In the summer of 1907, at a dinner party in William J. Pirrie's London mansion, J. Bruce Ismay discussed the construction of two new mega liners to compete with the luxury, size, and speed of rival liners like Cunard's Lusitania. Cunard had just entered two new ships to their fleet that were very fast. The ships could easily travel at 26 to 27 knots. The White Star Line couldn't compete against these new liners and expect to win. These new ships from White Star were to be known as the Olympic class liners. They were intended specifically to beat out the Cunard Line for the Atlantic luxury passenger trade.

On July 28, 1908, White Star owners, including Ismay, approved the principle design plans for the Olympic class ships prepared by the builders, Harland Wolff under the direct supervision of Lord Pirrie. Pirrie was also accompanied by one of the designers of these ships. His nephew, Thomas Andrews. Andrews would also perish in the Titanic disaster.

On July 31 of the same year, a contract letter was finally signed for construction in Harland Wolff's Belfast shipyards for the Olympic, the Titanic, and a third sister ship, Gigantic. (Britannic)

The Olympic's keel was laid down on December 16. Harland Wolff gave the Olympic's keel number as 400. The Titanic would soon follow as keel number 401.

The Olympic was not as lavish as the Titanic, although very closely matching. One of the major differences between the Olympic and the Titanic was the Olympic's promenade deck , which was fully open. The Titanic was fitted with window covers over 1/3 of the length of the promenade deck. The Titanic also had some extra luxurious additions on its B Deck, that the Olympic lacked.

On October 20, 1910, R.M.S. Olympic's hull was successfully launched. In June of 1911, she set sail on her maiden voyage.

On the Olympic's fifth voyage to New York on September 20, 1911, "Old Reliable" (as she would later be called) had her first accident in a line of occurrences that continued throughout her career. The ship collided with the H.M.S. Hawke, a British navy cruiser. The two ships had been sailing on parallel courses off the Isle of Wight when the Hawke was suddenly sucked into the Olympic's side. The Olympic was under the command of Captain E. J. Smith. Both vessels were damaged but no one was hurt. The collision was followed by a lengthy trial in Admiralty Court.

After the Titanic disaster, the Olympic was returned to HW for a major overhaul. She was refitted to make her a lot safer. Extra lifeboats were added. The Olympic went under four major refits during her 24 years of service.

- First, the insulation of an inner skin ad midship.
- Second, ( 6 yrs. later) making the ship's return to full peace time service after WW1.
-Third, Cabins on B deck were pushed out to the edge of the vessel and other modifications were done to the ship.
- Fourth, Her fourth major refit is not is not known at this time.

The Olympic had an impressive war service. (The British Admiralty took over her at the beginning of the war.) She rescued the crew of the British battleship, Audacious, which had struck a mine. This however happened before she was commissioned as a naval ship. Once commissioned as a transport ship, the Olympic spent the time ferrying soldiers to and from the front. The Olympic survived four submarine attacks, transported 119,000 civilians and troops, she had traveled 184,000 miles and had burned over 34,000 tons of coal. It was at this time that she earned her previously mentioned nickname "Old Reliable".

After the war, the Olympic had a major refit costing $2,430,000 but she was back in the sea lanes by 1920. She had one major accident on May 15, 1934. During heavy fog she rammed the Nantucket lightship and seven of the Nantucket's eleven crew members were lost. That same year White Star merged with Cunard and became Cunard-White Star.

In March 1935 after losing business to newer ships, she made her final voyage to New York before being sold. She was stripped of her fittings and finally scrapped.

Pieces of R.M.S. Olympic's fittings still exist today and can be found in many parts of the world. A large collection of her wooden walls are known to exist in many "pubs" in England. Most of her silverware and furniture are also known to still exist. All of them, scattered around the world.

Above are three White Star items (tablecloth, ashtray, and saucer) which came from the Olympic. I thank Mr. Glenn Dispoto for letting me take a picture of his Olympic memorabilia.