This month marks the 100th anniversary of the
sinking of the Olympic class ocean liner, Titanic. On April 15, 1912 at 2:20
a.m., the highly touted unsinkable ship, slid under the waves.
Most ships built have sister ships, so I wondered, what
were the names of them and what happened to them?
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| The Olympic, Britannic, and Titanic Artist color depiction |
As it happens, the Titanic had two sister ships, the
older sister, Olympic, which was started three months before the Titanic (launched on 20
October 1910 and served until 1935), and the youngest sister, Britannic,
built in 1913 and launched February 26, 1914. Just in time for the Great
War—WWI.
The Titanic disaster had taught the builders some lessons
and they were employed in the building of the Britannic. Safety features like
the second watertight inner skin added as she was being built and more
lifeboats—enough carry every member of the crew and all passengers.
Additionally, special emergency lifeboat crane davits, which would enable all
lifeboats to be launched despite listing (great idea but still didn’t work with
all the port side lifeboats). She was designed not to be able to sink in under
three hours. Still there was the prevailing idea that these three ships were
virtually unsinkable. In theory, I suppose that was true, but in reality, sadly
incorrect.
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| HMHS Britannic |
The British Navy, commandeered the Britannic to be a
hospital ship, and she never saw commercial use. All her luxurious fittings
were removed and she became a hospital. Her maiden voyage was to provide a
hospital for the wounded of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. The HMHS
Britannic completed five successful missions between the Mediterranean and
Briton carrying wounded.
On November 21, 1916 an explosion on starboard side of
the ship damaging two holds and the watertight bulkhead. The captain ordered
her watertight doors be closed and lifeboats readied. Unfortunately, not all
the doors were working and the Britannic took on water. Still, she should have
been fine had the nurses not opened the portholes on the lower deck for fresh air
in the wards and sadly allowed the water to pour into the ship. A lot of water.
The captain had thought to make a run for the Kea shore three miles away with
hopes of grounding the ship. Didn’t work. Britannic was listing too badly to
make it.
The explosion was thought to be either from an enemy mine
or torpedo (the German U-73’s records claim the Britannic was hit by one mine).
Hospital ships were generally safe from enemy attacks, but rumors abounded that
the Britannic was also carrying weapons. That may have made her a
target. The Britannic was carrying 625 crewmembers and 500 medical personnel.
Twenty-0ne members of the crew died along with 9 medical officers. I have no
idea how many patients she carried.
The ship built not to sink in under 3 hours sank in less
than 1—55 minutes to be precise.
The Britannic lies 400 feet down on the bottom of the
Aegean Sea in international waters. The likes of, Jacques Cousteau, and others
have explored her. In 2003, Carl Spenser, and crew dove the wreck. Sonar expert,
Bill Smith confirmed there were number of mine anchors located around the ship.
He also established the Britannic was hit by one mine and that the rapid
sinking was a result of faulty watertight doors (probably due to damage from
the explosion) and compounded by open portholes throughout the lower deck.
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| HMHS Britannic today The ship was 882 feet long and the hull broke when it hit the Aegean floor, which is only 400' down. |
