92 ft 6 in (28.2 m)
Height: 175 ft (53.3 m) (keel to top of funnels)
Draught: 34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)
Decks: 10 decks (1 crew deck)
Installed power: 24 double-ended (six furnace) and 5 single-ended (three furnace) Scotch boilers. Two four-cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating engines each producing 15,000 hp for the two outboard wing propellers at 75 revolutions per minute. One low-pressure turbine producing 16,000 h. 59,000 hp produced at maximum revolutions.[1]
Propulsion: Two bronze triple-blade wing propellers. One bronze quadruple-blade centre propeller.
Speed:
21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) (maximum)
Capacity: 2,435 passengers
Crew: 950
RMS Olympic was a transatlantic ocean liner, the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Unlike her younger sister ships, the Olympic enjoyed a long and illustrious career, spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935. This included service as a troopship during World War I, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable". Olympic 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.
She was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1911–13, interrupted only by the brief tenure of the slightly larger Titanic (which had the same dimensions but higher gross tonnage due to revised interior configurations), and then outsized by the SS Imperator. Olympic also retained the title of the largest British-built liner until the RMS Queen Mary was launched in 1934, interrupted only by the short careers of her slightly larger sister ships.[2][3]
By contrast with Olympic, the other ships in the class, Titanic and Britannic, did not have long service lives. On the night of 14/15 April 1912, Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank, claiming 1,500 lives; Britannic struck a mine and sank in the Kea Channel in the Mediterranean on 21 November 1916, killing 30 people.
Background
Built in Belfast, Ireland, the RMS Olympic was the first of the three Olympic-class ocean liners – the others were the RMS Titanic and the HMHS Britannic.[4] They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912.[5] 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 Lusitania and Mauretania – the fastest passenger ships then in service – and the German lines Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Ismay preferred to compete on size 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.[6] The company sought an upgrade in their fleet primarily in response to the Cunard giants but also to replace their largest and now outclassed ships from 1890, the SS Teutonic and SS Majestic. 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.[7] 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 percent profit margin.[7] 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 percent fee.[8]
The launch of Olympic on 20 October 1910
Harland and Wolff put their leading 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.[9] Carlisle's responsibilities included the decorations, equipment and all general arrangements, including the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design.[10]
On 29 July 1908, Harland and Wolff presented the drawings to J. 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.[11] 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.[12] Bruce Ismay's father Thomas Henry Ismay had previously planned to build a ship named Olympic as a sister ship to the Oceanic. The senior Ismay died in 1899 and the order for the ship was cancelled.[13]
Construction of the Olympic began three months before Titanic to ease pressures on the shipyard. Several years would pass before Britannic would be launched. In order 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's keel was laid in December 1908 and she was launched on 20 October 1910.[4] For her 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 hull was repainted black following the launch.[3]
Features
The Grand Staircase of Olympic.
The Olympic was designed as a luxury ship; her passenger facilities, fittings, deck plans and technical facilities were largely identical to those of her more famous sister Titanic, although with some small variations.[14] 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 room 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 elevators that ran behind the staircase down to E deck,[15] a Georgian-style smoking room, a Veranda Café decorated with palm trees,[16] a swimming pool, Turkish bath,[17] gymnasium,[18] and several other places for meals and entertainment.
The second-class facilities included a smoking room, a library, a spacious dining room, and an elevator.[3][19]
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 the 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.[3][19]
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.[20] White Star had successfully tested this engine set up on an earlier liner SS Laurentic, 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 the Lusitania and Mauretania.[21]
Although Olympic and Titanic were nearly identical, and were based on the same design, a few alterations were made to Titanic (and later on Britannic) based on experience gained from Olympic's first year in service. The most noticeable of these was that the forward half of the Titanic's A Deck promenade was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows, to provide additional shelter, whereas the Olympic's promenade deck remained open along its whole length. Also the promenades on the Titanic's B Deck were reduced in size, and the space used for additional cabins and public rooms, including two luxury suites with private promenades. A number of other variations existed between the two ships layouts and fittings. These differences meant that Titanic had a slightly higher gross tonnage of 46,328 tons, compared to Olympic's 45,324 tons.[22]
Olympic on her sea trials in Belfast in 1911
Career
Following completion, Olympic started her sea trials on 29 May 1911, which she successfully completed; Olympic then left Belfast bound for Liverpool, her port of registration, on 31 May 1911. As a publicity stunt the White Star Line deliberately 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.[23] 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.[24]
Her maiden voyage commenced on 14 June 1911 from Southampton, calling at Cherbourg and Queenstown, reaching New York on 21 June.[25] The maiden voyage was captained by Edward Smith who would lose his life the following year in the Titanic disaster.[26] Designer Thomas Andrews was present for the passage to New York and return, along with a number of engineers, as part of Harland and Wolff's "Guarantee Group" to spot any problems or areas for improvement. Andrews would also lose his life in the Titanic disaster.[27]
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.[28]
Hawke collision
Photographs documenting the damage to the Olympic (left) and the Hawke (right) following their collision (alternate view)
Olympic's first major mishap occurred on her fifth voyage on 20 September 1911, when she collided with a British warship, HMS Hawke off the Isle of Wight. 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 the Hawke by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action.[29] The 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, below and above the waterline respectively, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. HMS Hawke suffered severe damage to her bow and nearly capsized. Despite this, Olympic was able to return to Southampton under her own power, and no-one was seriously injured or killed.[14][30]
Captain Edward Smith was still in command of Olympic at the time of the incident. One crew member, Violet Jessop, survived not only the collision with the Hawke but also the later sinking of Titanic and the 1916 sinking of Britannic, the third ship of the class.[31]
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.[32][33] 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 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.[29] 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.[29]
Olympic (left) returning to Belfast for repairs in March 1912, and Titanic (right) This was the last time the two sister ships would be seen together
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 speed up the repairs, Harland and Wolff was forced to delay Titanic's completion in order to use her propeller shaft for Olympic. By 29 November she was back in service, however in February 1912, Olympic 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 get her back to service as soon as possible, Harland & Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March 1912 to 10 April 1912.[34]
Titanic disaster
Main article: Sinking of the RMS Titanic
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[35] received the distress call from her sister Titanic, when she was approximately 500 nautical miles (930 km; 580 mi) west by south of Titanic's location.[36] Haddock calculated a new course, ordered the ship's engines to be set to full power and headed to assist in the rescue.[37]
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 captain of Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia, explaining that continuing on course to Titanic would gain nothing, as "All boats accounted for. About 675 souls saved [...] Titanic foundered about 2.20 am."[36] Rostron requested that the message be forwarded to White Star and Cunard. He said that he was returning to harbour in New York.[36] Subsequently, the wireless room aboard the Olympic operated as a clearing room for radio messages.[36]
When Olympic offered to take on the survivors, she was heatedly turned down by an appalled Rostron, who was concerned that it would cause panic amongst the survivors of the disaster to see a virtual mirror-image of the Titanic appear and ask them to board. Olympic then resumed her voyage to Southampton, with all concerts cancelled as a mark of respect, arriving on 21 April.[3]
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.[38] 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 the Titanic to turn when it sighted the iceberg.[39]
1912 "mutiny"
Olympic, like Titanic, did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and was hurriedly equipped with additional, second-hand collapsible lifeboats following her return to Britain. Toward 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 because of fears 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.[40]
The 40 collapsible lifeboats were secondhand, having been transferred from troopships, and many were rotten and could 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.[41]
On 25 April a deputation of strikers witnessed a test of four of the collapsible boats. Only one was unseaworthy and they said that they were prepared to recommend the men return to work if it was 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.[40][42]
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.[43] Fearing that public opinion would be on the side of the strikers, the White Star Line let them return to work and the Olympic sailed on 15 May.[39]
Refit
Olympic as she appeared after her refit following the Titanic disaster, with a full complement of lifeboats
On 9 October 1912 White Star withdrew Olympic from service and returned her to her builders at Belfast to be refitted to incorporate lessons learned from the Titanic disaster 6 months prior, and improve safety.[44] The number of lifeboats carried by Olympic was increased from twenty to sixty four (per Carlisle's original number), and extra davits were installed along the boat deck to accommodate them. Also, an inner watertight skin was constructed in the boiler and engine rooms, to create 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.[45][46]
At the same time, Olympic's B-Deck underwent a refit, which necessitated eliminating her B-Deck promenades – one of the few features that separated her from her sister ship. The refit included extra cabins (the parlour suites which proved popular on the Titanic were added to the Olympic), more cabins were fitted with private bathing facilities, and a Cafe Parisian (another addition that had proved popular on the Titanic) was added, offering another dining option to first class passengers. With these changes, Olympic's gross tonnage rose to 46,359 tons, 31 tons more than Titanic's.[47]
In March 1913, Olympic returned to service and briefly regained the title of largest ocean liner in the world, until the German liner SS Imperator 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. [48][3]
World War I
In August 1914 World War I began. 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.[3][49]
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.[50][49]
Audacious incident
On the sixth day of her voyage, 27 October, as the Olympic passed near Lough Swilly off the north coast of Ireland, she received distress signals from the battleship HMS Audacious, which had struck a mine off Tory Island and was taking on water.[51]
The crew of the stricken Audacious take to lifeboats to be rescued by Olympic
The Olympic took off 250 of the Audacious' crew, then the destroyer HMS Fury managed to attach a tow cable between Audacious and Olympic and they headed west for Lough Swilly. However, the cable parted after the Audacious' steering gear failed. A second attempt was made to tow the warship, but the cable became tangled in HMS Liverpool's propellers and was severed. A third attempt was tried but also failed when the cable gave way. By 17:00 the Audacious' quarterdeck was awash and it was decided to evacuate the remaining crew members to Olympic and Liverpool, and at 20:55 there was an explosion aboard the Audacious and she sank.[52]
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Commander of the Home Fleet, was anxious to suppress the news of the sinking of Audacious, for fear of the demoralising effect it could have on the British public, so ordered Olympic to be held in custody at Lough Swilly. No communications were permitted and passengers were not allowed to leave the ship. The only people departing her were the crew of the Audacious and Chief Surgeon John Beaumont, who was transferring to RMS Celtic. Steel tycoon Charles M. Schwab, who was travelling aboard the liner, sent word to Jellicoe that he had urgent business in London with the Admiralty, and Jellicoe agreed to release Schwab if he remained silent about the fate of Audacious. Finally, on 2 November, Olympic was allowed to go to Belfast where the passengers disembarked.[53]
HMT Olympic in dazzle camouflage while in service as a troopship during World War I
Naval service
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. In that role she would strike a mine and sink the following year.[54]
Stripped of her peacetime fittings, and armed with 12-pounders and 4.7-inch guns, Olympic was converted to a troopship, with the capacity to transport up to 6,000 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 1 October she sighted lifeboats from the French ship Provincia which had been sunk by a U-boat that morning off Cape Matapan and picked up 34 survivors. Hayes was heavily criticised for this action by the British Admiralty, who accused him of putting the ship in danger by stopping it in waters where enemy U-boats were active. The ship's speed was considered to be its 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 1916, when the Gallipoli Campaign was abandoned.[55]
Olympic in dazzle at Halifax, Nova Scotia painted by Arthur Lismer
In 1916, considerations were made to use Olympic to transport troops to India via the Cape of Good Hope. However on investigation it turned out she was unsuitable for this role, because her coal bunkers, which had been designed for transatlantic runs, lacked the capacity for such a long journey at a reasonable speed.[56] Instead, from 1916 to 1917, Olympic was chartered by the Canadian Government to transport troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain.[57] 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 colours 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, 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, "Olympic Gardens" was also named in her honour. After the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, Olympic also transported thousands of U.S. troops to Britain.[58]
In the early hours of 12 May 1918, while en route for France with US troops under the command of Captain Hayes, Olympic sighted a surfaced U-boat 500 m (1,600 ft) ahead.[59] Her gunners opened fire at once, and she turned to ram the submarine, which immediately crash dived to 30 m (98 ft) and turned to a parallel course. Almost immediately afterwards Olympic struck the submarine just aft of her conning tower and her port propeller sliced through U-103's pressure hull. The crew of U-103 blew her ballast tanks, scuttled and abandoned the submarine. Olympic returned to Southampton with at least two hull plates dented and her prow twisted to one side, but not breached.[60]
Olympic did not stop to pick up survivors, but continued on to Cherbourg. The USS Davis sighted a distress flare and picked up 31 survivors from U-103. It was discovered that U-103 had been preparing to torpedo the Olympic when she was sighted, but the crew could not flood the two stern torpedo tubes.[61] For this service, Captain Hayes was awarded the DSO.[62] Some American soldiers on board paid for a plaque to be placed in one of Olympic's lounges to commemorate the event, it read:
This tablet presented by the 59th Regiment United States Infantry commemorates the sinking of the German submarine U103 by the Olympic on May 12th 1918 in latitude 49 degrees 16 minutes north longitude 4 degrees 51 minutes west on the voyage from New York to Southampton with American troops...[63]
During the war, Olympic is reported to have carried up to 201,000 troops and other personnel, burning 347,000 tons of coal and travelling about 184,000 miles.[64] Her impressive World War I service earned her the nickname Old Reliable.[65] Her captain was knighted in 1919 for "valuable services in connection with the transport of troops".[66]
Post-war
In August 1919 Olympic returned to Belfast for restoration to civilian service. Her interior was modernised and her boilers were converted to burn oil rather than coal. Oil was cheaper than coal, it lowered the refuelling time from days to hours, and allowed the engine room personnel to be reduced from 350 to 60 people.[67] During the conversion 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.[68]
Olympic at Southampton in 1929
Olympic emerged from her 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 Line's Aquitania was slightly longer. In 1920 she returned to passenger service, on one voyage that year carrying 2,249 passengers.[69] Olympic transported a record 38,000 passengers during 1921, which proved to be the peak year of her career. From 1922 she was joined for an express service by Majestic and Homeric; two former German liners which had been ceded to Britain as war reparations, operating successfully until the Great Depression reduced demand after 1930.[70]
During the 1920s, Olympic remained a popular and fashionable ship, and often attracted the rich and famous of the day; Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and Prince Edward, then Prince of Wales, were among the celebrities that she carried.[71] Prince Edward and Captain Howarth were filmed on the bridge of the Olympic for Pathé News.[72] One of the attractions of the Olympic was the fact that she was nearly identical to the Titanic, and many passengers sailed on the Olympic as a way of vicariously experiencing the voyage of the Olympic's ill-fated sister ship.[73]
On 22 March 1924, Olympic was involved in another collision with a ship, this time at New York. As Olympic was reversing from her berth at New York harbour, her stern collided with the smaller liner Fort St George, which had crossed into her path. The collision caused extensive damage to the smaller ship. At first it appeared that Olympic had sustained only minor damage, but it was later revealed that her sternpost had been fractured, necessitating the replacement of her entire stern frame.[74]
Changes in immigration laws in the United States in the 1920s greatly restricted the number of immigrants allowed to enter. This led to a major reduction in the immigrant trade for the shipping lines, forcing them to cater to the tourist trade to survive.[3] At the turn of 1927–28, Olympic was converted to carry tourist third cabin passengers as well as first, second and third class.[75] Tourist third cabin was an attempt to attract travellers who desired comfort without the accompanying high ticket price. New public rooms were constructed for this class, although tourist third cabin and second class would merge to become 'tourist' by late 1931.
A year later, Olympic's first class cabins were again improved by adding more bathrooms, a dance floor was fitted in the enlarged first class dining saloon, and a number of new suites with private facilities were installed forward on B-deck.[76] More improvements would follow in a later refit, but 1929 saw Olympic's best average passenger lists since 1925.
On 18 November 1929, as the Olympic was travelling westbound near to Titanic's last known position, the ship suddenly started to vibrate violently, and the vibrations continued for two minutes. It was later determined that this had been caused by the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake.[77]
Last years
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 by more than half. Furthermore, 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 Île 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.[78]
Olympic's running mate Homeric was withdrawn from the transatlantic route as early as 1932, leaving only Olympic and Majestic maintaining White Star Line's Southampton-New York service, although this was occasionally augmented during the summer months by either the MV Britannic or MV Georgic. [79]
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 in March 1933 described by her owners as "looking like new." Her engines were performing at their best and she repeatedly recorded speeds in excess of 23 knots, despite averaging less than that in regular transatlantic service. Passenger capacities were given as 618 first class, 447 tourist class and only 382 third class after the decline of the immigrant trade.[80]
Despite this, during 1933 and 1934, Olympic ran at a net operating loss for the first time. 1933 was Olympic's worst year of business – carrying just over 9,000 passengers in total.[81] Passenger numbers rose slightly in 1934, but many crossings still lost money.[79]
Olympic in 1934, passing the lightvessel she struck and sank a few months later
Lightship collision
In 1934, Olympic again struck a ship. The approaches to New York were marked by lightships and Olympic, like other liners, had been known to pass close by these vessels. On 15 May 1934, Olympic, inbound in heavy fog, was homing in on the radio beacon of Nantucket Lightship LV-117.[82] Now under the command of Captain John Binks, the ship failed to turn in time and sliced through the smaller vessel, which broke apart and sank.[83] Four of the lightship's crew went down with the vessel and seven were rescued, of whom three died of their injuries – thus there were seven fatalities out of a crew of eleven.[84] The lightship's surviving crew and the Olympic's captain were interviewed soon after reaching shore. One crewman said it all happened so quickly that they didn't know how it happened. The captain was very sorry it happened but said the Olympic reacted very quickly lowering boats to rescue the crew, which was confirmed by an injured crewman.[85]
Retirement
Olympic (left) and Mauretania laid up in Southampton prior to their scrapping.
In 1934, the White Star Line merged with the Cunard Line at the instigation of the British government, to form Cunard White Star.[86] This merger allowed funds to be granted for the completion of the future RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth. When completed, these two new ships would handle Cunard White Star's transatlantic business, and so their fleet of older liners became redundant and were gradually retired.
Olympic was withdrawn from the transatlantic service, and left New York for the last time on 5 April 1935, returning to Britain to be laid up.[when?] Her new owners considered using her for summer cruises for a short while, but this idea was abandoned and she was put up for sale. Among the potential buyers was a syndicate who proposed to turn her into a floating hotel off the south coast of France, but this came to nothing.[87] After being laid up for five months alongside her former rival Mauretania, she was sold to Sir John Jarvis – Member of Parliament for £97,500, to be partially demolished at Jarrow to provide work for the depressed region.[88] Her superstructure was demolished in 1936, and in 1937, Olympic's hull was towed to Inverkeithing to T.W. Ward's yard for final demolition.[89]
By the time of her retirement, Olympic had completed 257 round trips across the Atlantic, transporting 430,000 passengers on her commercial voyages, travelling 1.8 million miles.[87][90]
Olympic artefacts
Fittings from the ship installed in the Olympic Suite at the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick
The marble fireplace from the Olympic now at the White Swan, Alnwick
The Olympic's fittings were auctioned off immediately before she was scrapped; some of her fittings, namely those of the first-class lounge and part of the aft grand staircase, can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. The rest of her fittings found homes in scattered places throughout Great Britain.[91]
In 2000, Celebrity Cruises purchased some of Olympic's original wooden panels to create the RMS Olympic restaurant on board their new cruise ship, Millennium. According to Celebrity Cruise Line, this wood panelling once lined Olympic's à la carte restaurant.[91]
The clock depicting "Honour and Glory Crowning Time" from Olympic's grand staircase is on display at Southampton's SeaCity Museum.[92][93]