Olympic-class ocean liner

The Olympic-class ocean liners were a trio of British ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line during the early 20th century. They were Olympic (1911), Titanic (1912), and Britannic (1915). All three were designed to be the largest and most luxurious passenger ships in the world, designed to give White Star an advantage in the transatlantic passenger trade.

Belfast, 6 March 1912: Titanic (right) moved out of the drydock to allow Olympic to replace a damaged propeller blade.
Class overview
Builders:	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Operators:	White Star Line; Cunard-White Star Line[1]
Preceded by:	Big Four
Built:	1908–1914
In service:	1911–1935
Planned:	3
Completed:	3
Lost:	2
Retired:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Ocean liner
Tonnage:	45,000 - 48,000 gross
Displacement:	app. 52,310 tons
Length:	882 ft 9 in (269.06 m)[1]
Beam:	92 ft 6 in (28.19 m)[1]
Height:	205 ft (62 m) from keel to top of masts
Draught:	34 ft 7 in (10.54 m)[1]
Depth:	app. 64 ft 9 in (20 m) from keel to side of C-deck
Decks:	9 (all three liners); 7 for passengers
Installed power:	24 double-ended and 5 single-ended 15 bar Scotch marine boilers, tested to 30 bar. Two 4-cylinder reciprocating engines for the two outboard wing propellers. One low-pressure turbine for center propeller. Together 50,000 HP nominal, 59,000 max.[2][3][4]
Propulsion:	Two bronze 3-blade wing propellers. One bronze 4-blade centre propeller.
Speed:	21 kn (38.9 km/h); 23 kn (42.6 km/h) max
Capacity:	3,327 passengers, officers, and crew[1]
Crew:	892 crew members (maximum)
Notes:	Approximate cost 7.5 million (USD) (approx. $199,385,678.65 in 2016 prices)

Olympic, the lead vessel, had a career spanning 24 years and was retired and sold for scrap in 1935 whilst the other two were lost early in their careers: Titanic sank in 1912 on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, and Britannic in 1916 during World War I after hitting a mine laid by the minelayer submarine U-73 in a barrier off Kea in the Aegean Sea.

Although the two youngest vessels did not have successful careers, they are among the most famous ocean liners ever built. Both Olympic and Titanic briefly enjoyed the distinction of being the largest ships in the world; Olympic would be the largest British-built ship in the world for over 20 years until the launch of RMS Queen Mary in 1936. Titanic's story has been adapted into many books and films. Britannic has also inspired a film of the same name.

Origin and construction

RMS Olympic First Class passenger list, 1923

The Olympic class had its origins in the intense competition between the United Kingdom and Germany in the construction of the liners. The Norddeutscher Lloyd and HAPAG, the two largest German companies, were indeed involved in the race for speed and size in the late 19th century. The first in service for the Norddeutscher Lloyd was SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which won the Blue Riband in 1897[5] before being beaten by Deutschland of HAPAG in 1900.[6] Then followed the three vessels of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse: SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, SS Kaiser Wilhelm II and SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie all of whom were part of a "Kaiser class". In response to this, the Cunard Line of the UK ordered two vessels whose speed earned them the nickname "greyhounds of the seas:" Lusitania and Mauretania.[7] Mauretania kept the Blue Riband for more than twenty years, from 1909 to 1929.[8][9]

The White Star Line knew that their Big Four, a quartet of ships built for size and luxury[10] were no match for the Cunard's new liners in terms of speed. In 1907, J. Bruce Ismay, president of White Star and William J. Pirrie, director of the shipyard Harland & Wolff decided to build three vessels. And so, the Olympic-class ships were built to surpass rival Cunard's largest ships, Lusitania and Mauretania, in size and luxury. Olympic, along with Titanic and the soon to be built Gigantic later renamed the "Britannic",[11] were intended to be the largest and most luxurious ships to operate on the North Atlantic, but not the fastest, as the White Star Line had already switched from high speed to size and luxury. The three vessels were designed by Thomas Andrews and Alexander Carlisle.[8]

Construction of Olympic started in December 1908 and Titanic in March 1909. The two ships were built side by side.[12] The construction of Britannic began in 1911 after the commissioning of Olympic and Titanic's launch. Following the sinking of Titanic, the two remaining vessels underwent many changes in their safety provisions.[13]

Titanic and Olympic under construction in Belfast

Specifications

Side plan

All three of the Olympic-class ships had nine decks, seven of which were for passenger use. From top to bottom, the decks were:

• The Boat Deck was the topmost deck of the ship, where the deck housing, lifeboats, and funnels were installed. The bridge and wheelhouse were at the forward end, in front of the captain's and officers' quarters. The bridge was flanked by two observations platforms on the Starboard and Port sides so that the ship could be manoeuvred more delicately while docking. The wheelhouse stood within the Bridge. The entrance to the First Class Grand Staircase and Gymnasium were located midships along with the raised roof of the First Class Lounge, while at the rear of the deck were the roof of the First Class smoke room, a deck house for the ship's engineers, and a relatively modest Second Class entrance. The wood-covered deck was divided into four segregated promenades: for officers, First Class passengers, engineers, and Second Class passengers respectively. Lifeboats lined the side of the deck on both sides except in the First Class area, where there was a gap so that the view would not be blocked.[14][15]

Cutaway diagram of midship section

• A Deck, also called the Promenade Deck, ran the entire 546 feet (166 m) length of the superstructure. It was for First and Second Class passengers and contained First Class cabins all the way forward, the First Class lounge, Smoke Room, Reading and Writing Room and Palm Court.[14] The promenade on Olympic was unenclosed along its whole length, whereas on Titanic and Britannic, the forward half was enclosed by a steel screen with sliding windows.[16]
• B Deck, also known as the Bridge Deck, was almost entirely devoted to First-Class staterooms. The finest suites could be found on this deck, particularly the two "Deluxe" Parlour Suites with their own private 50 ft (15 m) long promenades. All three ships had À la Carte Restaurants positioned aft on B-Deck, as well as the Second-Class Smoking Rooms and Entrances. Olympic was built with an encircling First-Class promenade which soon proved to be redundant given the ample promenade space on A-Deck. Titanic added enlarged additional staterooms to occupy the space and a Café Parisien built as an annex to an enlarged Restaurant. This arrangement proved so popular that Olympic would adopt the same additions during its 1913 refit. On the exterior of each ship, B-Deck is defined by rectangular sliding windows.
• C Deck, the Shelter Deck, was the uppermost deck to run uninterrupted from the ships' bow to stern. It included the two well decks, both of which served as the Third Class promenade spaces. Each well deck also contained large cranes for loading cargo into the interior holds. Crew cabins were located under the forecastle and Third Class public rooms were situated under the Poop Deck. The superstructure of C Deck between the bow and stern contained mostly First Class accommodation, but the Second Class Library was also placed further aft, directly below the Second Class Smoking Room.[17][18]

List of passenger facilities from RMS Olympic First Class passenger list, 1923

• D Deck, the Saloon Deck, was dominated by three large public rooms – the First Class Reception Room, the First Class Dining Saloon and the Second Class Dining Saloon. An open space was provided for Third Class passengers underneath in the bow. Second Class and Third Class passengers had cabins on this deck, with berths for firemen located in the bow. It was originally the highest deck reached by the ships' watertight bulkheads (though only by eight of the fifteen bulkheads).[17][19] This was later changed in the Olympic in a 1913 refit following the loss of Titanic. Britannic was designed with bulkheads extending to the main deck.
• E Deck, the Upper Deck, was predominantly a passenger accommodation for all three classes as well as berths for cooks, seamen, stewards and trimmers. There was also Third-Class cabins with a long passageway nicknamed Scotland Road by the crew, in reference to a famous street in Liverpool.[17][20]
• F Deck, the Middle Deck, was the last complete deck and predominantly accommodated Third Class passengers. There were also some Second and Third Class cabins and crew accommodation. The Third Class dining saloon was located here, as were the swimming pool and Turkish baths, the only section for First-Class passengers.[17][20]
• G Deck, the Lower Deck, was the lowest complete deck to accommodate passengers, and had the lowest portholes, protruding above the waterline. The squash court was located here along with the travelling post office where mail clerks sorted letters and parcels so that they would be ready for delivery when the ship docked. Food was also stored here. The deck was interrupted at several points by orlop (partial) decks over the boiler, engine and turbine rooms.[17][21]
• The Orlop decks and the Tank Top were at the lowest level of the ship, below the waterline. The orlop decks were used as cargo space, while the Tank Top – the inner bottom of the ship's hull – provided the platform on which the ship's boilers, engines, turbines and electrical generators were housed. This part of the ship was dominated by the engine and boiler rooms, areas which were generally never seen by passengers. They were connected with higher levels of the ship by flights of stairs; twin spiral stairways near the bow gave access up to D Deck.[17][21]

Propulsion was achieved through three propellers: two outboard or wing propellers had three blades, while the central propeller had four. The two lateral propellers were powered by reciprocating steam triple expansion, while the central shaft was driven by a steam turbine.[22] All power on board was derived from a total of 29 coal-fired steam boilers in six compartments. However, Olympic's boilers were adapted for firing by oil at the end of the First World War,[23] which reduced the number of engine crew required from 350 to 60.[24]

The Olympic-class ships were 269.13 metres (883.0 ft) long, displacing 52,310 long tons (53,150 t) normally (their draft at this displacement being 34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)), and their tonnage was around 45-46,000 GRT.[25] Olympic became the largest ship in the world when it was completed in May, 1911 before losing the title to its sister Titanic when she was completed in April, 1912. After the loss of Titanic the third sister ship Britannic claimed the title of largest British-built ship until her own sinking in November 1916. After this Olympic would enjoy the title for 20 years until the commissioning of RMS Queen Mary in 1936.[26] All three vessels sported four funnels, with the fourth being a dummy which was used for ventilation purposes. Smoke from the galleys and Smoking Room fireplaces and fumes from the engine rooms was exhausted through a chimney up the forward portion of this funnel. On the one hand it was a decoration to establish a symmetry in the ships' profile, on the other hand, acting as a huge ventilation shaft, it prevented the large amount of ventilation cowls on deck as on Cunard's Lusitania and Mauretania.[27]

Safety features

The trio of ships incorporated advanced safety precautions into their designs, intended to mitigate the risk of flooding and all but eliminate the chances of foundering. Each ship featured an inner skin, a second layer of 1.25 in (31.8 mm) thick steel above the keel which created a watertight box along the bottom of the hull known as a "double bottom." 15 transverse steel bulkheads reaching 45 ft (13.7 m) up to E Deck (D Deck in the case of the two forward most bulkheads) divided the hulls of each ship into 16 watertight compartments, each equipped with an electric pump to remove floodwater. The compartments could be sealed by automatic doors from the bridge in the event of a collision, preventing water from spreading to other parts of the ship. Olympic and Titanic were so designed that either could stay afloat with four compartments breached.[28] The Olympic-class liners also eliminated longitudinal bulkheads, such as those on Lusitania and Mauretania, which separated the coal bunkers along either side of the hull from the engine rooms and boiler rooms in the center. Such an arrangement was believed to increase the risk of a ship capsizing by trapping water lengthwise along the ship and increasing her list to one side.[29]

The sinking of Titanic revealed serious faults in the design of the Olympic-class liners, necessitating a major refit for Olympic in late 1912 and major design changes to Britannic, which was still in the early phases of construction.[30] Titanic had sunk because her five forward compartments had been breached, above the keel but below the waterline, bypassing the double-bottom completely. The low height of the bulkheads had also failed the ship, allowing for uncontrolled flooding once the water in the breached compartments had reached E Deck. The refit on Olympic raised the middle five bulkheads to B Deck, the others to D Deck and also extended the double-bottom along the hull up to G Deck. These improvements were incorporated into Britannic, along with two additional bulkheads.[29] Such improvements meant that both Olympic and Britannic could survive the scenario that had caused their sister ship to founder. The three ships were fitted with brass three chime triple chambered steam whistles on all four funnels. Only the whistles on the first and second funnels functioned however, as those on the third and fourth funnels were dummies fitted for aesthetic reasons and had no valves or bellows.

Lifeboats

Each ship could accommodate a maximum of 64 lifeboats.[31] However, only 20 boats were installed on Olympic and Titanic during construction to avoid cluttering the deck and provide more space for passengers. Shipbuilders of the era envisaged the ocean liner itself as the ultimate lifeboat and therefore imagined that a lifeboat's purpose was that of a ferry between a foundering liner and a rescue ship. Despite the low number of lifeboats, both Olympic and Titanic exceeded Board of Trade regulations of the time.[32] Following the sinking of Titanic, more lifeboats were added to Olympic (some lifeboats might even have been from the foundered Titanic[31]). Britannic, meanwhile, was equipped with seven huge gantry davits, five along the Boat Deck and two on the Poop Deck at the stern. Each contained six lifeboats and were individually powered by electric motors with their own night time illumination. In the event that the ship should develop a list and make the lowering of lifeboats impossible along one side, the davits could be manoeuvred to pick up lifeboats from the other side of the deck.[33]

Interiors

The Grand Staircase.

The three vessels had a total of 8 levels of passenger accommodation, with slight variations between the ships. However, no class was neglected. The First Class passengers enjoyed luxurious cabins and many were mostly equipped with private bathrooms, a novelty at the time. The two most luxurious suites included a private promenade deck, sitting room, two walk-in wardrobes, two bedrooms, a private bath, and lavatory.[lower-alpha 1] Each class had its own large dining saloon, while First Class also featured a lavish Grand Staircase[34] descending in seven levels through the ship,(a second smaller grand staircase which only transcended down 3 decks.) a Georgian-style smoking room, a Veranda Cafe decorated with palm trees,[35] a swimming pool, Turkish bath,[36] gymnasium,[37] and several other places for meals and entertainment. The Olympic-class liners were the first British ships to contain separate restaurants independent of the dining saloons. These were in imitation of the precedent set on the German Hamburg-America liner Amerika (1905), which had included a restaurant serving French haute cuisine run by the famous hotelier César Ritz.[38] Olympic and Titanic had À la Carte Restaurant aft on B-Deck run by the London restaurateur Luigi Gatti and his staff, all of whom died in the sinking of Titanic.

The second class also included a smoking room, a library, a spacious dining room, and an elevator. Britannic's second class also featured a gymnasium.[39]

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 class lived in cabins containing two to ten bunks. The class also had a smoking room, a common area, and a dining room. Britannic provided third-class passengers more comfort than its two sister ships.[40]

Careers

Name	Builder	Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Olympic	Harland and Wolff, Belfast	17 September 1908	16 December 1908	20 October 1910	14 June 1911	Scrapped 1935-1937
Titanic	Harland and Wolff, Belfast	17 September 1908	31 March 1909	31 May 1911	10 April 1912	Sunk following iceberg strike, 15 April 1912
Britannic	Harland and Wolff, Belfast	June 1911	30 November 1911	26 February 1914	23 December 1915	Sunk following mine strike off Kea, 21 November 1916

1: ^ For ships in passenger service, "commissioned" is taken to mean the date of departure on maiden passenger voyage

Olympic

Main article: RMS Olympic

RMS Olympic during her sea trials.

First of the Olympic-class liners, Olympic was launched on 20 October 1910[41] and commissioned on 14 June 1911.[42] She made her maiden voyage on 14 June 1911, under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith, to great fanfare and acclaim. On 20 September of the same year, while under the command of a harbour pilot she was involved in a collision with the cruiser HMS Hawke in the port of Southampton, leading to her repair back at Harland and Wolff and delaying the launch of her sister Titanic.[43] When RMS Titanic sank, Olympic was on her way across the Atlantic, in the opposite direction. She was able to receive a distress call from Titanic but she was too far away to reach her sister before she sank.[44] After the sinking of Titanic, Olympic was returned to dry dock in the autumn of 1912, where she underwent a number of refinements to improve her safety. She then resumed her commercial service.

HMT Olympic in dazzle camouflage during WWI.

During the First World War, the ship served as a troop transport. On 12 May 1918, she rammed and sank the German submarine U-103.[45] Once she was returned to commercial service in 1920, she crossed the Atlantic as one of a trio of grand White Star liners. The other two were seized as war reparations from Germany: the Ballin Line's unfinished Bismark which became the Majestic and NDL's Columbus which became the Homeric.[26] During the 1920s Olympic would enjoy great popularity on the transatlantic route, earning the nickname 'Old Reliable'. Passengers included such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin and the then Prince of Wales Edward VIII. In 1934 she inadvertently collided with and sank Nantucket Lightship LV-117, leading to the death of seven of the lightship's eleven crewmembers.[46]

Despite a major refit later in her career, Olympic struggled to compete with her newer competitors. Following the merger of White Star Line and Cunard Line in 1934, Olympic was taken out of service in 1935, and scrapped between 1935 and 1937.

Titanic

RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912.

Main articles: RMS Titanic and Sinking of the RMS Titanic

Second in line of the Olympic class, Titanic was launched on 31 May 1911,[47] and her commissioning was slightly delayed due to ongoing repairs of Olympic.[48] The ship left the port of Southampton 10 April 1912 for her maiden voyage, narrowly avoiding a collision with SS New York, a ship moored in the port pulled by the propellers of Titanic. After a stopover at Cherbourg, France and another in Queenstown, Ireland, she sailed into the Atlantic with 2,200 passengers and crew on board, under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith headed for New York City. The crossing took place without major incident until Sunday, 14 April at 23:40.[49]

Titanic struck an iceberg at 41°46′N 50°14′W[50] while sailing about 400 miles south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland at 11:40 pm ships time. The strike and the resulting shock sheared the rivets, thus opening a leak in the hull below the waterline. This caused the first five compartments to be flooded with flooding in a sixth compartment controlled by the pumps; the ship could only stay afloat with four compartments flooded. Titanic sank 2 hours and 40 minutes after the collision. There were not enough lifeboats for all the passengers and the nearest responding ship (RMS Carpathia) being too far away,[31] 1,514 of the 2,224 people on board died, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.

Britannic

Main article: HMHS Britannic

HMHS Britannic as a hospital ship.

The third and final member of the Olympic-class trio, Britannic was ordered in 1911 and launched on 26 February 1914 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and fitting out began.[51] In August 1914, before Britannic could commence transatlantic service between New York and Southampton, World War I began. Immediately, all shipyards with Admiralty contracts were given top priority to use available raw materials. All civil contracts (including Britannic) were slowed down.

On 13 November 1915, Britannic was requisitioned as a hospital ship from her storage location at Belfast. Repainted white and from bow to stern with large red crosses and a horizontal green stripe, she was renamed HMHS (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) Britannic.[51]

Artist's conception of Britannic in her intended White Star livery.

At 08:12 am on 21 November 1916, HMHS Britannic struck a mine[lower-alpha 2] at 37°42′05″N 24°17′02″E,[52] and sank. 1,036 people were saved. Thirty men lost their lives in the disaster. One survivor, nurse Violet Jessop was notable as having also previously survived the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912, and had also been on board RMS Olympic, at the time when it collided with HMS Hawke in 1911. Britannic was the largest ship lost during World War I, but her sinking did not receive the same attention as the sinking of Titanic, or the sinking of the Cunard liner RMS Lusitania, when she was sunk by a torpedo in the Irish Sea.[53]

Legacy

Wrecks and expeditions

When Titanic sank in 1912 and Britannic sank in 1916, their sinkings did not receive the same attention, due to the death toll (1,517 on Titanic and 30 on Britannic). Because the exact position of the sinking of the Britannic is known and the location is shallow, the wreck was discovered relatively easily in 1975.[54] Titanic, however, drew everyone's attention in 1912. After several attempts, the wreck was finally located by Jean-Louis Michel of Ifremer and Robert Ballard following a top secret mission for the US Navy to investigate the wreckage of two nuclear submarines, USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion, that sank in the North Atlantic in the 1960s.[55][56] The discovery of the wreck occurred on 1 September 1985, at 25 kilometres from the position given of the sinking. The wreck lies about 4,000 metres deep, broken in two. The bow is relatively well preserved, but the stern partially imploded, and to a large extent disintegrated during the descent and impact on the seabed.[lower-alpha 3]

The wreck of Britannic was discovered in 1975 by Jacques Cousteau. It has a large tear in the front caused by the bow hitting the ocean floor before the rest of the ship sank (the ship's length is greater than the depth of the water). She has been, after the discovery, regularly seen as part of many other expeditions. In contrast to Titanic, which lies at the very bottom of the North Atlantic and is being fed on by iron-eating bacteria, the Britannic is in remarkably good condition, and is much more accessible than her famous sister. Many external structural features are still intact, including her propellers, and a great deal of her superstructure and hull.[57]

Cultural heritage

Museums and exhibitions pay tribute to the ships, and the two tragedies have inspired many movies, novels, and even musicals and video games.

When decommissioned, Olympic was previously set to be converted into a floating hotel,[58] but the project was cancelled. However, its decorative elements were auctioned. The first class lounge and part of the aft grand staircase can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. The à la carte restaurant of Olympic is now restored on the Celebrity Millennium.[59]

Tributes and replicas

Due to the history and the story behind the sinking of the Titanic, several attempts to recreate the ship, partly or totally, were made throughout the years, from floating replicas, inland recreations, to an actual reimagining of the ship.

Notes

1. This last provision was a novelty on board Titanic.
2. The hypothesis of the sinking caused by a mine was the one that had been accepted by the inquiry following the sinking. However, it is possible that the sinking was caused by a torpedo (Accessed 21 March 2009)
3. Unlike the bow, the stern of the ship was not filled with water when it sank, and imploded as a result of the air.

References

Citations

1. Maritimequest: Titanic's Data
2. "Mark Chirnside's Reception Room: Olympic, Titanic & Britannic: Olympic Interview, January 2005". Markchirnside.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
3. "Titanic's Prime Mover – An Examination of Propulsion and Power". Titanicology. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
4. "Boiler - Scotch". Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
5. Le Goff 1998, pp. 22–23.
6. Le Goff 1998, pp. 24–25.
7. Le Goff 1998, pp. 32–33.
8. Othfors, Daniel. "Olympic". The Great Ocean Liners. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
9. Le Goff 1998, p. 70.
10. Chirnside 2004, p. 11.
11. Origins Of The Olympic Class, RMS Olympic Archive. Retrieved 8 August 2009 Archived 17 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
12. Chirnside 2004, p. 14.
13. Piouffre 2009, p. 307.
14. Hutchings & de Kerbrech 2011, p. 47.
15. Gill 2010, p. 229.
16. Marriott, Leo (1997). TITANIC. PRC Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85648-433-5.
17. Hutchings & de Kerbrech 2011, p. 48.
18. Gill 2010, p. 233.
19. Gill 2010, p. 235.
20. Gill 2010, p. 236.
21. Gill 2010, p. 237.
22. Chirnside 2004, p. 30.
23. Le Goff 1998, p. 37.
24. Olympic Returns To Passenger Service Archived 21 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine, RMS Olympic Archive. Retrieved 8 August 2009
25. Chirnside 2004, p. 319.
26. Chirnside 2004, p. 308.
27. Chirnside 2004, p. .
28. Matsen, Brad. "Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton & Richie Kohler" Hachette: 2008; 99.
29. "Testimony of Edward Wilding, Recalled". British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. 7 June 1912. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
30. Archibald, Rick & Ballard, Robert. "The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard," Thunder Bay Press: 2005; 100.
31. (in French) Les canots de sauvetage, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 29 July 2009
32. Parks Stephenson. Retrieved 12 June 2011
33. Archibald, Rick & Ballard, Robert."The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard," Thunder Bay Press: 2005; 124.
34. (in French) Les escaliers de 1 Classe, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009
35. (in French) La Vie à bord du Titanic, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009
36. (in French) Les Bains Turcs et la Piscine, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009
37. (in French) Le Gymnase, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 30 July 2009
38. Archibald, Rick; Ballard, Robert (2005). "The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard." 35.
39. HMHS Britannic -"The forgotten Sister" Archived 19 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 12 April 2012
40. Third class areas Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Hospital Ship Britannic. Retrieved 30 July 2009
41. Chirnside 2004, p. 36.
42. Chirnside 2004, p. 47.
43. Piouffre 2009, p. 69.
44. Chirnside 2004, pp. 76-77.
45. Paul Chack, Jean-Jacques Antier, Histoire maritime de la Première Guerre mondiale, France – Empire, 1992, p. 778
46. (in French) Le RMS Olympic Archived 24 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, L'histoire du RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic et HMHS Britannic. Retrieved 8 August 2009
47. Piouffre 2009, p. 60.
48. Chirnside 2004, p. 135.
49. (in French) Chronologie d'un naufrage, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 10 August 2009
50. Question No. 25 - When and where did the collision occur?, RMS Titanic, Inc. Retrieved 6 July 2007 Archived 21 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
51. Chirnside 2004, p. 240.
52. Chirnside 2004, pp. 254–255.
53. "PBS Online – Lost Liners – Britannic". PBS. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
54. (in French) L'Olympic et le Britannic, le Site du Titanic. Retrieved 3 August 2009
55. Gérard Piouffre, Le Titanic ne répond plus, Larousse, 2009, p. 296
56. "Titanic Was Found During Secret Cold War Navy Mission". National Geographic. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
57. (in English) The Wreck Archived 10 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Hospital Ship Britannic. Retrieved 3 August 2009
58. (in English) Mark Chirnside interview, January 2005, Mark Chirnside's Reception Room. Retrieved 4 August 2009
59. Millennium, Celebrity Cruises. Retrieved 4 August 2009

Sources

• Chirnside, Mark (2004). The Olympic-Class Ships. Stroud, England: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-2868-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Gill, Anton (2010). Titanic: the real story of the construction of the world's most famous ship. Channel 4 Books. ISBN 978-1-905026-71-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hutchings, David F.; de Kerbrech, Richard P. (2011). RMS Titanic 1909–12 (Olympic Class): Owners' Workshop Manual. Sparkford, Yeovil: Haynes. ISBN 978-1-84425-662-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Le Goff, Olivier (1998). Les Plus Beaux Paquebots du Monde (in French). Solar. ISBN 978-2-03-584196-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Piouffre, Gérard (2009). Le Titanic ne répond plus (in French). Larousse. ISBN 978-2-263-02799-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading

• McCluskie, T.; et al. (1998). Titanic & Her Sisters. ISBN 9781571451750.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Chirnside, M. (2014). Olympic, Titanic, Britannic: An Illustrated History of the Olympic Class Ships. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 9780750956239.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)