Olympic

For more than six decades, Cunard was in strong competition with the White Star Line. When Cunard launched Lusitania and Mauretania; White Star Line responded by building three large liners: Olympic, Titanic and Britannic.

Olympic was the class leader, and the first ship of the trio to enter service. Her maiden voyage took place in 1911. She established a naming convention for the three liners of the class, so named after ancient greek mythology with it being believed that Britannic was originally intended to be named Giganic.

While Titanic sunk in 1912, and Britannic in 1916, the Olympic sailed successfully for White Star Line.

She served bravely during World War I as a troop carrier, and was honoured with the nickname “Old Reliable”.

However by the late 1920’s she was ageing. During the Great Depression, White Star Line merged with Cunard to save off collapse. This merger was supported by the British Government, which then loaned the newly formed Cunard-White Star Line enough capital to build the giant Queens: Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.

Olympic joined the Cunard-White Star fold in 1934 and remained in service until 1937. She was then removed from service and, following a period of layup near the RMS Mauretania, she was scrapped.

Image source: Simplon Post Cards