What happened to Olympic after Titanic sank? | Analysis of the White Star Sister Ships 

Olympic really was an unsinkable ship, seemed like nothing could keep it down - multiple collisions - took down a submarine - avoided a torpedo attack - survived one of the worst wars in history - survived the titanic’s reputation

When my father died I found a photograph of the Olympic among his effects and could not image why he would have that. Twenty five years later his brother and my Uncle Jim passed and I found the answer. My cousin Mike came to me with a box of odds and ends that my uncle had evidently received from our grandfather. In it was a 2nd Class Boarding pass to the Olympic dated in June of 1921. My grandfather went in grand style to visit his family it Italy and he never mentioned it to anyone.

Imagine if Olympic was closer; Could you imagine waiting to be rescued and here, out of the darkness, comes what appears to be the ship you were just on that sank?

I remember in one of the videos on youtube about Olympic / Titanic, in the comments there was someone who said, around 2010 they were watching the James Cameron movie, "Titanic" on TV at home, and their grandmother who was in her 90s was in the room, and suddenly spoke up and said "I was on that ship". They were like "What?" and she said she recognized the grand staircase, having remembered climbing up and down it. After a little more enquiry, it turned out when she was a schoolgirl in the 1920s she'd been taken on a day trip aboard _Olympic._

One of the things that fascinates me the most about Olympic is that after her remarkable life in service she is the only one of three sisters that is actually gone. Titanic and Britannic still exists after their tragic and premature endings and they are both accessibles. It's a crazy thing to think about it.

Olympic is my favourite of the 3 sisters because she was the first. To see her arriving in NYC and the largest ship in the world at the time on her maiden voyage. What a sight it must have been!

One of the parts of the Titanic history that most people ignore and fascinates me most is not just the fact that Olympic was just as big as Titanic was (only that the later was heavier, but otherwise identical in size) but that until Titanic demise Olympic was actually more famous being the lead ship of the class and allready in service.. To the points that even there is no known photos of Titanic's great stairwell or propellers .. all those ujsed to ilustrate Titanic's were Olympic's .. photographers of the time simply went for the new stuff on Titanic and didnt bothered with shared stuff in the little time they had to cover Titanic

Britannic was the most advanced of the three sisters, and sank after hitting a mine or a torpedo. Titanic was the newer Queen of the seas, the crown jewel of the White Star Line, and sank tragically on her maiden voyage...and then theres big fuckin bessy the olympic. Gets crashed into, serves in a war, has multuple mutinies, and in the end, after having a full career unlike her sisters, she gets scrapped.

Wow! That was awesome! I'd never considered where the Olympic was on the night of the sinking. I can certainly imagine that the sight of the Olympic would be ghostly to the survivors on the Carpathia. It would almost be cruel to transfer the survivors onto the Olympic. I give great credit to the officers on both ships for considering this. I really enjoyed this video!

I knew she went in for a refit but I didn't know it was this major of a refit wow they went all out. Sad that she got scrapped in later years.

I really appreciate your delivery. It’s so nice to hear narration marked by impeccable pronunciation and phrasing with the stresses and pauses all correct and appropriate. For anyone not familiar with it, the accent is “educated Australian”.

A very good friend of mine , Arthur Pursell, sailed over to WWI aboard the Olympic. It had been converted to a troop ship. This was early in 1918, and Arthur was a Private in the 91st ‘Wild West’ Army division. He saw combat in France and Belgium. He lived to be 95, but always remembered his voyage on the Olympic till the end of his life.

A good book about the Olympic during the First World War is " Hull Down " by Sir Bertram Hayes. He was the Captain of the Olympic at the time and later the Captain of Britannic's replacement RMS Majestic.

One part of the Olympic still exists that anyone can visit. When the ship was being scrapped, anything deemed reusable was auctioned off, and the original dining room in its entirety was purchased, moved and reinstalled in the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, England including the magnificent Staircase and splendid glass windows

I used to work in a charity store, and we found a part of Olympic in a box of stuff someone donated to us. It was so fascinating to see something from such a historic ship

The Olympics main staircases ornamental metal work below the balustrade was saved by Thomas Ward who repurposed it at his Ribblesdale Cement Works' new office building as it's main staircase in 1936 where it still remains to this day and I get to see it as I work there!

Olympic’s story of how she became known as the Old Reliable is indeed a story worthy of being told on it’s own, and I hope to see it.

It's feel heart breaking when u heard your little sister are in dying while you rushing back helplessly to save her in tears.

I saw in a documentary that they also changed Olympic's and Britannic's expansion joints (a gap at the side of the hull to account for the metal expanding and contracting in the heat so preventing the metal from warping or cracking under the tension). The three were originally designed with a wedge-shaped cut, but after Titanic sank rumours speculated she had split in two before she went down. So they changed them from having a pointed end

This was really interesting. Nicely presented. I didnt realize it came out a basically different ship, rather than a couple reinforcements/improvements. 🚢⚓👍

I've always followed the history of the Titanic and her sisters but never knew this about the Olympic's refit. Loving your channel.

There should be a movie of the legendary Olympic.

Interesting how public attention to the Olympic Class shifted over the years. A lot of these shifts were gradual and some were more instant. I believe it goes: Olympic, Titanic and the sinking, Olympic, Slight Britannic before WW1, Olympic, then a period of rather quietness about the class, then Titanic in the 50s, quietness, then Titanic with the wreck discovery in 1985, and finally a continued interest in Titanic helped rebuild interest in Olympic and Britannic since then.

After Titanic sank Olympic’s firemen went on strike and refused to sail without enough lifeboats. So White Star had to strap a few dozen collapsible boats to the deck to appease them.

You do a great job on these videos. You are informative and concise, never wasting time on unimportant information as many RU-vidr do. Thank you for creating these videos.

Those three ships are the most beautiful ships that will ever be, modern ships are an eyesore, I wish ships of this style still existed.

I was always fascinated by the paint schemes of the time. Even Disney was impressed to paint their ships in similar fashion. However, the main reason why most of the ships hulls were painted black was not because of status, it was to hide the thick black coal dust each time it was loaded into the ship. As ships were converted from coal to other fuel sources the side of ships could be painted in other colors. However, since passengers were so use to the black paint scheme and related it to luxury many were never changed.

Olympic :The Real Unsinkable Ship!!!

A really interesting part of history that I've never really thought about! It would be brilliant to hear about the coal strikes and mutinies! They are pretty fabled here in Belfast!

Most people understand that he first and only Captain of Titanic was EJ Smith. In fact Titanic’s first captain was Herbert Haddock during her first sea trials out of Belfast. EJ, was then in command to take her to Southampton to get ready for her maiden voyage.

I've never really thought much about the classic ocean liners until one of your videos came up in my YT suggestions. Now I can't get enough of the topic. You have made me an enthusiast. Well done young man!!

Almost two decades ago, a number of Olympic artefacts were auctioned off by the Haltwhistle Paint Factory. Included on the list were a number of items previously installed into the factory boardroom; they were originally purchased after Olympic was scrapped. Pleased to say, I won the final gavel after a bidding war with a Titanic Museum located in Florida USA. Since then, I've been a proud owner of one of the beautiful and intricately carved, oak newel post panels from Olympic's First Class Grand Staircase. The real pleasure in having this item, is knowing the likelihood of the same pair of skilled hands that carved the same pattern, also did so for the Titanic. I'm not sure what it is worth today, but at that time, I paid over 2.7K pounds for it.

I did not know about the exhaustive list of changes, remodeling, improvements and adjustments the White Star line made to Olympic!! I didn't even stop of think of the public's perception and reaction to her since she was so eerily similar to Titanic. Well presented vid, clearly explained while learning a lot. Great job 👏

Just imagine that.. your a passenger of the Titanic, and you're over the icy waters waiting for someone to save you.. and then a huge ship looking exactly like the one that you were just on, comes to save you

1:08 ....................... that actually made me tear up...... to see this ship just vanish like that. 😥As though the ship was an actual living being that lost a sibling that she once saw in their home port, Southampton. 😪

The quality of your videos is so good, given the fact that you just began this channel! Interesting topics too, keep up this work dude!!!!

What an incredible update in safety. They learned from Titanic and made the technological changes.

Great work! As an ex ship’s officer 1973-83 The Bankline. Maybe expand your field to incorporate the golden age of the cargo ship companies. At marine college many companies were represented. Ellermans, Maggie Booths, Bankline, Union Castle, the list goes on! Again well done!

I found this channel last week and have appreciated it alot. Keep it up sir

Excellent to camera narration one of the best along with curious droid! Clear voice no theatrics with great information. Have subscribed.

I enjoyed that. Very well done Mr. Brady. I always look forward to see what is in store when you post a new video.

Thanks for an interesting doco'. Your easy pace, pauses and clear diction make it really enjoyable too, unlike some who seem to be on a mission to spit out as many words as they can in the shortest time possible. New sub.

2:02 I love photos like this that show off the intricate riveting pattern ships of the past had, true bloody hard workmanship!

I don't know if some of what I am commenting on has already been covered in one of the other comments. There are nearly 1400 comments posted as of this date, so it is possible. The Olympic was scrapped in 1935 after a service life of 24 years. Just prior to her being taken out of service she was involved in one more of the tragedies which seem to mark the history of the Olympic sister ships. Late in the morning of May 15, 1934 the Olympic struck and sank the United States Lightship "Nantucket", (LV 117). The collision occurred in a dense fog off the southern coast of Nantucket Island, where the lightship was stationed to warn ships of the Nantucket shoals, as the Olympic was heading to New York. Four of the lightships crew went down with the ship and seven were rescued by the Olympic. Unfortunately, three of those died of their injuries. My association with this incident involves my father. He was a member of the Lightship Service, which later came under the United States Coast Guard, and was a crew member on LV 117. Fate was with him at that time. Because of the isolation of the duty station crew members worked on a rotating basis, two months on station and one month off. One third of the crew was off duty in any given month. My father was on his one month off when the lightship was sunk. He later went on to serve on the replacement vessel constructed to replace LV 117. The replacement lightship, designated LV 112, and also named "Nantucket" since the ship designation refers to the duty station, was constructed by Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware and was paid for by the British Government as reparation for the collision and sinking of the LV 117. After 39 years of service LV 112, which was the largest lightship constructed, was taken out of service. It has undergone renovation and preservation and to my knowledge is moored in the Boston harbor area. I don't know if it is available for visitors. I have pictures of my father during his time in the Lightship Service including one taken of the LV 112 when she was going out to station after being commissioned.

These three sisters are the most beautiful ships ever

I had no idea Olympic received Titanic's distress signals. How heartbreaking.

A ton of information AND you have a good delivery. Well done.

I’m glad so many people have been covering this topic. I did a few months ago but that was a very short and summarized version

I’d be amazing if you did an entire video of Olympic. I’ve weirdly enough been almost more interested with Olympic than Titanic just because of her vast career.

This documentary is brilliant. It's as polished and professional and informative - if not moreso - than anything produced by the BBC. Bravo!!!!

these videos are all so facinating! i cant imagine how much research went into them all! thank you for posting all of them :)

a shame olympic wasnt saved but we all know how big of an expense and pain in the ass it is to preserve a ship. aka queen mary

I really enjoyed this video, I would love to see more stories on her aspecially during her war-time service :D

I'd often wondered about this after learning about Titanic's sister ships. Thanks so much for this overview!

I learned a lot of new stuff in this video about Olympic, I've always have been more so fixated on Titanic and knew not much about her sisters. Thank you!

I would love to see a video about Olympic's role during the First World War and her eventual retirement.

What a great video, don't get me wrong - I love a good Titanic video, but I don't like that she overshadows her Sisters so much, the Olympic and the Britannic were both beautiful and groundbreaking ships in their own right and deserve just as much attention. More please :D

A video on the Olympic mutiny would be interesting.

That is awesome that you're keeping history alive Keep up the good work Bud

Fascinating video with so much spoken and visual information. This may seem to be a small point but I especially noticed the comment that when the Olympic returned to service in May of 1912 there were only 500 passengers and 900 crew. Ordinarily there would have been a huge number of people in steerage. I wonder how many Third Class passengers, if any, were aboard the Olympic for that crossing. It would be interesting to know how far in advance Third Class passengers were booked and where those passengers were that would have been aboard the Olympic had not the Titanic sank. Maybe travel agents or White Star staff re-routed those people to other liners in the White Star fleet or even to the ships of other lines if White Star was out of space?

Mike Brady, if you haven’t already *PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO DEBUNKING THE TITANIC OLYMPIC SWITCH THEORY* please, we need it.

Great work Oceanliner Designs, very insightful.

Glad I discovered your channel a few weeks ago, man. Absolutely amazing and already up there with some of my favorite oceanliner content creators. :)

Great video as always!

How about Violet Jessop, the nurse who survived the sinkings of Titanic & her other sister ship, the Brittanic. It never stopped her going to sea, she continued working well into her sixties.

Love your videos. Can’t stop watching and learning about these ships.

What a wonderful narrative!! Excellent. Just ran across this and I’m glad I did.

I’ve always found it tragic that amongst feral cats the survival rate for kittens is at best one out of three. So it seems for some fleets of ocean liners.

I have been fascinated with the Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic for over 25 years. In every single documentary, book, and article, it is always mentioned that the watertight bulkheads in the Titanic did not reach high enough to prevent water from spilling over the top of each bulkhead. I have never seen a picture of the top of any of the bulkheads. Do you know if there is a picture out there that shows the top of a bulkhead not reaching high enough to prevent water from spilling over? I would love to see what it actually looks like versus envisioning it incorrectly in my mind.

Idk there is something so sweet and uplifting and heroic when you hear about ships racing to help a stricken vessel. There is just something so heroic about it. The idea of a ship hearing about the potential loss of a vessel and its people and deciding to race to it to aid it just shows that no matter all the war, disputes, genocide and murder that us humans commit on each other, there is always the humane ones willing to give a helping hand.

Very well researched video. Appreciate your efforts

He looks like he's cosplaying as one of those wireless operators

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.

Great delivery and excellent video, mate.

Very nicely put together, well done sir.

Dang! I never knew the Olympic raced to the scene of the sinking Titanic. Just imagine if you were just in a horrific ship sinking and the rescue boat picking you up is identical. Even I'd probably be traumatized and delirious but still rather take my chances in the elements at that point than getting on another titanic-like ship. Your videos are amazing btw, I just found this channel and I am so engrossed in all the information you have presented!

Fantastic video! I’ll be looking out for more!

Interesting and informative video - been looking forward to one on this subject for a while !

I absolutely believe that a series dramatizing the career points of the RMS Olympic is something that could do very well.

Brilliant Video

It's almost ironic that the Olympic was so heavily scrutinized after her sister's sinking. She was built to withstand darn near any conceivable accident and remain afloat. And her rebuild took her safety well beyond anything that had ever been built before, making her sort of the prototype for how all modern cruise ships would be built.

Kudos to you for a fine original approach to the world of the Titanic and her sisters. Well done! 1

Good job Sir. Your narration is very professional. Steady as she goes mate.

The amount of comments about the false switch of Titanic and Olympic is mind numbing. I believe in elves more than that.

as a Tintin-fan I like the fact that Olympic´s captain was named Captain Haddock

Man it really helps how good looking you are, makes these videos just that much better.

Very intelligently put, loved this.

The Olympic class liners even today are still endearing. Really comes to show you how timeless they really are. I won't lie I'd love to see a new Olympic or Lusitania class liner built in the 21st century. Compared to even today's luxurious first class plane tickets the Olympic and her sisters are still unmatched when it comes to taste.

Olympic's passenger numbers recovered quite well after the loss of Titanic.

Great work! I am facinated by ocean liners.

Great information!!! They practically built a new ship! Cool vest and tie.

I've always thought that the addition of the extra lifeboats all along the Boat Deck actually improved her aesthetics. Was her 1912-1913 refit when the B-Deck promenade was removed and cabins extended to the sides of the ship? Or was that done during her conversion to oil, following the World War?

Love your videos. Thank you. Belfast "loff" is Lough, pronounced Lock.

Well done. I learned a lot about Olympic and Titanic in this video.

Another wonderful video to watch. I'm going to enjoy this as I've enjoyed the others. Thanks, Mike! I still happily look forward to the SS Princess Alice video! - Romny

I'm fairly interested in any documents I can find on the earliest incarnations of Oceanic with an eye to what White Star might have been contemplating for a third ship had the war not happened and Britannic entered service.

A few decades ago I was browsing the tables of stuff on sale in a Saturday "flea" market in Marylebone, London where, among the odds and ends on one table, was a small discoloured metal item, shaped like a witch's hat. A curious closer examination located a tiny red badge halfway down its surface. This identified the origin of the piece as RMS Olympic and i guessed it to be a candle snuffer. I paid 50pence and it was subsequently sold on in an auction for many times that sum. With my own knowledge of the tragedy affecting her famous sister ship, this was a memorable unexpected "find" for me and shows just what can be discovered in the most unlikely places.

OK, you got me hooked. GREAT CONTENT...BRAVO !!

Guy - You really deliver a terrific presentation with all the best information, history, and, yes, timbre of voice possible. You simply are terrific at performing what you do, relating the intriguing 'ins-and-outs' of the histories of these pre-WWII ships-of-the-line, or 'near-abouts' in certain cases. As others are as well, I am mightily impressed with the results of your efforts, which appear as if no effort seemed required at all! Terrific, guy; thank you for your gifted presentations. Cheers - From Denver, Colorado with True Fanfare!

Pls do a video debunking the titanic olympic switch theory, the fact people are still making hundreds of comments going “DONT YOU MEAN LOYMPICC SINKING!!!!!” Makes me angry