March 6, 1912: Titanic (right) had to be moved out of the drydock so her sister Olympic (left), which had lost a propeller, could have it replaced. Robert John Welch (1859-1936), official photographer for Harland & Wolff Public domain
RMS Olympic was barred by a shipworkers strike in Southampton, England from departing over insufficient lifeboats. At issue were 40 collapsible boats that were thought not seaworthy. After a test that showed only one was unsuitable, the workers were offered to return but objected to non union workers brought aboard during this time. After 54 sailors refused to work and left, the sailing was cancelled. The 54 sailors were arrested and charged with mutiny. They were found guilty but no penalty was imposed due to the circumstances of the case. They were allowed to rejoin the crew and Olympic set sail on 15 May.
RMS Olympic would be refitted in October and would incorporate lessons learned from Titanic. 64 lifeboats were added along with an inner watertight lining for the boiler and engine rooms. The watertight bulkheads were extended and an extra one added for a total of 17 watertight compartments. Olympic returned to service in March, 1913.
The opening scene of A Night To Remember has Titanic being officially christened. In reality, Harland & Wolff never had such ceremonies for launching ships they constructed. If the ship were important enough, they might invite certain important people to watch its launch. Usually it would be just the workers and those who designed the ship at Harland & Wolff to be in attendance. Here is a video that shows the construction of RMS Olympic and its launch.
This photo of SeaCity Museum is courtesy of TripAdvisor
A rare desk chair from Olympic on display at Southampton SeaCity museum has been removed from display due to vandalism reports Daily Echo. The vandalism was caused in part by children climbing over the glass barrier to sit on the chair and ended up smashing the chair instead. And now Southampton faces a £1,600 ($USD2,487)repair bill. And it is not the first time it has happened causing money to be spent restoring the historic chair. For now the chair has been removed from public view and will only return for special events.
While we would prefer to keep original artefacts from our collection on permanent display, we recognise that we cannot continue to risk such damage to these items and incur the extra cost of repairs. (City council member quoted by Daily Mail)
1. Cruise Ship News opines they hope construction on Titanic II will begin soon and that rumors it was a publicity stunt are wrong. CSN though thinks the new ship will lack the eloquence of the original: “ Firstly, the newer ship will be taller than the original and will also have a shallower draft, much like modern ships in that respect. This will mean to look at she will look shorty and stubbier, and so some people suggested that making the Titanic 2 slightly longer would have helped with its proportions.”
Source: Titanic 2 To Lack Elegance Of Original Ship(12 Mar 2014, Cruise Ship News)
2. Des Cox was handed reels of old film and discovered one that had real value. It was an old cinema advertisement for RMS Olympic. It is quite a find and shows Olympic in her glory days and gives a sense of what it was like on Titanic in 1912. The news link will take you to an ITV interview with Des Cox. He does not know exactly what to do with it but best guess is that some Titanic museum will get it.
Source: Rare Video Of The Titanic’s Sister Ship Discovered(12 Mar 2014,ITV)
