RMS Olympic – “Old Reliable”
and sank the submarine. Excited American soldiers took a collection and acquired a plaque to commemorate the event and posted it in one of the ship's lounges.
After from this excitement, "Old Reliable" resumed her regular transatlantic run until after the armistice in November 1918, when she was chartered by the Canadian Government to return her boys home. Not until August 1919, did "Olympic" return to Belfast to be refitted for passenger service. During this time, an inspection revealed a dent in the outer hull where apparently a German torpedo had hit but failed to explode. It seems that "Olympic" was born with all the luck, leaving none for her tragic sisters. "Olympic" war record was astounding. She carried 66,000 troops from America and Canada, along with 41,000 civilians and 12,000 Chinese construction workers.
During her refit, she was converted from coal to oil and her luxury fittings restored to the tune of $2,430,000, and she once again became a popular, and profitable, member of White Star's stable of liners. For 15 years, she plied the oceans with her cargo of the rich and famous, including Charlie Chaplain and the Prince of Wales.
The Crash of 1929 hit the transatlantic passenger travel hard, by 1933, the numbers of people crossing the Atlantic plummeted 50%. Such a low number of passengers could no longer support all the shipping companies that were operating, and White Star line was acquired by the Cunard Line and was known as Cunard White Star into the late '40s, when the "White Star" moniker was dropped. After the merger, White Star ships started to be sold, partly to make room for newer, larger ships then being built. Also soon after the merger, "Olympic's" luck ran out. Cruising in dense fog on it's approach to New York, she hit and sank the Nantucket Lightship, killing seven of her eleven crew. An inquiry placed the blame on the "Olympic" and her new Cunard owners were required to pay $500,000 in damages.
Finally, in April 1935, "Old Reliable" was retired and docked at Southampton while an attempt was made to find a buyer, to no avail. In October, 1935, she was bought by Metal Industries Limited, sailing for the last time on October 11, 1935 to Jarrow on the River Tyne for scrapping.
For the next two years, she was systematically dismantled, much of her metal to be used to build warships for the next world
Latest Articles