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 (1914). All three were designed to be the largest and most luxurious passenger ships at that time, 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 |
| Preceded by | Athenic class |
| Built | 1908–1914 |
| In service | 1911–1935 |
| Planned | 3 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 2 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 45,000 GRT - 48,000 GRT |
| Displacement | 52,310 tons |
| Length | 882 ft 9 in (269.1 m) overall |
| Beam | 92 ft 6 in (28.19 m) (Olympic & Titanic), 94 ft (28.7 m) (Britannic) |
| Height | 205 ft (62 m) from keel to top of masts |
| Draught | 34 ft 7 in (10.54 m) |
| Depth | 64 ft 9 in (20 m) from keel to side of C-deck |
| Decks | 9 |
| 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. |
| Propulsion | Two bronze 3-blade wing propellers. One bronze 4-blade centre propeller |
| Speed | 21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph); 23 kn (43 km/h; 26 mph) max |
| Capacity | 3,327 passengers, officers, and crew |
| Crew | 892 crew members |
While Olympic, the lead vessel, had a career spanning 24 years and was retired and sold for scrap in 1935, her sisters would not see similar success: Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage and Britannic was lost during World War I after hitting a mine off Kea in the Aegean Sea before she could enter passenger service.
Although two of the vessels did not have successful careers, they are among the most famous ocean liners ever built. Both Olympic and Titanic enjoyed the distinction of being the largest ships in the world. Olympic was the largest British-built ship in the world for over 20 years until the commissioning of Queen Mary in 1936. Titanic's story has been adapted into many books, films, and television programs and Britannic inspired a film of the same name in 2000.