The Olympic-Class Ships: Olympic, Titanic, Britannic (Revealing History) [Paperback]

Mark Chirnside (Author)

Book Description

Series: Revealing History | Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Sitting around a dining room table in 1907, the owners of the White Star Line discussed their competition to the newly-built Cunard liners, Lusitania and Mauretania. From that smoke-filled room came the first designs of three White Star superliners, Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic. Each ship was subtly different. Lessons learned from the service of Olympic were put into practice for Titanic. With the loss, on her maiden voyage, of Titanic, the hull design was radically changed for the third sister ship. The new double hull, however, did not prevent Britannic from sinking in less than an hour in the Aegean after she hit a German mine in 1916. Illustrated with many rare images of all three vessels, only one of which survived in regular service, this is the definitive history of the most famous sister ships of all time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Book of the Month . . . all aspects of the ships are covered."  —Ships Monthly

"Highly recommended."  —Voyage

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Sitting around a dining–room table in 1907, the owners of the White Star Line discussed their competition to the newly–built Cunard liners, Lusitania and Mauretania. From that smoke–filled room came the first designs of three White Star superliners. Olympic and Titanic were to be built at Harland & Wolff’s yard in Belfast, while the third ship, Britannic, was to follow after construction had been completed on the first pair of sisters.

Each ship was subtly different. Lessons learned from the service of Olympic were put into practice for Titanic. With the loss, on her maiden voyage, of Titanic, the hull design was radically changed for the third sister ship. The new double hull, however, did not prevent Britannic from sinking in less than an hour in the Aegean after she hit a German mine in 1916.

Illustrated with many rare images of all three vessels, only one of which survived in regular service, this is the definitive history of the most famous sister ships of all time.

Mark Chirnside has researched the history of the White Star Line’s famous sisters for the past decade. He is currently working on a biography of RMS Olympic for Tempus Publishing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Tempus (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752428683
• ISBN-13: 978-0752428680
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,694,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, January 9, 2007

By 

David A. Gautreau (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Olympic-Class Ships: Olympic, Titanic, Britannic (Revealing History) (Paperback)

This book is my favorite of all time. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the Titanic and her sisters, but I was wrong. This book is amazingly plentiful with information. Makes for a great read.

Hope this helps!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, September 23, 2010

By 

Russ (Midwest) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Olympic-Class Ships: Olympic, Titanic, Britannic (Revealing History) (Paperback)

I've read a number of books about the Titanic and Britanic. This book places these two ships and the Olympic in their historical perspective. The Olympic served in WWI and even ended her career with grace. She was scrapped to provide jobs for an economically depressed region. I learned a lot about social norms for the period and about competion on the Atlantic runs. It was fact filled, but not boring. I would recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars very impressive, January 25, 2007

By 

Michael Poirier (RI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Olympic-Class Ships: Olympic, Titanic, Britannic (Revealing History) (Paperback)

I was very impressed with the depth of research and writing that Mark Chirnside has done on the subject of the WSL ships. This book is a great addition to any library. There were many new facts and annecdotes about the Olympic, Britannic, and Titanic that I did not know. Perhaps the only quibble is that as solid as the text is regarding the Titanic sinking- the same old accounts were used. Necessary in some instances, but some other accounts that are used far less could have enhanced the chapter. The other thing is that the book deserves a better format. I would think that such a book deserves a larger format, giving the reader an easier time to examine the pictures and reading the text. Overall- the book succeeds in making the reader learn more about these ships.