tSS BRITANNIC
Illustrations by Michael C Brady, 2020
WATCH THE VIGNETTE
THE ‘forgotten’ sister
On November 21, 1916, HMHS Britannic sank in the Aegean Sea, far from her intended Transatlantic route. With her demise died the dream conceived by shipping magnates J Bruce Ismay and Lord Pirrie at a dinner in 1907. In that fateful discussion the two men thought up a challenge to Cunard and the German shipping lines who had wrested Atlantic dominance from White Star Line.
The trio of liners would dwarf the 'Four Flyers' and the Cunarders; they would provide unrivalled opulence and technological advances at-sea. The three ships, serving together, would cement White Star Line's place as masters of the Atlantic trade; and the name Harland and Wolff as that of the world's premier shipbuilders.Although the White Star Line was awarded the German liners that were to become Homeric and Majestic - legends in their own right - as war reparations, their presence alongside Olympic on the Atlantic run could not scratch the glory that would have been three immense Olympic-class vessels - Olympic, Titanic and Britannic - calling regularly between Southampton and New York.
LENGTH: 882’9”
BEAM: 94’
DRAUGHT: 34’7”
TONNAGE: 48,158 GRT
MAX SPEED: 23 kn
ExPLORE THE drawings
HMHS BRITANNIC - 1916
Intended originally as a magnificent ocean liner, the British government requisitioned Britannic midway through her construction and instead of lavish wood panelling and luxurious fittings she was fitted with 3,300 beds and bunks for wounded troops. She was in this configuration when she fatefully struck a mine and sank in late 1916.
RMS BRITANNIC - 1920
Britannic as she would have looked had she survived the war. White Star Line intended to fit the third and final Olympic-class ship with eight pairs of massive gantry davits for her 34’ lifeboats, only five of which were actually finished by the time she went to war. In her White Star livery Britannic would have served alongside Olympic in the regular transatlantic service for decades.
