The Olympic was an ocean liner built for the White Star Line in the early twentieth century. This is not to be confused with Olympic, sistership of the Titanic.
After the launch of Oceanic in 1899 and shortly before Thomas Ismay's death, the White Star Line had ordered a new ship from Harland and Wolff, naming her Olympic. She was planned to be the sister of Oceanic, and at 17,272 gross tonnes would have been as large as her sister. After Thomas Ismay’s death the order for Olympic was cancelled. Instead, resources were transferred to the company’s new project; to build a fleet of luxurious new liners, the 'Big Four'.
The name Olympic was recycled by White Star for use as the name of the lead ship of the Olympic-class of ocean liners, which included RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, and RMS Britannic.
Famous quotes containing the word olympic:
“Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)