Olympic Class Ocean Liner - Origin and Construction

Origin and Construction

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 before being beaten by Deutschland of HAPAG in 1900. Then followed the three sister ships 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. Mauretania kept the Blue Riband for more than twenty years, from 1909 to 1929.

The White Star Line knew that their Big Four, a quartet of ships built for size and luxury 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 her sisters, Titanic and the soon to be built Britannic, 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.

Construction of Olympic started in December 1908 and Titanic in March 1909. The two ships were built side by side. 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.