TITANIC

AN ALTERNATE HISTORY

By Michael Brady

This article was originally just a script from a video I made for my Youtube channel - by popular demand however I have made it available for reading, as well as providing some detail closeups of the ship profiles I completed. The drawings are really just ‘props’ for the video, not originally intended for close scrutiny so may feature minor drafting errors. In this alternate take on history, Titanic never sank - and instead went on to have a career as interesting as that of her older sister Olympic. A fanciful blend of fiction and reality and based in-part on the careers of other lesser-known and unfortunate liners such as P&O’s Iberia. Enjoy!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION, PRESENTED AS FACTUAL FOR HYPOTHETICAL PURPOSES

We of course all know the story of Olympic and her sister Britannic - but there was a third Olympic Class sister, Titanic - which was actually the second built after Olympic. She is often overlooked in favour of her sisters, but her career was just as interesting as Olympic’s - even if she could never quite escape living in her sisters’ shadow.

The Olympic class were designed as a trio of ships as it was obvious that three massive steamers would be required to maintain a regular weekly schedule. Titanic and Olympic were built side-by-side at Harland and Wolff and it was Olympic which was completed first and sailed on her maiden voyage in June 1911. Titanic’s completion was delayed thanks to Olympic’s collision with Hawke but by April 1912 the Ship was finished and ready for her maiden voyage. White Star Line gave Titanic the full PR treatment and she was billed as the largest and safest vessel afloat.

Above: Titanic in April 1912, her earliest service configuration.

Just as Olympic had before her Titanic departed Southampton on April 10 1912 although with less fanfare than that afforded her sister; this was not without incident, however. As she sailed past, Titanic’s wake drew in the steamer ‘New York’ and a collision was only narrowly averted. Some took this as an ill omen - and indeed it was the first of many similar misfortunes that would haunt Titanic for her entire career.

The maiden voyage went as planned save for one incident on the night of the 14th which almost ended in disaster. It was a moonless night and very still which made it difficult for the ship’s lookouts to scan the horizon for icebergs. Approaching midnight Titanic was at full speed when her lookouts and bridge crew spotted a dark shape ahead; it was the ship’s First Officer whose actions prevented a collision. A Mr. William Murdoch ordered the helm swung over and the engines stopped; there was a deep rumbling as Titanic’s starboard bow hit the berg and the Ship stopped dead in the water. Her skipper, a captain Edward Smith, one of White Star’s veteran COs, conducted a damage assessment and found that the impact was only slight and the ship’s hull had been grazed. After a half hour steam was put back on and the ship resumed her voyage. It is thought that had the crew delayed a few more moments the collision could have been much more serious. On Wednesday April 17, 1912 Titanic arrived safely in New York, although with an obvious scratch along her starboard bow which attracted much attention.

Above: Titanic steams down the Hudson to commence her first eastbound crossing.

Titanic and Olympic had a successful 1912 and 1913 season and there was a third sister on the way, Britannic. In 1913 Olympic went for a refit which saw her receive a Parisienne café like her younger sister, and on completion she was actually bigger by Gross Registered Tonnage than Titanic. Instead of running the two sisters against one another, White Star simply referred to both of them as the biggest pair of sister ships in the world.

In early 1914 Britannic was introduced to the line-up and the Olympic class trio was at last fully operational. The director of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, could see his ultimate shipbuilding dream play out; the company recorded massive profits and the enormous Britannic, which featured more luxurious spaces than Olympic and Titanic, was hugely popular. Sadly, however, world events were to intercede and this would be the only time the Olympic Class trio would sail together as conceived by Ismay and co back in 1909.

Above: Britannic went into service in 1914 with a near-identical lifeboat arrangement to that of her sisters Olympic and Titanic.

The outbreak of the First World War was a disaster for the Atlantic shipping trade, as it was for the rest of the world, and initially the Olympic class trio was laid-up before briefly resuming voyages with greyed-out superstructures. Finally in 1915 the three were properly moth-balled while the White Star Line discussed arrangements with the Admiralty.

HM TRANSPORT SHIP TITANIC, 1916

First, Olympic and Titanic were converted to use as troopships. Titanic was placed under the command of Captain Charles Bartlett - she received a trio of 4.7” guns, with a forward firing pair on the Forecastle and one centrally-mounted at the stern. Her lifeboat capacity and that of her sisters was boosted, with radial davits installed along the Boat Deck bulwark and 10 additional 30’ boats, with collapsibles beneath. Her funnels were blackened and windows and promenades along D, C, B and A deck were blocked out to prevent light spillage.

HM HOSPITAL SHIP TITANIC, 1916

Olympic and Titanic were predominantly tasked with ferrying troops to the Dardanelles campaign and operated between Liverpool and Mudros, but by late 1915, casualties in Gallipoli had become so severe that there was a desperate need for hospital ships. Britannic, which was midway through conversion into a troopship, was instead converted into a hospital ship, repainted white and placed under the command of Herbert Haddock. Titanic followed suit in January 1916 and was recalled to Belfast for conversion; she returned to service in her all-white guise as HMHS Titanic in mid-February 1916; photographs from this period show Titanic and Olympic both anchored in Mudros harbour.

Above: HMHS Titanic moored near Olympic in Mudros circa February 1916

Titanic’s time as a hospital ship was marred with a number of small collisions and incidents but ultimately she carried thousands in safety. In November 1916 disaster struck; Britannic struck a mine off the island of Kea and began to sink. Tragically the ship could not be beached in time, and there was a struggle on board to lower the ship’s boats from their Welin davits against a serious list. Britannic sank in under an hour and some 564 crew, nurses, and medical personnel perished. Titanic was again called back to Belfast for conversion work as the tempo of the war shifted and she would return to the Atlantic ocean once more.

Above: Britannic sank in a very short amount of time, giving crew little chance to get all of her lifeboats away from the Ship’s Welin and radial davits.

1917 was a crucial year for the Allied powers; the United States joined the war in April and Titanic, along with Olympic, became tasked with crossing the Atlantic to ferry troops to the Western Front. To this end, Titanic received a complex Dazzle paint scheme desiigned to disorient enemy submarines, as well as four BL 6” guns. Interestingly, Olympic received an additional pair in her forward well deck while Titanic did not.

HM TRANSPORT TITANIC, 1917

Titanic’s primary weapon during this time was her speed and she used this well, often sailing in excess of 20 knots. While Olympic encountered a number of German submarines during the War, Titanic did not; a periscope was thought spotted by the Crew in late August 1917 although no torpedoes were reported and Titanic escaped by sailing in a zig-zag.

In May 1918 Olympic famously ran down and sank the German submarine U103, earning the ship further accolades and solidifying her nickname, the Old Reliable. Titanic did have one chance at glory, although this too evaded her grasp; in July 1918 distress rockets were spotted and an investigation revealed these to be fired from the small Cunard Liner Carpathia, which had been torpedoed and was sinking fast. Titanic approached to render assistance - however the destroyer HMS Snowdrop had arrived on scene and signalled to Titanic with flags that enemy the submarine was still at large and she should depart. Titanic made steam and arrived safely in Liverpool.

Above: Carpathia founders - Titanic was warned away from the rescue by HMS Snowdrop.

In October 1918 Titanic was involved in a collision with a collier and her stem was fractured causing her forepeak to take on water, necessitating that she be taken from service for repairs. So it was that on Armistice day, while Olympic was triumphantly moored in New York harbour after her 28th trooping voyage, Titanic was moored at the Harland and Wolff fitting-out wharf. It was something of an ignominious end for the mighty Ship’s wartime service although she still had a role to play; along with Olympic, Titanic began repatriating Canadian troops and did so through 1919. She never received quite the same welcome as did the Old Reliable, however… Regardless, Titanic had carried as many as 200,000 in safety through war-torn oceans and travelled hundreds of thousands of miles.

RMS TITANIC, CIRCA 1928

The early 1920s were successful years for the White Star Line - the loss of Britannic had been a blow, but the introduction of RMS Majestic as a running mate to Titanic and Olympic saw the line once more gain the ability to boast of the largest transatlantic trio of liners in the world. While Olympic had her interiors modernised in the Art Deco style, it was decided that a point of difference be made between the sisters and Titanic retained most of her original timber panelling and appearance. They began to attract a different kind of customer; Olympic the modern, glamorous nouveau riche; the Titanic, the established old money, and the Majestic the ostentatious and the famous. Titanic’s First class amenities had an edge over those of Olympic, with many more luxurious First Class staterooms on her B-Deck; in 1925 an additional pair of suites were added, each with their own private promenade as the original pair had always been in high demand. Olympic received the same A-deck screens as her sister to provide additional enclosed promenade space to compensate for the installation of First Class staterooms on B-Deck. Crucially though, both sisters’ lifeboat capacities were permanently increased; before the war it was thought that Board of Trade regulations lagged behind the size and passenger volume of contemporary liners like the Olympic class; however the loss of ships during the First World War demonstrated the need for enough boats on board for all passengers and crew. Titanic and Olympic’s boat deck bulwarks were cut away and their boat decks lined with lifeboats.

As the 1920s wore on fortunes began to shift, and passenger numbers dropped; while Majestic was still a favourite and Olympic was a close second, it was Titanic that suffered most. While Olympic appeared in a number of period films, Titanic only featured in two; one French example is lost to time, and the other was a 1928 comedy flop starring Eddie Cantor called “A Night to Remember.” On top of this Titanic was involved in a number of minor incidents and collisions which frequently saw her returning to Belfast for minor repairs or the replacement of propeller blades. In 1927 Titanic was caught up in an Atlantic storm so severe it smashed in the windows on her bridge and swept one unfortunate crew member to his death from the Monkey Island atop the bridge.

The great depression only made things worse and it became abundantly clear that Olympic and Titanic would struggle to compete against the superliners under construction in Germany, Italy and France. In 1930 Titanic’s central turbine casing was found to have cracked and she limped back to Belfast for repair; however it was decided that this would be the end of the line for Titanic. She was pulled from service, even though her machinery was still very sound; after 18 years at sea the mighty liner made her final voyage to Rosyth Scotland and the breakers’ yard. Olympic would follow suit in 1935 when she was scrapped at Jarrow.

Below: Titanic is guided by tugs on her way to the Breakers’ yard in 1930.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION, PRESENTED AS FACTUAL FOR HYPOTHETICAL PURPOSES

My final Thoughts:

I mentioned earlier that this alternate history is based, in part, on the careers of real ships; that of Olympic, obviously, as well as Lusitania, Mauretania, Aquitania and the 1950s era P&O liner Iberia. It interweaves fiction with fact; Carpathia really was torpedoed and sank, and HMS Snowdrop attended the scene. Other references are purely for the enjoyment of enthusiasts; there was no 1928 Eddie Cantor comedy called “A Night to Remember”. The film title is drawn, of course, from the famous Walter Lord book written about the Titanic drama and its subsequent movie adaption. In fact Eddie Cantor was a musical star; but in 1928 sound had not yet been paired with film! It is strange to imagine a world in which Titanic never amounted to too much and faded from the public conscious; truth be told, many of us would likely not have developed our fascination with classic ocean liners in the first place. This is the strange, enduring legacy of Titanic, a blessing in disguise perhaps.

Michael C Brady

October 14, 2021