RMS Olympic

[cameron]

I know we had sub forums on this, but hey lets start over again. What is your interest on the Olympic? do you find her story more compelling than titanic's? i sure do, in fact she's my main area on interest in all things maritime. I've done a lot of research over the last couple of months about her. The voyages and her story is amazing i highly recommend looking some stuff up.

Like many i also find it abit of a disgrace for her scrapping, the possibilities of using her for many other roles could of been looked into, during the time around 1935 people were talking about possible outcomes of uses for the Olympic, especially since the war in the east started in 1931 when japan invaded Manchuria, she only needed to of sailed four more years and she would of served in the second world war. Even if she did sink it would of been a more honorable death.

I also am looking into a lot of history surrounding my own personal circumstances with the ship. We all know as a fact that she transported hundreds upon thousands of troops from Canada and the US to Europe, well the possibilities of one of our great grandfathers being one of those men to of been shipped over by her are very high.

I know that my great great grandad, who was called Thomas Hagger, was serving with the British army as an engineer, he served in Canada on the telegraphs' for 7 years and when war broke out i have reasons to believe he might of fetched a journey on the old reliable.

Please feel free to delete this forum if we are bringing the sub forums back, I'm trying to help get the forums back up and running again nicely.

Thanks.

[VW1956]

Hello Cameron. The thing I find interesting about Olympic is where are what must amount to the thousands of Photos that must have been taken by people travelling on her. I to was amazed at reading of her being scrapped. But then she was just an old out of date ship and certainly no where as near as special as she would be now. It is a very sad picture of her being towed to the yard to be scrapped. Ken.

[pat toms]

The scrapping of the Olympic left a lot of the ship being used for decoration , which i have two parts of the Olympic.

[Rose]

Do you think it was better for her to be scrapped and used as decoration rather than rotting at the bottom of the ocean like Titanic?

[cameron]

Do you think it was better for her to be scrapped and used as decoration rather than rotting at the bottom of the ocean like Titanic?

Scrapping a ship due to a large liner company like white star line which encountered financial problems due to a depression is not a good death. I always think and i don't know about you if Olympic was used to support ongoing and increasing conflicts during the period. Not only this would of extended her life but if sunk it would of been a lot more honorable and meaningful then being scraped.

A lot of people even to this day still think it was not the best idea to scrap Olympic, But i guess a lot more factors were involved during the time and the best decision was made.

This is just my opinion however, a warriors death seems more fitting to a ship which battled the Atlantic for 24 years.

Cameron

[Michael H. Standart]

A lot of people even to this day still think it was not the best idea to scrap Olympic, But i guess a lot more factors were involved during the time and the best decision was made.

It was all about the money, plain and simple. The 30's was the decade of The Great Depression and there was an excess of tonnage and a destinct shortage of trade. When that happens, historically, the older tonnage is the first to go to the breakers in favour of retaining the newer and more up to date vessels.

If anybody here has been following the news articles I've been posting in the Ship Scrapping Issues thread on ET, you'll have noticed that this is exactly what's happening now.

[MAB]

a warriors death seems more fitting to a ship which battled the Atlantic for 24 years.

Even though that would likely have involved human deaths as well?

[jerauf]

If she wasn't scrapped, what would be done with her? The historic preservation movement didn't take hold until the late 60s. Before that people generally thought of old buildings and old decor as bad. Who would want to sail on a ship that looked like their grandmother's house?

[Aaron2010]

Anthony Marshall (now 87) was a First class passenger on the Olympic in 1929. He is alive today and would have been 5 years old when he walked down the Grand Stair Case. Sadly he is now in prison for committing fraud and grand larceny. His mother was a millionairess called Brooke Astor. She died in 2007 aged 105. She married Vincent Astor (the eldest son of John Jacob Astor). Brooke sailed on countless ocean liners, including the Olympic in 1923 and again in 1929 with her son Anthony. Imagine the stories she could have told about those days.


Anthony and his mother Brooke.






Vincent Astor and his wife Brooke.





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[cameron]

a warriors death seems more fitting to a ship which battled the Atlantic for 24 years.

Even though that would likely have involved human deaths as well?

That's a good point to consider.

I guess everyone has own opinions on it and like i said i guess the best decision was made, i think in the era of the depression it was probably considered more of a good idea, the scrapping gave jobs to hundreds but don't quote me on that one however

Cameron,

[DecoJim]

Another possible alternative fate for the Olympic would have been for the British government to mothball the ship to preserve it for future use as a troop carrier. When I was traveling in northern California, I noticed a lot of ships in a bay north-west of Oakland. These ships had been mothballed by the US government. I no not know if the mothballing of the Olympic could have been very likely given the very small military budgets after WW1. By the time the Olympic was scrapped, Nazi Germany was already starting to rearm.

I had a trivial question about the grand staircase of the Olympic. A picture of the grand staircase of the Olympic on page 153 of the book "Titanic and Her Sisters, Olympic and Britannic", shows a much plainer clock than that on the Titanic. Did Harland & Wolff have that clock "upgraded" during one of the refits of the Olympic to add the "Honor and Glory crowning Time" carvings to the clock? If the answer is no, then the picture of the grand staircase on the Wikipedia page for RMS Titanic is incorrectly labeled as being of that of the Olympic.

-Jim

[VW1956]

Hello. Just been reading a piece from the Times 19th November 1935. The sale at Jarrow of Olympics fittings has concluded today. The sale lasted for ten days. There were 4,456 lots with many lots remaining unsold. There had been little sentiment in aquiring mementoes. The biggest buyer was Mr C. T. Hawtree of the Majestic Lido Hotel. Douglas. I.O.M. He purchased 394 lots. The ships bell sold for 26 guineas (About £27) and was sold to J Hogg and son who are brass founders and ship fitters. One of the lifeboats was also sold as was a crane and winches. Ken.

[SeaTravel]

I find it very sad to read about and look at the photos of Olympic being towed to be scrapped. I wish they had had the foresight in the 1930s to realise that us now in the c.21st would have loved to have seen her and even have had the privilige to have walked inside this magnificent ship. If only they had kept her- imagine her now- carefully restored as a museum! I bet she could also be a venue for weddings, special events and used in films when they need a ship of this era. The money this would all make would be more than enough to cover the costs of her care.
Modern cruise ships might be luxurious but from the photos I have seen in brochures none of them are as ornate inside as Olympic. The steam ships of the early 1900s were a sight to behold and sadly one us modern folks will never see except in photos- they are all gone....

[VW1956]

Hello SeaTravel. I think I can say that everyone on this site and other marine sites feel the same about the great ships going to the scrap yard. Of course for me and I guess others seeing the pictures of Olympic heading there is real sad. But Olympic was just another ship although no doubt there were many back then that shared our thoughts that we have now. I bet theres lots of furniture from Olympic that has yet to be realised what it is. I would love to know what happened to the bell and of course the lifeboat that someone bought. And in case you hadn't read it on another thread I not only touched a piece of furniture from Olympic last Saturday but I took two small draws out of it. Well, it was a big deal to me. Ken.

[SeaTravel]

Hello SeaTravel. I think I can say that everyone on this site and other marine sites feel the same about the great ships going to the scrap yard. Of course for me and I guess others seeing the pictures of Olympic heading there is real sad. But Olympic was just another ship although no doubt there were many back then that shared our thoughts that we have now.

Hello Ken- Yes it is very sad seeing poor Olympic on her way to the scrapyard! Well for me Olympic wasn't just another ship she was one of the great White Star liners whose magnificence hasn't been equalled since! I wonder how many people back then felt the same and thought of saving her for future posterity.....

I bet theres lots of furniture from Olympic that has yet to be realised what it is. I would love to know what happened to the bell and of course the lifeboat that someone bought.

I hope more furniture and the bell turn up!

And in case you hadn't read it on another thread I not only touched a piece of furniture from Olympic last Saturday but I took two small draws out of it. Well, it was a big deal to me. Ken

Yes, I did read that and I thought that was something special.