[This has been rewritten from 2025 with updated sources, grammar and spelling corrections.]

The revelation that there were not enough lifeboats on Titanic led to an immediate change for the ocean liners. Up until the disaster, the general response was that putting more lifeboats aboard ships was impractical as it took away deck space. Almost immediately after Titanic sank they found room for them and proudly told passengers they could now travel in peace knowing of this.

RMS Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship, was scheduled to depart from Southampton on April 24, 1912. They had added 40 collapsible lifeboats they had gotten from troopships to have enough lifeboats for all passengers. However, some crew aboard Olympic were not convinced they were seaworthy. They requested they be replaced by wooden lifeboats, but this was denied. White Star said they were deemed seaworthy by a Board of Trade inspector. 284 firemen went on strike protesting the collapsible lifeboats as unsafe causing departure to be delayed. White Star hired non-union strikers to replace them.

On the following day, representatives of the strikers witnessed a test of four collapsible boats; one was found unseaworthy. The representatives said they would recommend the strikers return to work. However, a separate complaint was lodged about the non-union workers; White Star refused to fire them. 54 crew members left the ship in protest resulting in the ship’s departure being canceled. They would be all charged and convicted of mutiny, but no penalty was awarded due to the circumstances. White Star would hire them all back due to the support they had received from the public. The departure was rescheduled and Olympic would sail for New York on May 15, 1912.

Sources

“Encylopedia Titanica.” https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/.

“RMS Olympic | Atlantic Liners.” https://atlanticliners.com/white_star_home/olympic_home/.

Edwards, John. “The Olympic Mutiny – Ocean Liners Magazine.” Ocean Liners Magazine. Last modified May 3, 2020. Accessed April 23, 2026. https://oceanlinersmagazine.com/2020/05/03/olympic-mutiny-2/.

Documentaries & Videos

Oceanliner Designs, “What Happened to RMS Olympic After WW1?,” Video, YouTube, June 19, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKi3hkqGP8s.

Nautical Study. “The Story of RMS Olympic: Titanic’s Forgotten Twin.” Video. YouTube, April 8, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHcp1tYfeO0

Suggested Reading

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Archbold, Rick, and Dana McCauley. Last Dinner on the Titanic Menus and Recipes From the Great Liner. Hachette Books, 1997.

Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997

Behe, G. (2012). On board RMS Titanic: Memories of the Maiden Voyage. The History Press.

Behe, George. Voices From the Carpathia: Rescuing RMS Titanic, 2015.

Behe, George. The Triumvirate: Captain Edward J. Smith, Bruce Ismay, Thomas Andrews and the Sinking of Titanic.History Press, 2024.

Behe, George. Fate Deals a Hand: The Slippery Fortunes of Titanic’s Professional Gamblers. History Press, 2023.

Ballard, Robert D. Exploring the Titanic. Reprint. Madison Press Books, 2014.

Ballard, Robert D., Lost Liners: From the Titanic to the Andrea Doria the Ocean Floor Reveals Its Greatest Lost Ships(Hyperion, 1998).

Brewster, H. (2013). Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World. National Geographic Books.

Cameron, Stephen. Titanic: Belfast’s Own. Colourpoint, 2011.

Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition

Fitch, Tad, J. Kent Layton, and Bill Wormstedt. On a Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the RMS Titanic. Reprint. Amberley Publishing, 2015.

Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)

Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)

Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992

Marshall, L. (2019). Sinking of the Titanic: The Greatest Disaster At Sea – Special Edition with Additional Photographs. Independently Published.

Rossignol, K. (2012). Titanic 1912: The Original News Reporting of the Sinking of the Titanic. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.

Wade, Wyn Craig. The Titanic, End of a Dream, 1979.

Wilson, A. (2012). Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived.