The Olympic was definitely one of the finest ships to have sailed the Atlantic. Old Reliable truly earned and deserved her nickname and she proved herself to be truly unsinkable through sheer luck and bravery. She was a testament to the quality and reliability of her namesake class. It’s such a shame that her sisters had such tragic, short lives. One can only imagine what it would have been like to have those three grand ships operating together as it should have been.
It would have been a fantastic success story! Unfortunately, no company really had a successful premier 3-ship service in operation for a long period of time.
The only one of the three never to "die" during its service. I wish Olympic wasn't scrapped. It would've made a GREAT museum, since her sisters, Titanic and Britannic, weren't so lucky.
I don't think so. 2/3 ships sank with casualities. I think he would be more proud of the Olympic being a GigaStacy, surviving the war and having a succesful career
@@lordvastor98 not to mention he was aboard the Titanic when she went under and perished in her sinking, He might be proud of Olympic Though, and probably would’ve chopped Britannic up to a missed opportunity and even more unfortunate loss.
Carlisle was the original designer. Andrews had to step in when Carlisle left after a dispute with Pirrie re the reducing the number of lifeboats to 16. The movies "night to remember" and "Titanic" used dramatic licence (lies) to elevate his status and make the movies more interesting but it simply wasn't true.
@@johnrainford9708 Exactly what I was going to say in response...Alexander Carlisle was the original overall designer of the Olympic Class, until he was overthrown by William Pirrie, James Bruce Ismay, and the representative of the British Board of Trade over the number of lifeboats that were to be installed onto Titanic, and he walked out of H&W, never to return. It was then up to Thomas Andrews (Lord Pirrie's nephew) to finish the construction of the Titanic. Thomas Andrews took tremendous pride in designing Titanic, even introducing his wife Helen to her, exclaiming, "she's my ship now Helen." The entire design (short of minute changes) of the entire Olympic Class were made by Alexander Carlisle (Lord Pirrie's brother-in-law) and Thomas Andrews.
@Euro Uboats were usually sinking merchant ships travelling at 7 or 8 knots; Olympic could make 20+ knots; definitely not a slow ship and certainly not an easy target. I don't even think a surfaced Uboat could hit 20 knots at the time. She sailed alone and not in convoy to take full advantage of her speed.
If Britannic survive world war 1 she may survived long than Olympic. Britannic also might be bought by another company like red star line. After 60 years she maybe bought by carnival. Continuing the Olympic class liners to be the only white star liner ever as a hotel
Olympic was still structurally sound when she retired from service (there was some cracking along the promenade deck but this was entirely cosmetic and easily concealed with doubler plates), and her engine installation was in fact actually better than new. At her last refit the equipment has been completely overhauled and fitted to stiffer bed plates so more power was transmitted to the propellers and less was lost in vibrations. If not for her antiquated interiors she probably hat at least 10 years more service life in her.
It shows the Olympic class was made well. One just needs to look at the Olympic and Titanic for how well they were built. Yes Titanic sunk, but when looking at how it sunk it is clear this was a ship of quality and any other would have sunk faster. Thomas Andrews the man who designed the series and saw what was happening predicted she would last an hour, she lasted over two and a half, and that was accelerated by the ship being ripped apart and pushed beyond a limit no one could have foreseen, she would have lasted longer if not for physics ripping it apart, maybe even three hours. And even then, she has spent over a hundred years in the darkest depths of the Atlantic with all the force of the ocean pressing down on her and being eaten by microbes and she still stands. And the Olympic? We all know its habit of hitting things and coming out better than the other. Your own post highlights how she could have lasted another ten years in service.
@@LynxStarAuto The expansion joints weren't actually part of the hull's structural girder. In the time Olympic was built "superstructure" really did mean "superstructure", ie built on top of the structural girder. The Olympic class structural girder started at B-Deck. A-Deck, the boat deck and the deck houses didn't contribute to the strength of the hull. Cracking in the expansion joint would not have had implications for the structural strength of the ship.
@@Riku-zv5dk That's what amazes me so much about Olympic...way more so than Titanic, whose story while fascinating has been told so many times that there's hardly anything new to add anymore... Olympic had more than her fair share of impact disasters...not to mention the deliberate sinking of a U-boat during the war. However, it's as if she just brushed every single one off as "nothing more than a flesh wound" and soldiered on and on and on... I myself am saddened that Olympic wound up being scrapped...one can just imagine the stories she could tell as a museum ship, not just her own stories but Titanic's as well. However, if it's any consolation, I have heard somewhere that one of the ferry boats that was used to carry passengers to and from both Olympic and Titanic has been found, restored and now serves as a museum ship in the steed of the Olympic class vessels. This would certainly be worth checking out as this would perhaps be the closest any of us will ever get now to being able to experience the Olympic class liners. That and the Grand Staircase from Olympic which now resides in a hotel somewhere as it was purchased prior to Olympic's scrapping. Both of these are worth a look...
I once lived in a flat that overlooked the yard where Olympic's hull was broken up in. It, like Olympic, has long been gone. It's now just an empty port. But a part of the process is still in operation, the metal recycling yard still operates.
when they would scrap them they'd often lose large pieces that would fall off so tprobably is a portion of the olympic's hull plates laying on the bottom, along with that of a few other ships. Peices of the SS great eastern have been found which was also broken up.
Olympic was blessed with all the luck. She survived a lot, had a great career (war and peacetime), and was the only one to retire on her own terms. Her nickname was well-earned.
One has to think that the Hawke was a ship for war, fitted with armour and a ram at the bow. The Olympic must have a very well designed ship AND very well built un orde to survive the impact.
I;m really impressed with what you are doing. There's been a need for a Drachinifel of liners and merchant ships and you seem to be the person who is filling that need. Keep up the excellent work.
@@TheGreatBigMove its largely intact. and no one died on the ship. the people that did die were in life boats that got mauled by the properllors. i mean its cool we have a fairly intact olympic class liner to see. maybe not in our lifetimes. i wonder if the grand staircase is still in it?
Agreed, but that was the right thing to do from a financial perspective. If they tried to save her, she would have likely ended up with the same fate. She was taken out of service during the Great Depression, after all!
@@TheGreatBigMove yeah, it would've been nearly impossible to save her in those circumstances , and we also have to consider that they didn't really think twice before scrapping obsolete ships at the time as they didn't really value them as much as we do now since nowadays ocean liners are just reminders of the past with the QM2 being the only one in service now, and the queen too has a somewhat cruise ship design with all those balconies on it.
@@TheGreatBigMove Quite true, if only time travel was possible and we could show the world of the 30s how important she would be to folks today. and how her being in port as a museum ship down the road would become a money making magnet, i mean how many people would love to be on the sister of the Titanic, I know James Cameron would have been filming on her.
Good to hear the story of the grand old lady. My late mother attended the launch of the Queen Mary in 1934 in Scotland so along with her Father being a merchant sailor at the turn of the century my family connection to the sea was pronounced. Unfortunately when I applied for the Navy in 1980 I was too much of a physical wreck even then for me to go to sea.
8:29 look at this mans right forearm. And you can see the lats of his back from the front. No gym going symmetry, no fancy biceps just lumps of solid muscle where it is needed. This Is a body built on hard work.
I’ve loved the sisters since I was 4 years old, yet somehow your video has only just taught me the Olympic had its grand staircase painted green with gold details. The photos of the paneling after it was discovered from a barn definitely show that!
Brilliant video! 😁 It seems as though, these days, that while Titanic is the most famous sister throughout Earth's history and Britannic was regarded as the lost forgotten sister, the world forgets about the first sister and the only survivor of her class. She was very deserving of her nickname and served her country proud during WW1. 🇬🇧 I'll never forget this grand, beautiful old lady. It does seem to annoy me that there are no official documentaries about the Olympic, which seems to make her the lost, forgotten sister. These are the only videos on RUclips that are as close to documentaries about 'Old Reliable' as I can get. Thank you so much for your video. I'm glad to watch this. 😁
Although the loss of Titanic and Britannic might prove otherwise, they were well built vessels. No ship at that time would have remained afloat with the damages suffered. The Olympic was loved. I often wonder how history would have been recorded had the three sisters survived. Thank you for another great video.
this ship has a history to tell.. i was told that she was also planed on being a hotel after retirement, just like the queen mary. total shame they scrapped her
@@TheGreatBigMove I don't know if you know about Titanic Honor and Glory, but they are working on a recreation of the whole Titanic and also will have an exploration of the Britannic as a hospital ship, as the intended passenger ship and you can be on it while it sinks off the island of Kea.
I have always been very interested in the Olympic Class Liners, I’m from Nova Scotia, I didn’t know she had such I vital roll in WWI for Halifax, makes me feel more connected to her, thank you for the video!
@Railfan 765 No. Britannic did receive many redesign after the Titanic sank like reinforced hull, higher bulkheads, new expansion joints, gantry davits and better passenger amenities and accommodations mainly for third class as the market shifted from immigration to pleasure travels
@@jerredwayne8401 and captain tried to beach the ship but you start moving forward with the engines more water comes rushing in causing her to sink faster
Another brilliant video. I would love to see an accompanying video on the HMHS Brittanic and the RMS Titanic in such great detail as this. Thanks for creating such quality content. :) P.S. May I suggest that at the point when you mention the Halifax Explosion, you include one of those tiny link things that pop out in the top right-hand corner (I'm not sure what their proper name is) that allows viewers to see that you've done a on that topic so that they may watch that afterwards.
I hope to do Britannic, but I'm not sure that Titanic would fit this format. The Shipstory series is meant to focus on the entire career of a given ship, but unfortunately Titanic didn't have much of a career to speak of. I did make a video on the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, but that topic is less extensively covered in other videos. Great suggestion about the link to the Halifax Explosion video! I think they're called 'cards,' and I will add that now.
Sure, I didn't realise that's what you had in mind for the series, that's all. And yes, there are many orders of magnitude more videos on the Titanic than on its sister ships and it is for that reason I'd be much more eager to see a video on the Britannic from you considering its much less mainstream. Thanks again.
You also have to keep in mind is the yellow journalism surrounding both Britannic and Titanic Especially the Britannic; after her sinking there was an enlistment poster with a grossly over exaggerated sinking and burning ship with bold letters stating "AVENGE THE NURSES!" Titanic however holds her own place in history as one of the deadliest Maritime accidents of the time. The fact of the matter is, the media -then and now prioritize reporting disaster over triumph, and given how successful the Olympic was she will never get the recognition she deserves. Except from the few of us that can truly appreciate the service she gave for both the United States and our allies during a time of great sorrow.
12:47 An interesting fact is that HMT does _not_ stand for His/Her Majesty's Troopship. It actually stands for Hired Military Transport. It's a common misconception.
Her/His Majesty's Transport The designation HMT (Her/His Majesty's Transport) would normally replace RMS (Royal Mail Ship), MV (Motor Vessel) or SS (Steamship) for ships converted to troopship duty with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Troops... Troopship - Wikipedia Ta da
I've been fascinated with the three sisters for nearly 20 years now. I'll never understand the need to scrap Olympic as she was a reminder to what once was.... The greatest liners in the world. The only survivor.
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My great grandparents took the RMS Olympic on their voyage to the United States. They lived in the United States for the rest of their lives. I wish I knew them so I could ask them about their journey.
In my own honest opinion, the Olympic is my favorite of the three Olympic-class White Star Liner sisters. I get that Titanic is more famous and all, and I also *really* like her as well, but there's just something about the oldest of the three sisters that makes her stand out more to me.
You're right--my mistake. I chose the first "Gallipoli" that came up on my software and I forgot to double check. Hope that oversight isn't too distracting!
Being someone who was educated in Australia, and hence having to learn a great deal of stuff concerning the Gallipoli campaign given the ANZAC's involvment at school, (although I'm still no expert by any means), this is not something I noticed during the video, so I don't think you have to worry.
At least Britannic is relatively well-preserved and at a shallow depth to where she can be well documented. She's not Titanic, and she's not Olympic, but she's the closest we have to seeing the Olympic-class in all their glory. Great video, mate
Nice video. But there are a couple of mistakes with Olympic in early World War 1. The first is that during the early passenger voyages, she changed ports from Southampton to Liverpool and later Glasgow. The second is that on October 27 1914 she was involved in the rescue of the HMS Audacious.
Thanks for watching! Good point about switching the home port. As for the Audacious incident, I chose to omit that for the sake of time. As you'll see, this is my second longest video.
I’m really glad this video was made. I never knew much about Olympic because I always spent my time learning about Titanic. This was very interesting and very informative, and I appreciate that!
Tiger II 10.5 cm Sorry for the wait. I ran into some technical issues which forced me to delay this video. I appreciate your enthusiasm for this topic!
No one ever said that. They knew it was really the Titanic that sank, whereas the Olympic was just one of the ships that picked up her distress call and tried to dash to her rescue!
If the Olympic was not scrapped, she would be the main way researchers would get accurate information on the Olympic Class ( Especially the Titanic, but also the Olympic ) Interiors. There will be also millions of visitors worldwide
I did a google doc on this grand old lady a few months back and it was super fun to learn about her history. Loved every minute of it and is by far my favorite. Keep up the great work on your vids, love em all!
Wow, this was incredibly informative. I’d never heard such a detailed account of the Hawk incident and I hadn’t known about the dud torpedo. Excellent vid!
5:53 tiller orders and the confusion that can accompany them for helmsman trained on ships using rudder orderst that synchronized wheel and rudder movements, played a role in Titanic's collision as well.....possibly. The Second Officer claimed the order "Hard-a-starboard" (which was meant to bring the bow to port) was not executed properly and it took 2 minutes to correct the mistake. Source:BBC article with Louise Patten granddaughter of Second Officer Charles Lightoller.
I had a dream last night about sailing on the Olympic in the early 1920s. She is my favorite liner and I’d give anything to take a journey on her just once.
I propose a toast TO OLYMPIC, TITANIC, BRITANNIC. YOU THREE ARE AND WILL BE LOVED TILL THE END OF TIME!!!! presides to blow air horn as loud and long as I can.
Great video! Would love to see a video on lightships like the Diamond Shoals, Frying Pan, and Nantucket. I knew a gentleman who was a crewman aboard the Diamond Shoals lightship. Sadly, he is no longer with us. Another interesting subject would be the old airway routes. Lots of interesting stuff there.
13:08-13:23 Words can't even begin to describe how tragic this would've been for White Star Line having to lose Titanic, Britannic, and Olympic by way of quite possibly the greatest 1-2-3 critical hit combo in maritime history,. People today would look back on White Star Line and remember it as possibly the most tragic shipping company of all time.
The original biggest ship of the time , the original Olympic Class Liner , the longest lived of the three sisters , Olympic , Britannic , and the legendary Titanic , The Old Reliable , the most memorable one of the ships I call , The Most Legendary of Time , The Lusitania , Mauretania , The Arizona , The Bismarck , The Britannic , The Titanic , The Carpathia , And The Olympic.. May she rest in Peace with her Sisters and fellow Ocean Liners..
interesting to note, that torpedo that hit her was found lodged in her hull about 5 meters below the waterline, and was found a year later while in dry dock in Belfast
Parts of the Olympics timber-work were saved and placed in a British pub. Then recently it was transferred to a modern Celebrity liner. So part of the Olympic remains at sea !
Wow! Very beautiful informative... Thank you so much for sharing the history of RMS Olympic... I really love to read different kinds of historic british liner especially Titanic.
People say the Titanic was fragile and fatally flawed, yet Olympic sent more ships to the bottom than Bismarck, all via ramming. I'm surprised she didn't go back and sink the Titanic's iceberg for revenge
Titanic: Strikes an iceberg... sinks. Britannic: Strikes a mine... sinks. Olympic: Gets rear-ended by the Hawke, Reverses into the Fort St. George, Rams the Nantucket lightship LV-117, Tw@ts a U-boat in WW1... Lives into the 1930's.
Although she lost both her sisters, Olympic endured through her career and her war years. But she did get her revenge by sinking U-103, she was the only passenger liner ever to sink a U-Boat. RMS Olympic was the true unsinkable ship of her class. I'm surprised that there's not a movie about her war years, although it might be seen as not enough material.
Great video with some new facts I hadn't heard before! But what I cannot get over is that they painted the grand staircase GREEN?!?! Whyyy (I mean, you say why in the video but it's so tragic)
I agree! I was very surprised when I first learned that fact. Interestingly, we don't know exactly what it looked like because no color photographs were taken. I have seen colorizations depicting it as a vibrant, saturated green and others as a faint olive color, as though the wood was colored with a mild green stain.
Funny how you didn't mention that the White Swan Hotel - its owner being a frequent passenger on Olympic - purchased paneling, stained glass, mirrors and a marble fireplace from, I think, Olympic's lounge when her furnishings were put up for auction, AS WELL as wood railings from Olympic's Aft Grand Staircase. The front entrance also has a revolving door from Olympic as well if I read correctly.
Fun fact: There was an Irish nurse by the name of Violet Jessop. She was on board of the Olympic when the incident with the HMS Hawke happened. She was on board of the Titanic when the disater struck, and survived. And she was on board of teh Britannic when she was sunk, and survived again.
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Hey the great big move, at 5:13 you show a picture of titanic instead of olympic, not sure if had realized it was. Just want to let you know
You're awesome and i love you
@ 15:15, Don't forget Aquitania, too! Also, in 1919, was that when Olympic was converted from coal to oil?
Olympic: I only lasted 20 years!
Britannic: I only was in the war!
Titanic: you guys got careers?
Makes sense
Britannic: I was a hospital ship!
Olympic: I got to retire!
Titanic: You guys got careers?
Principessa Jolanda: I sank during launch!
@Kenneth Jones and severely damaged a cruiser
I think we can all say Olympic was the true unsinkable ship
olympic: *spots german u-boat*
"call an ambulance"
*rams and sinks the u-boat*
*"but not for me!"*
11/10
😂
Why is this emoji a meme?
@@lemig-3179 idk
*”Azra may take me, but you will never win!”*
I know what u boat it was and it was U 103
we Canadians will never forget this grand Lady. she was more than a ship was was the real unsinkable. shame the had to scap her
Freedom Loving Loyalist Even though honestly she never should’ve come anyway
why canadians?
@@randomrazr because their were more Canadians on board
Too bad she wasn’t turned into a museum.
Indeed we Canadians won't forget I'm from Newfoundland Canada ;)
The Olympic was definitely one of the finest ships to have sailed the Atlantic. Old Reliable truly earned and deserved her nickname and she proved herself to be truly unsinkable through sheer luck and bravery. She was a testament to the quality and reliability of her namesake class. It’s such a shame that her sisters had such tragic, short lives. One can only imagine what it would have been like to have those three grand ships operating together as it should have been.
It would have been a fantastic success story! Unfortunately, no company really had a successful premier 3-ship service in operation for a long period of time.
I appreciate your compliment
@@Doveproductions73 Thank you for your service Old reliable 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇺🇸
The only one of the three never to "die" during its service. I wish Olympic wasn't scrapped. It would've made a GREAT museum, since her sisters, Titanic and Britannic, weren't so lucky.
Would've made a great submarine hunter during WW2.
The fittings of the first-class lounge and part of the aft grand staircase can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, Northumberland, England
I think Thomas Andrews would be proud to see what his ships did achieve..
I don't think so. 2/3 ships sank with casualities. I think he would be more proud of the Olympic being a GigaStacy, surviving the war and having a succesful career
wut about the liberty ships that split on their launch tracks
@@lordvastor98 not to mention he was aboard the Titanic when she went under and perished in her sinking,
He might be proud of Olympic Though, and probably would’ve chopped Britannic up to a missed opportunity and even more unfortunate loss.
Carlisle was the original designer. Andrews had to step in when Carlisle left after a dispute with Pirrie re the reducing the number of lifeboats to 16. The movies "night to remember" and "Titanic" used dramatic licence (lies) to elevate his status and make the movies more interesting but it simply wasn't true.
@@johnrainford9708 Exactly what I was going to say in response...Alexander Carlisle was the original overall designer of the Olympic Class, until he was overthrown by William Pirrie, James Bruce Ismay, and the representative of the British Board of Trade over the number of lifeboats that were to be installed onto Titanic, and he walked out of H&W, never to return. It was then up to Thomas Andrews (Lord Pirrie's nephew) to finish the construction of the Titanic. Thomas Andrews took tremendous pride in designing Titanic, even introducing his wife Helen to her, exclaiming, "she's my ship now Helen." The entire design (short of minute changes) of the entire Olympic Class were made by Alexander Carlisle (Lord Pirrie's brother-in-law) and Thomas Andrews.
Imagine being in a u boat about to sink a ship. The ship turns and rams you. That is a fail.
@Euro I wouldn't say an old or outdated ship. She would have been less than 10 years old. Not a new ship but not an old ship either.
Yeh and the largest ship at that
@@dogwithhat947 no the imperator class was bigger
Now thats alot of damage
@Euro Uboats were usually sinking merchant ships travelling at 7 or 8 knots; Olympic could make 20+ knots; definitely not a slow ship and certainly not an easy target. I don't even think a surfaced Uboat could hit 20 knots at the time. She sailed alone and not in convoy to take full advantage of her speed.
R.I.P Olympic 1911-1935 serving 24 years 😢
same age as me!
Me too😢
If Britannic survive world war 1 she may survived long than Olympic. Britannic also might be bought by another company like red star line. After 60 years she maybe bought by carnival. Continuing the Olympic class liners to be the only white star liner ever as a hotel
Yeah.
@Logan Jones. and if she had survived till today more than likely she would not be original above "C" deck anyway.
Olympic was still structurally sound when she retired from service (there was some cracking along the promenade deck but this was entirely cosmetic and easily concealed with doubler plates), and her engine installation was in fact actually better than new. At her last refit the equipment has been completely overhauled and fitted to stiffer bed plates so more power was transmitted to the propellers and less was lost in vibrations. If not for her antiquated interiors she probably hat at least 10 years more service life in her.
I completely agree.
It shows the Olympic class was made well. One just needs to look at the Olympic and Titanic for how well they were built. Yes Titanic sunk, but when looking at how it sunk it is clear this was a ship of quality and any other would have sunk faster. Thomas Andrews the man who designed the series and saw what was happening predicted she would last an hour, she lasted over two and a half, and that was accelerated by the ship being ripped apart and pushed beyond a limit no one could have foreseen, she would have lasted longer if not for physics ripping it apart, maybe even three hours. And even then, she has spent over a hundred years in the darkest depths of the Atlantic with all the force of the ocean pressing down on her and being eaten by microbes and she still stands.
And the Olympic? We all know its habit of hitting things and coming out better than the other. Your own post highlights how she could have lasted another ten years in service.
Her expansion joint had developed cracks friend. She needed an extensive overhaul.
@@LynxStarAuto The expansion joints weren't actually part of the hull's structural girder. In the time Olympic was built "superstructure" really did mean "superstructure", ie built on top of the structural girder. The Olympic class structural girder started at B-Deck. A-Deck, the boat deck and the deck houses didn't contribute to the strength of the hull. Cracking in the expansion joint would not have had implications for the structural strength of the ship.
@@Riku-zv5dk That's what amazes me so much about Olympic...way more so than Titanic, whose story while fascinating has been told so many times that there's hardly anything new to add anymore...
Olympic had more than her fair share of impact disasters...not to mention the deliberate sinking of a U-boat during the war. However, it's as if she just brushed every single one off as "nothing more than a flesh wound" and soldiered on and on and on...
I myself am saddened that Olympic wound up being scrapped...one can just imagine the stories she could tell as a museum ship, not just her own stories but Titanic's as well.
However, if it's any consolation, I have heard somewhere that one of the ferry boats that was used to carry passengers to and from both Olympic and Titanic has been found, restored and now serves as a museum ship in the steed of the Olympic class vessels. This would certainly be worth checking out as this would perhaps be the closest any of us will ever get now to being able to experience the Olympic class liners. That and the Grand Staircase from Olympic which now resides in a hotel somewhere as it was purchased prior to Olympic's scrapping. Both of these are worth a look...
The Olympic was the real unsinkable
True
well that's true
Until it sank
@VT - 06KS 801639 McCrimmon MS I think I was thinking of the Britannic
BeCaUsE iT aNd ThE tItAnIc WeRe SwItChEd /s
Edit: guys this is clearly a joke
Olympic is and will always be my favorite Ocean Liner. Still breaks my heart that they scrapped her. RIP Miss Old Reliable. A true Queen. 🖤🖤
Freddie Mercury: Am I joke to you?
Britannic: I feel lonely 😞
Titanic-Well go on live your life you bitch! Should have got here in time!
Nicks Gaming same
Nicks Gaming mines the Queen Victoria
Nobody:
RMS Olympic: I JUST SAWED THIS BOAT IN HALF, THATS ALOT OF DAMAGE.
Twice
*rams uboat* how bout a little more
I once lived in a flat that overlooked the yard where Olympic's hull was broken up in. It, like Olympic, has long been gone. It's now just an empty port. But a part of the process is still in operation, the metal recycling yard still operates.
when they would scrap them they'd often lose large pieces that would fall off so tprobably is a portion of the olympic's hull plates laying on the bottom, along with that of a few other ships. Peices of the SS great eastern have been found which was also broken up.
Olympic was blessed with all the luck. She survived a lot, had a great career (war and peacetime), and was the only one to retire on her own terms. Her nickname was well-earned.
*Old Reliable
Olympic along with maureatania will always be the two most reliable ships on record
@@m1co294 No, they are saying Olympic well-earned her nickname, “Old Reliable”
One has to think that the Hawke was a ship for war, fitted with armour and a ram at the bow. The Olympic must have a very well designed ship AND very well built un orde to survive the impact.
exactly....and she was built with the same "weak" materials that Titanic was
All three were well done. If I had the choice between an Olympic class and a modern ship, I would take the Olympic anytime.
People from Belfast are now quite proud of the Olympic class ships. Of the Titanic they now say "There was nothing wrong with her when she left us"
@@michaelbujaki2462 definetly TITANIC OR OLYMPIC CLASS I WOULD LIKE TO EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE.
@@PassiveSmoking And they would be right as far as we know!
Just a remarkable ship there is a reason it was called "Old Reliable". I swear if this ship were still around today I would be the first to go on it.
Same bro, I love the Olympic class to death.
They could always build another one and call the fourth sister Gigantic , which was the name originally planned for Britannic .
Another Possibility
Definitely I would go in a heartbeat! I would even put it on my bucket list :)
literally would’ve been one of the biggest attractions today. i can see why she was scrapped but it’s still sad
I;m really impressed with what you are doing. There's been a need for a Drachinifel of liners and merchant ships and you seem to be the person who is filling that need. Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you, Dave. Please feel free to request a ship or class you want to hear about.
She was Successful, & Died Getting Scrapped, She wasn't like her Sister Ships, who all Tragically Sunk During their Service
*Atleast the shipwrecks can be seen unlike scrapped ships.*
the silver lining is britannic could be raised some day
@@randomrazr Is that right?
@@TheGreatBigMove its largely intact. and no one died on the ship. the people that did die were in life boats that got mauled by the properllors. i mean its cool we have a fairly intact olympic class liner to see. maybe not in our lifetimes. i wonder if the grand staircase is still in it?
@@randomrazr I don't think so, more than 100 years on the ocean floor? Nah! It may seem intact but it's rusty and weak.
it's so sad that it was scrapped
Agreed, but that was the right thing to do from a financial perspective. If they tried to save her, she would have likely ended up with the same fate. She was taken out of service during the Great Depression, after all!
@@TheGreatBigMove yeah, it would've been nearly impossible to save her in those circumstances , and we also have to consider that they didn't really think twice before scrapping obsolete ships at the time as they didn't really value them as much as we do now since nowadays ocean liners are just reminders of the past with the QM2 being the only one in service now, and the queen too has a somewhat cruise ship design with all those balconies on it.
@@TheGreatBigMove Quite true, if only time travel was possible and we could show the world of the 30s how important she would be to folks today. and how her being in port as a museum ship down the road would become a money making magnet, i mean how many people would love to be on the sister of the Titanic, I know James Cameron would have been filming on her.
@Armored Wing Not sure I understand your comment.
@Armored Wing Scrapped is how it is spelt in England.
Good to hear the story of the grand old lady. My late mother attended the launch of the Queen Mary in 1934 in Scotland so along with her Father being a merchant sailor at the turn of the century my family connection to the sea was pronounced. Unfortunately when I applied for the Navy in 1980 I was too much of a physical wreck even then for me to go to sea.
Such an interesting story. I'm sure your dreams will come true someday, whenever that may be!
8:29 look at this mans right forearm. And you can see the lats of his back from the front. No gym going symmetry, no fancy biceps just lumps of solid muscle where it is needed. This Is a body built on hard work.
I’ve loved the sisters since I was 4 years old, yet somehow your video has only just taught me the Olympic had its grand staircase painted green with gold details. The photos of the paneling after it was discovered from a barn definitely show that!
Brilliant video! 😁
It seems as though, these days, that while Titanic is the most famous sister throughout Earth's history and Britannic was regarded as the lost forgotten sister, the world forgets about the first sister and the only survivor of her class. She was very deserving of her nickname and served her country proud during WW1. 🇬🇧 I'll never forget this grand, beautiful old lady.
It does seem to annoy me that there are no official documentaries about the Olympic, which seems to make her the lost, forgotten sister. These are the only videos on RUclips that are as close to documentaries about 'Old Reliable' as I can get.
Thank you so much for your video. I'm glad to watch this. 😁
Amazing video! The RMS Olympic was truly an amazing liner despite the loss of her two sister ships.
I had to settle for books about ships when I was a kid but now I can watch videos about my favorite steam powered ships.
Although the loss of Titanic and Britannic might prove otherwise, they were well built vessels. No ship at that time would have remained afloat with the damages suffered. The Olympic was loved. I often wonder how history would have been recorded had the three sisters survived. Thank you for another great video.
this ship has a history to tell.. i was told that she was also planed on being a hotel after retirement, just like the queen mary. total shame they scrapped her
The plan was to have her be a floating Hotel in the south of France. But the plan fell through
I have seen several documentaries on the Olympic class liners and this one is very accurate and thorough.
Thank you! That's my first priority when making a documentary/video.
@@TheGreatBigMove I don't know if you know about Titanic Honor and Glory, but they are working on a recreation of the whole Titanic and also will have an exploration of the Britannic as a hospital ship, as the intended passenger ship and you can be on it while it sinks off the island of Kea.
I have always been very interested in the Olympic Class Liners, I’m from Nova Scotia, I didn’t know she had such I vital roll in WWI for Halifax, makes me feel more connected to her, thank you for the video!
Great video! Thank you for sharing. I believe the First Class Lounge on the Olympic is preserved at the White Swan Hotel Alinwick , England.
Soooo good!! Thanks so much for this video. Olympic will always be one if not the best Ocean Liner in history.
After Titanic sank, construction on Brittanic was halted to make safety improvements
And Britannic hit a mine and sunk within like 55 minutes or an hour
@@justina249 within an hour
@Railfan 765 No. Britannic did receive many redesign after the Titanic sank like reinforced hull, higher bulkheads, new expansion joints, gantry davits and better passenger amenities and accommodations mainly for third class as the market shifted from immigration to pleasure travels
When brittanic hit the mine the explosion twisted the ship making water tight door inoperable
@@jerredwayne8401 and captain tried to beach the ship but you start moving forward with the engines more water comes rushing in causing her to sink faster
The torpedo that struck the olympic was just playing tag, olympic then continuing the game later went on to tag a uboat
Another brilliant video. I would love to see an accompanying video on the HMHS Brittanic and the RMS Titanic in such great detail as this.
Thanks for creating such quality content.
:)
P.S. May I suggest that at the point when you mention the Halifax Explosion, you include one of those tiny link things that pop out in the top right-hand corner (I'm not sure what their proper name is) that allows viewers to see that you've done a on that topic so that they may watch that afterwards.
I hope to do Britannic, but I'm not sure that Titanic would fit this format. The Shipstory series is meant to focus on the entire career of a given ship, but unfortunately Titanic didn't have much of a career to speak of. I did make a video on the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, but that topic is less extensively covered in other videos.
Great suggestion about the link to the Halifax Explosion video! I think they're called 'cards,' and I will add that now.
Sure, I didn't realise that's what you had in mind for the series, that's all. And yes, there are many orders of magnitude more videos on the Titanic than on its sister ships and it is for that reason I'd be much more eager to see a video on the Britannic from you considering its much less mainstream.
Thanks again.
Could you do the oceanic class of 1870
@@TheGreatBigMoveyeah for days ain't a career
Great Video!!!! I love Olympic, it's sad how her story was overshadowed by her sisters
I would argue that she and Titanic overshadow Britannic!
Yeah that makes sence
You also have to keep in mind is the yellow journalism surrounding both Britannic and Titanic Especially the Britannic; after her sinking there was an enlistment poster with a grossly over exaggerated sinking and burning ship with bold letters stating "AVENGE THE NURSES!" Titanic however holds her own place in history as one of the deadliest Maritime accidents of the time. The fact of the matter is, the media -then and now prioritize reporting disaster over triumph, and given how successful the Olympic was she will never get the recognition she deserves. Except from the few of us that can truly appreciate the service she gave for both the United States and our allies during a time of great sorrow.
She’s my favorite 20th Century liner. Thanks for this video (and all your others).
never smashed a like faster, this channel is a gem
I appreciate the like! Thanks for watching.
Woah there did the like button consent
Please don't stop creating content on this channel
I certainly won't. It's a lot of fun.
This channel feels like it is definitely going to go far. Keep it up :)
Really appreciate that, Dominic! Let me know if you have any video topic requests.
White Star: "her sister ships will improve upon the unsinkable, olympic"
Titanic and Brutanic: "im about to end this guy's career"
Britannic*
@HMHS Britannic it bothers me too :)
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Brutanic......
“Et tu, Brutanic?”
@@sirboomsalot4902 brick tanick LOL
12:47 An interesting fact is that HMT does _not_ stand for His/Her Majesty's Troopship. It actually stands for Hired Military Transport. It's a common misconception.
No thats wrong its stands for her majesty’s transport ship even google says this
Her/His Majesty's Transport
The designation HMT (Her/His Majesty's Transport) would normally replace RMS (Royal Mail Ship), MV (Motor Vessel) or SS (Steamship) for ships converted to troopship duty with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy.
en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Troops...
Troopship - Wikipedia
Ta da
It stands for both really, its a matter of personal preference
HMT still does stand for Her/His Majesty's Troopship
What a well-done little documentary on a noble ol' ship. Great job!
I've been fascinated with the three sisters for nearly 20 years now. I'll never understand the need to scrap Olympic as she was a reminder to what once was.... The greatest liners in the world. The only survivor.
Thank you for watching! If you liked this and other videos on my channel, please consider supporting my work by joining me on Patreon (see link in description). You will receive exclusive benefits and help improve the content I am able to put out. When we reach our (very attainable) goal, I will launch a new and exclusive video series called The Quick Short Move which will consist of shorter videos on interesting topics which might not require a full-length video. The Quick Short Move will be available to all Patrons.
The Great Big Move is cool
Britanic hit a mine.blew the bow open.
a
Make a story of titanic
And titanic 2
Good job. One of the better Olympic videos I've seen.
Thank you! I'm glad you got something out of it.
My great grandparents took the RMS Olympic on their voyage to the United States. They lived in the United States for the rest of their lives. I wish I knew them so I could ask them about their journey.
Damn... You made me have the feels for an old ship I only read about 👍
Imagine if they kept the Olympic around, it would be an historic icon millions would love to see yearly.
Proper good video, you can tell it's well researched as I think are all of you videos. Keep up the good work 👍
Thank you, James!
RIP Olympic 1911-1935.serving 25 yrs.Built the same time as Titanic,Britanic.This is real history
In my own honest opinion, the Olympic is my favorite of the three Olympic-class White Star Liner sisters. I get that Titanic is more famous and all, and I also *really* like her as well, but there's just something about the oldest of the three sisters that makes her stand out more to me.
agreed. i also like the aesthetics of her 1920s interior.
A very interesting and thorough video. I never realized that the Olympic's stokers went on strike after the Titanic's sinking.
Even though I just commented and saw this, Absolute brilliant video. Love the details. earned a sub, keep it up!
We miss you big girl :'(
A mistake with the map at 10:17 Gallipoli is located in Turkey not Italy.
You're right--my mistake. I chose the first "Gallipoli" that came up on my software and I forgot to double check. Hope that oversight isn't too distracting!
Being someone who was educated in Australia, and hence having to learn a great deal of stuff concerning the Gallipoli campaign given the ANZAC's involvment at school, (although I'm still no expert by any means), this is not something I noticed during the video, so I don't think you have to worry.
@@Figulus Easy to overlook, but still a little annoying that I missed it. Oh well, can't let the little things get to you.
Australian and New Zealand Soliders died at Gallipoli in first world war. Very sad. Many didnt make it.
Glad I'm not the only one that noticed. Good informative video otherwise
At least Britannic is relatively well-preserved and at a shallow depth to where she can be well documented. She's not Titanic, and she's not Olympic, but she's the closest we have to seeing the Olympic-class in all their glory. Great video, mate
Nice video. But there are a couple of mistakes with Olympic in early World War 1. The first is that during the early passenger voyages, she changed ports from Southampton to Liverpool and later Glasgow. The second is that on October 27 1914 she was involved in the rescue of the HMS Audacious.
Thanks for watching! Good point about switching the home port. As for the Audacious incident, I chose to omit that for the sake of time. As you'll see, this is my second longest video.
I’m really glad this video was made. I never knew much about Olympic because I always spent my time learning about Titanic. This was very interesting and very informative, and I appreciate that!
I have waited for this for a long time
Tiger II 10.5 cm Sorry for the wait. I ran into some technical issues which forced me to delay this video. I appreciate your enthusiasm for this topic!
This class of liners if by far the most beautiful.
I'm imagining the Titanic survivors seeing the Olympic on the newspapers and being flat out horrified.
"Wait, I thought the Titanic sank!"
No one ever said that. They knew it was really the Titanic that sank, whereas the Olympic was just one of the ships that picked up her distress call and tried to dash to her rescue!
Love your Channel and the videos, I've been watching them all. Thank you. From Bogotá 😊
If the Olympic was not scrapped, she would be the main way researchers would get accurate information on the Olympic Class ( Especially the Titanic, but also the Olympic ) Interiors. There will be also millions of visitors worldwide
I did a google doc on this grand old lady a few months back and it was super fun to learn about her history. Loved every minute of it and is by far my favorite. Keep up the great work on your vids, love em all!
R.I.P RMS Olympic: 1911-1935
Wow, this was incredibly informative. I’d never heard such a detailed account of the Hawk incident and I hadn’t known about the dud torpedo. Excellent vid!
5:53 tiller orders and the confusion that can accompany them for helmsman trained on ships using rudder orderst that synchronized wheel and rudder movements, played a role in Titanic's collision as well.....possibly. The Second Officer claimed the order "Hard-a-starboard" (which was meant to bring the bow to port) was not executed properly and it took 2 minutes to correct the mistake.
Source:BBC article with Louise Patten granddaughter of Second Officer Charles Lightoller.
Your videos are great. Wonderful information about long lost eras from a century ago.
Olympic really was unsinkable
I had a dream last night about sailing on the Olympic in the early 1920s. She is my favorite liner and I’d give anything to take a journey on her just once.
Name a ship "Traffic" to stop people from complaining about delays. Smart.
I propose a toast TO OLYMPIC, TITANIC, BRITANNIC. YOU THREE ARE AND WILL BE LOVED TILL THE END OF TIME!!!!
presides to blow air horn as loud and long as I can.
Never a bad video, keep up the good work!
Thank you!
Great video!
Would love to see a video on lightships like the Diamond Shoals, Frying Pan, and Nantucket. I knew a gentleman who was a crewman aboard the Diamond Shoals lightship. Sadly, he is no longer with us.
Another interesting subject would be the old airway routes. Lots of interesting stuff there.
Must've been unlucky, making 3 massive ships and 2 out of 3 immediately sunk.
One was the longest surviving.
One was sunk on their 5th voyage (hit a mine sank within an hour)
One didn’t even made it across New York
Great commentary, photos and history. Thank you so much for a riveting video!
Thank you for watching!
carlhaluss that comment made me cringe
13:08-13:23 Words can't even begin to describe how tragic this would've been for White Star Line having to lose Titanic, Britannic, and Olympic by way of quite possibly the greatest 1-2-3 critical hit combo in maritime history,. People today would look back on White Star Line and remember it as possibly the most tragic shipping company of all time.
Good point. It likely would have changed the narrative surrounding the White Star Line and certainly would have changed their financial situation.
This is so interesting! Discovered this channel yesterday and cannot stop watching ;!!
Sees Uboat "Prepare for Ramming! Speed"!!
The original biggest ship of the time , the original Olympic Class Liner , the longest lived of the three sisters , Olympic , Britannic , and the legendary Titanic , The Old Reliable , the most memorable one of the ships I call , The Most Legendary of Time , The Lusitania , Mauretania , The Arizona , The Bismarck , The Britannic , The Titanic , The Carpathia , And The Olympic.. May she rest in Peace with her Sisters and fellow Ocean Liners..
@@SQUAREHEADSAM1912 I didnt say of all time, I said of THE time, meaning the time period where she held the record.
The great sister ship.
interesting to note, that torpedo that hit her was found lodged in her hull about 5 meters below the waterline, and was found a year later while in dry dock in Belfast
Really? I did not know that. Do you have a source? Not that I don't believe you, but I'd like to read more about it.
Yeah its so badass that the Olympic sliced a U-boat is half
Parts of the Olympics timber-work were saved and placed in a British pub. Then recently it was transferred to a modern Celebrity liner. So part of the Olympic remains at sea !
Olympic is the real unsinkable ship
Wow! Very beautiful informative... Thank you so much for sharing the history of RMS Olympic... I really love to read different kinds of historic british liner especially Titanic.
Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed it. More to come.
People say the Titanic was fragile and fatally flawed, yet Olympic sent more ships to the bottom than Bismarck, all via ramming. I'm surprised she didn't go back and sink the Titanic's iceberg for revenge
Titanic: Strikes an iceberg... sinks.
Britannic: Strikes a mine... sinks.
Olympic: Gets rear-ended by the Hawke, Reverses into the Fort St. George, Rams the Nantucket lightship LV-117, Tw@ts a U-boat in WW1... Lives into the 1930's.
I didn't realize that the thumbnail had very dark and murky photos of the Britannic and Titanic's wreck, I thought they were the ocean floor
Although she lost both her sisters, Olympic endured through her career and her war years. But she did get her revenge by sinking U-103, she was the only passenger liner ever to sink a U-Boat.
RMS Olympic was the true unsinkable ship of her class. I'm surprised that there's not a movie about her war years, although it might be seen as not enough material.
Great video with some new facts I hadn't heard before! But what I cannot get over is that they painted the grand staircase GREEN?!?! Whyyy (I mean, you say why in the video but it's so tragic)
I agree! I was very surprised when I first learned that fact. Interestingly, we don't know exactly what it looked like because no color photographs were taken. I have seen colorizations depicting it as a vibrant, saturated green and others as a faint olive color, as though the wood was colored with a mild green stain.
It started with the questionable blue floor tiles on the Britannic ( which would later make it way onto the Olympic )
Funny how you didn't mention that the White Swan Hotel - its owner being a frequent passenger on Olympic - purchased paneling, stained glass, mirrors and a marble fireplace from, I think, Olympic's lounge when her furnishings were put up for auction, AS WELL as wood railings from Olympic's Aft Grand Staircase. The front entrance also has a revolving door from Olympic as well if I read correctly.
16:49, its INSANE how modern the general design of that ship is...
Nice job! Thanks for sharing!
I have a good one
Mauretania: I lasted 23 years!
Lusitania: I only lasted 9 years!!
*Titanic: yOu gUys aRe gEtTing caReerS?!?!*
Fun fact: There was an Irish nurse by the name of Violet Jessop. She was on board of the Olympic when the incident with the HMS Hawke happened. She was on board of the Titanic when the disater struck, and survived. And she was on board of teh Britannic when she was sunk, and survived again.
I'd love to see a video about the Hidenburg and other airships
I intend to make one!
@@TheGreatBigMove Can't wait!
The ballroom from the Olympic is in the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, England.
Great ship.. the old reliable...