RMS Olympic

[Samuel Denton]

Was the Olympic not involved in a collision with a Royal Navy ship in the Solent and she was badly damaged? I think it was Captain Smith who was in command at the time?

[happy daze john in oz]

Hi HD John
sorry to correct,
only two disasters, Titanic and Britannic, the Olympic survived until she went to the breakers in 1938.
Violet`s Niece was interviewed last night on TV,
I think she died in 1977.

The Olympic did survive as you rightly say but was involved in an accident with a sub at one time. Violet was on there at the time which makes the third event.

[Samuel Denton]

RMS Olympic was in collision with the RN Cruiser HMS Hawke.

[happy daze john in oz]

RMS Olympic was in collision with the RN Cruiser HMS Hawke.

Thanks for that, not thinking correctly at the time but I did know she suffered some serious damage in the collision.

[Samuel Denton]

Olympic's first major mishap occurred on her fifth voyage on 20 September 1911, when she collided with the British cruiser HMS Hawke.[43] The collision took place as Olympic and Hawke were running parallel to each other through the Solent. As Olympic turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of Hawke by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action.[44] Hawke's bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with Olympic's starboard side near the stern,[45] tearing two large holes in Olympic's hull, above and below the waterline, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. Despite this, Olympic was able to return to Southampton under her own power; no one was seriously injured or killed. HMS Hawke suffered severe damage to her bow and nearly capsized;[22][46] she was repaired, but sunk by the German U-boat SM U-9 in October 1914.
Captain Edward Smith was still in command of Olympic at the time of the incident. Two crew members, stewardess Violet Jessop and stoker Arthur John Priest,[47] survived not only the collision with Hawke but also the later sinking of Titanic and the 1916 sinking of Britannic, the third ship of the class.[48][49]
At the subsequent inquiry the Royal Navy blamed Olympic for the incident, alleging that her large displacement generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side.[50][51] The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for Olympic's operator. A legal argument ensued which decided that the blame for the incident lay with Olympic, and although the ship was technically under the control of the harbour pilot, the White Star Line was faced with large legal bills and the cost of repairing the ship, and keeping her out of revenue service made matters worse.[52][53][44] However, the fact that Olympic endured such a serious collision and stayed afloat, appeared to vindicate the design of the Olympic-class liners and reinforced their "unsinkable" reputation.[44]


Olympic (left) being manoeuvred into dry dock in Belfast for repairs on the morning of 2 March 1912 after throwing a propeller blade. Titanic (right) is moored at the fitting-out wharf. Olympic would sail for Southampton on 7 March, concluding the last time the two ships would be photographed together
It took two weeks for the damage to Olympic to be patched up sufficiently to allow her to return to Belfast for permanent repairs, which took just over six weeks to complete.[54] To expedite repairs, Harland and Wolff was obliged to replace Olympic's damaged propeller shaft with one from Titanic, delaying the latter's completion.[55] By 29 November Olympic was back in service, but, in February 1912, suffered another setback when she lost a propeller blade on an eastbound voyage from New York, and once again returned to her builder for repairs. To return her to service as soon as possible, Harland & Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage by three weeks, from 20 March to 10 April 1912.[56][54

John you may find this interesting https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/02/02/51089/ ,although in parts I find it a bit misleading, but she did Ram and sink a German U Boat as you mentioned in an earlier post. In the article though it says, The USS Davis rescued Olympics survivors? if she did not sink !!!! why would they be classified as survivors ?

[Steve Ellis]

The stuff about Olympic whilst interesting, is getting away from the real reason I posted this thread.

[Samuel Denton]

Sorry Steve, my apologies.

[happy daze john in oz]

The stuff about Olympic whilst interesting, is getting away from the real reason I posted this thread.

Steve, no disrespect but on many an occasion we tend to drift from the original.

Interesting that there was a second crew member beside V. Jessop who survived all three events.

[Ken Burns]

Sorry I can't help you with albert Matthews, but parts of the RMS Olympic still exist if you get a chance to visit the North East.
The first class dining room panelling and fixtures were obtained when the ship was broken up at Newcastle. They have been installed in the dining room of the White Swan hotel in Alnwick, Northumberland. Parts of the ship's main staircase in also in this hotel.
Good luck with your search.
Ken Burns, ex Clan Urquhart, Braemar Castle, Transvaal Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Kinpurnie Castle, etc.

[Pam Fudge]

Dear Steve
I haven't found anything about Alrbert Matthews but do have a photograph of the Olympic that I believe was taken by my father Vivian John Squibbs. At the time the photograph was taken he was on leave from the S.S. Wimbourne and accompanied his father Harry Squibbs to visit the Olympic. They were both photographers but this time it was Harry who appears in the photograph of the group of men. He's sitting on the floor at the front of the group on the right. I have no information about the men in the group or where the ship was birthed but wonder whether your Albert is in the photograph. You didn't indicate when he became ill on the Olympic. My Dad and Grandpa lived in Cardigan, Cardiganshire and perhaps Albert had a link with either that area or perhaps my dad.
Pam
White Star Line1929 edited copyright Viv Squibbs.jpg