Titanic was fractionally larger than the
With these changes (and a second refit in 1919 after the war), Olympic's gross register tonnage rose to 46,439 tons, 111 tons more than Titanic's.
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.
In April 1935 the Olympic was retired from service. It was later sold for scrapping, and many of the fixtures and fittings were bought and put on display by various establishments, notably the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, Northumberland, England.
Construction began on Olympic first, three months before Titanic. Launched on 20th October 1910, the first of the three sisters was completed on 31st May 1911. Olympic was the biggest ship in the world - a title she held briefly until the slightly heavier Titanic was completed a year later.
Although Titanic is arguably the most famous ship ever built, many people are unaware that she was one of three sister ships which were designed to be the largest and most luxurious liners in the world! Today, 21st November, marks the anniversary of the sinking of the youngest and lesser known ship, Britannic.
Olympic received distress calls from her doomed sinking sister, RMS Titanic, 500 miles away. But Olympic was too far away to assist her sister. Olympic was refitted as a troop transport in early 1915.
However, in the 1930s, the onset of the Great Depression placed financial strain on the shipping and passenger industries, and when the White Star Line and Cunard Lines merged, they decided to sell the struggling Olympic for scrap in 1935.
Differences between the Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic
The main differences between the three Olympic class ships were their size, design, and service. Britannic was slightly larger than her sisters, with a gross tonnage of 48,158 tons, compared to 46,328 tons for Titanic and 45,324 tons for Olympic.
At about five times the size of Titanic, the world's largest cruise ship is Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas. Spanning 18 decks, Wonder is the fifth Oasis Class cruise ship to be launched. Size is everything with Symphony, as she is 1,188 feet in length.
While Titanic holds her own when it comes to length, the ship's width is substantially smaller than modern cruise ships. Titanic's length from one side to the other measured 92.5 feet. Modern cruise ships are typically around 120 feet today, which is about 22% bigger than Titanic.
The second study, by British historian Tim Maltin, claimed that atmospheric conditions on the night of the disaster might have caused a phenomenon called super refraction. This bending of light could have created mirages, or optical illusions, that prevented the Titanic's lookouts from seeing the iceberg clearly.
Design and construction. The gross tonnage of the replica will be 56,000 GT, about 10,000 GT more than that of the original.
The story of Titanic's first and last voyage in April 1912 does not need retelling but that of her sister ships Olympic and Britannic (launched in 1914) is worth recalling.
16 December 1908 – the date the keel was laid down and construction commenced. 20 October 1910 – the date Olympic was launched, the first of the trio of White Star Liners comprising Olympic and the sister ships Titanic and Britannic.
Titanic sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
However, four days into its maiden voyage in 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg, and less than three hours later it sank. The drama of the eyewitness accounts and the great loss of life helped make it one of the most well-known tragedies in modern history.
In 1912, the only way to cross the Atlantic Ocean was by ship. The trip took almost six days to complete. More people were traveling at this time and each new ocean liner was the fastest, the biggest, or the best ship to ever be built.
The Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, sinks in the Aegean Sea on November 21, 1916, killing 30 people. More than 1,000 others were rescued. In the wake of the Titanic disaster on April 14, 1912, the White Star Line made several modifications in the construction of its already-planned sister ship.
Cost to build: $7.5 million ($200 million with inflation)
The White Star Line's Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, starting in 1909, with construction taking three years.
The liner was the Carpathia and she sailed as fast as possible to reach the Titanic, which sank before she arrived. All of the Titanic's 705 survivors and 13 lifeboats that left the stricken ship were picked up by the Carpathia, which was carrying 700 passengers herself.