White Star Liners Olympic Titanic and Gigantic

Before we begin let's have a moment of silent on regaurd of those 1,523 people who died on the Titanic that fateful night of April the 14th-15th 1912.It all begins one night in the Belgravia house of Lord Pirre chairman of Harland & Wolff shipyards.Pirre and J Bruce Ismay managing director of the White Star Line plan to build three huge liners.
Ismay wanted the ships to have three funnels but Pirre thought
it would look much better with four funnels,so four is became.
Ismay was not interested in speed,but if not in luxary and size.
These three huge liners and I mean H-U-G-E would be over 100 feet
longer than the Cunard liner Lusitania and Mauretania.They would
also be alot more luxurious.The first of these three huge liners
was to be the "Olympic" second "Titanic" third and largest of all
"Gigantic" later changed to "Britannic" on the cause of the Titanic
sinking.
Olympic's history-On October 20th 1910 the first of these three huge
liners was launched she was christained the "Olympic".A flag dropped
over her bow speeling out SUCESS and a rocket shooting off the the
yard of Harland & Wolff.After her launching,her hull was moved to the
Thompson outfitting wharf which had been especialy built to hold
liners of this size.The "Olympic" was completed by May 1911 only 7 month after her launching,and began two days of formal sea trials on
May 29,following the Board of trade issued a certificate of seaworthiness nad the "Olympic was ready for service.The "Olympic"
sailed from Belfast to Southampton May 31 1911,the same day the second sister "Titanic" was launched.On wednesday 20,1911,when the Olympic set off on her already 5th voyage under the command of Captain
Edward J. Smith,the same captain that went down with the "Titanic",
the "Olympic" was sailing down the Isle of Wight,she worked up a
dazzling speed pd 19 knots but was norminally under the direction
of George Bowyer,a very experienced trinity house pilot.As she turned
to the starboard to round the Bramble bank her speed was reduced to
11 knots but the wide radius of her turn suprised the commander of the
HMS Hawke,a rather ancient 7,000 ton cruiser designed to sink enemy ships by ramming them.The Hawke was unable to take sufficient avoiding action.The two ships collided,the cruiser's steel and
concrete bow ramming and burying its self deep into the "Olympic's"
starboard quarter of the great liner.Fortunatly nobody was killed and
both ship's remained afloat,the "Olympic" making it back to port on one engine,despite two major watertight compartments were flooded to the top.This helped the superstition that the three sister ships were unsinkable.Titanic's launching was delayed because of the Olympic's collision.All workers had to transfer from Titanic to fixing the Olympic.In February work on Titanic was delayed after the Olympic
lost a propeller blade after striking an uncharted object.After Titanic's sinking the Olympic continued to serve White Star Line,
on transatlantic crossings.The Olympic,entered WW1 and served as a troopship.The Olympic at one time in war survived six submarine attacks nad managed to ram and sink uboat U-103.When peace returned,
she was refited and modernised before settleing back into regular routine with the White Star line until she was de-commisioned in 1935.I really do not know why they scrapped the Olympic so early she was capable of going through WW2 like the Cunard Liner "Aquitania",
served in WW1 as a troop ship and hospital ship.Also she served in
WW2.When WW2 ended she served for Cunard five more years of transatlantic service.Some where in the late 40's,I think it may have been in 1948 a piano fell through the deck.Cunard finnaly relized
she was just to old and scrapped her in 1950.

Titanic's history-Titanic was launched May 31 1911.She was then towed to the Thompson fitting out wharf.When she was completed she set off on her sea trials.The Titanic gained a speed of 23.25 knts.That was the highest speed she ever attained.In here there is not much to say about Titanic exept she was a grand liner in her era and always will be a grand liner.Why does her ghost still haunt us?Will Titanic ever reveal her secrets to us?Is been almost a century since she sank and
we still ask our self's the same questions that were asked 88 years ago in 1912.Questions such as why were the iceberg warning's ignored?
what if Titanic would have hit the berg head on?.Well I have really nothing much to say anymore about Titanic exept:"Long live Titanic!!"

Gigantic's history-The name Gigantic was changed due to the
sinking of her sister the Titanic.It was changed to Britannic .
The Britannic was launched February 26 1913.At 48,158 tons
902 feet long,she was the largest of her other two sisters.
She also had a short history like her ill-fated sister
Titanic.The Britannic or may I say so Gigantic,never
got to see a fair paying passenger.She served as a hospital
in the outbreak of WW1.On her 5th voyage on November 21
she was torpedoed or mined (No one has really ever foudout which one).
She sank in 55 minutes.Of 3,000 people aboard only 21 were killed.
They were killed by the still moving propeller of the ship.
(Grusom sight).Today the Britannic lays 300 feet in the Agean sea
with a deep hole in her bow,but otherwise in perfect condition.
She is also in much stronger condition than her sister Titanic which
lays broken in two at 12,496 feet in the cold atlantic.

A BIG thank you to Elizabeth for the banners below.
"Thank you"

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