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HMHS Britannic was the third and final vessel of the Olympic-Class Ocean Liners and the sistership of the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic.

Some claim her original name was going to be RMS Gigantic and it was changed after the sinking of the Titanic, as 'Giant' in her name would scare away the traumatised public while the White Star Line was probably not going to tempt fate again, as the names of the sisterships had a mythological meaning. It apparantely was revised to RMS Britannic whilst still under construction, but White Star Line denied this.

The Britannic never sailed as a Royal Mail Ship. Before her Maiden Voyage could begin, World War I erupted. Her designation was changed to HMHS and her occupation was changed, to serve as a hospital ship. HMHS stood for: Her Majesty’s Hospital Ship. It did not survive the war and therefore never sailed as an ocean liner.

In that role as carrier of the wounded, she was shaken by an explosion in the Kea Channel off the Greek island of Kea on the morning of November 21st, 1916 and sank with the loss of 30 lives. However, most of the lives lost are thought not to have been as a result of drowning but more of a result of the propellers smashing up the lifeboats that were sucked towards them. The Britannic most likely hit an underwater mine, for a torpedo attack is highly unlikely, as neither side in the war was allowed to attack any hospital ship of any nationality.

From Gigantic to Britannic[]

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The label of the new ship on Olympic's slope is RMS Britannic

There are several first hand pieces of evidence that the Britannic was originally meant to be named Gigantic. The mentioning of Britannic, Gigantic or however the third ship was called, are shown here in chronological order.

June 7th, 1911 — The Liverpool Journal of Commerce reports on the rumour of a new White Star Line ship but the company said that there was no truth in the report. The Shipping Gazette and Lloyd's List two days later revealed information from Harold Sanderson that there would be a third Olympic-class ship.

June 28th, 1911 — The order for Harland and Wolff to proceed with No. 433 is given. The Harland and Wolff order book records the name Britannic and there is no evidence that the name had been included at a later date.

July 24th, 1911 — The New York Times states that the third ship, to enter service in 1913 will be called the Gigantic. This story reportedly came from the men on the SS Baltic.

August 18th, 1911 — The Southampton Times and Hampshire Express refers to the story above given out by the Baltic's crew, but dismisses it.

November 21st, 1911 — There is a mention of the new steamer[1], the Gigantic. Reference is made of the July 27th report.

November 25th, 1911 — Various newspapers, including The New York Times reports fanciful details (such as a golf course) of the new steamship Gigantic. These fantasies would persist well after the Titanic had sunk.

February 2nd, 1912 — The journal Engineering mentions that Andre Citroen and Co. had received a contract to build the gearing mechanism for the steering engines for five ships, one of which is the Gigantic, the largest liner in the world.

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Artist prediction of the Britannic as an ocean liner

Feburary 8th, 1912 (approx) — Winston Churchill's representative reports that the new ship under construction is to be called Gigantic.

February 20th, 1912 — Anchor and chain manufacturer Hingley's order book mentions the name Gigantic; this is later crossed out and replaced with Britannic.

Around April 10th, 1912 — The Shipbuilder remarks that the third ship had not yet been named.

April 16th, 1912 — The UK Daily Mirror refers to the 924 feet long ship Gigantic "which was laid in the past week" [sic].

April 22nd, 1912 — The New York Times reports on modifications to the 1000 feet long Gigantic in the wake of the Titanic disaster. This news is also used in The Shipping Gazette and Lloyd's List the next day.

April 27th, 1912 — The Illustrated Western Weekly News reports that the Darlington Forge Company is making a stern frame and rudder post for a ship almost identical to the Titanic, the Gigantic.

May 9th, 1912 — The Journal of Commerce reports on the Gigantic, saying that is what she is known as in Belfast. It also says that she will be very little, if at all longer than the Olympic and the Titanic but will be at least one foot more broad (which was accurate).


May 11th, 1912 — The Southampton Times and Hampshire Express publish an article dismissing the name Gigantic.

May 16th, 1912 — The New York Sun quotes Ismay as saying that the White Star Line never intended that the third ship be called Gigantic. Two days later, The Southampton Times and Hampshire Express repeats this news, with the postscript that "it was all a gigantic joke."

May 30th, 1912 — Ismay has written to the Board of Trade, requesting that the name Britannic be reserved for the new liner. The name Britannic for the third liner is publicly announced.

August 6th, 1912 — The New York Sun reports that "the decision of the White Star Company to put an inner shell in the Gigantic, the new sister ship of the Olympic, will involve an additional expense of $350,000 in the construction of the vessel."

August 24th, 1912 — The Scientific American reports that the name of the third ship is Gigantic.

September 15th, 1912 — Reported in the Nottingham Evening Post the next day, shortly after 10am, stern frame of Britannic removed from Darlington Forge to West Hartlepool for shipment to Belfast. The Manchester Guardian notes that the stern frame took four months to make, was divided into two parts, together weighing 70 tons. Four large brakctes, each weighing about 20 tons are to be despatched later

December 14th, 1912 — The Weekly Irish Times refers to the Gigantic which was being built in Belfast, and that she would be the largest vessel in the world.

June 1st, 1913 — Application to use the name Britannic is renewed.

November 12nd, 1913 — Hingley's refer to Gigantic in paperwork relating to the transporting of the anchor to Belfast.

Sinking[]

Main Article: Sinking of the HMHS Britannic

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Painting, depicting Britannic as she plowed through the water, bow submerged and listing to starboard.

On the morning of November 21st, 1916; the ship hit a German naval mine with a devastating explosion, it's force also snapped the antenna cables between the mast. She sank in only 55 minutes because the nurses left the portholes open to keep the wounded healthy and the explosion was bigger, so water got in more quickly. Some of the crew panicked and decided to launch the lifeboats without orders, but that endsied tragically as the captain was sailing towards the island of Kea which was just 3km away because the lifeboats where sucked into the ship's propellers, later then ripped apart, creating the loss of almost 30 lives.

The ship slipped below the surface at 9:07 AM. There were 1,066 people on board, and all of them but 30 were taken from the water and lifeboats. In spite of Britannic being the biggest ship lost during the First World War, her sinking was not as tragic in terms of loss of human life like sinking of the Titanic or the tragic sinking of the Lusitania from the Cunard Line or many other ships that were lost during the First World War.

How she sank[]

Sinking of Britannic

Britannic as she goes down by the head.

Britannic was thrown instantly off-course by three points (33.75 degrees), while her bow rose noticeably and then fell back down. Severe vibrations were shaking the hull, snapping the antenna cables between the masts. The engines were stopped and not long after that, her lifeboats were made ready to be lowered. Within 2 minutes, Boiler Room 6 was already flooded and inoperable. The seawater advanced into Boiler Room 5 soon after that.

Captain Bartlett was soon informed that the forward holds were rapidly flooding. The forward E-Deck portholes went under and the ship started taking a starboard list. By then, the Captain restarted the engines in a desperate attempt to beach the ship.

The lifeboats were still being filled but not allowed to leave. Still, some of the boats leave the ship (from the portside) without authorization. Because of the list, they found themselves scraping along the ship's side. The propellers were breaking the surface by now.

Due to the increasingly worsening situation, Bartlett decided to stop the ship and order all boats to be sent away. He must have known that just minutes before his order, the two lifeboats have were drawn into the port side propeller, killing their occupants, while a third one had a narrow escape as the propeller stopped seconds before impact. While lying idle, the Britannic was settling more slowly and most of the lifeboats managed to escape without further problems. Around 8:50 A.M. when the rate of the sinking seemed to have stabilised. Bartlett decided to attempt his plan to beach the ship again and re-engaged the engines. Britannic's sinking rate increased once more due to the open portholes and water is soon reported forward on D-Deck.

When Bartlett was informed of the water on D-Deck, he gave the order to abandon ship and Britannic's engines were stopped for the last time. Water soon covered the bridge and Assistant Commander Dyke informed his Captain that all have left the ship. Dyke, Chief Engineer Fleming and Bartlett simply walked into the sea near the forward gantry davits and swam towards nearby boats. Shortly after their escape, the third funnel collapsed and as the water was now 119 meters deep, Britannic's bow hit the bottom whilst her stern wass still above the surface. The last few men who were below decks, had left the ship by now. Fifth Officer Fielding estimated the stern rising some 150 feet into the air. With all her funnels detached, Britannic finished her starboard roll, causing heavy damage to the forward bow area, after which Britannic slipped beneath the surface, almost an hour after the explosion.

Wreck[]

Wreck of the Britannic

The wreck of the Britannic was discovered by Jacques Cousteau in 1975. The ship's lying on her starboard side, 121 meters below sea level. Since then, many diving expeditions have been made to the wreck, making countless of images and videos. One expedition in 2003 showed that the watertight doors of the ship were open. Remains of mines were found near the wreck, further proving that the Britannic was sunk by a mine.

Gallery[]

Popular culture[]

Britannic

HMHS Britannic painting by Ken Marschall

Although the sinking of the Britannic isn't depicted as much as her doomed sister ship, there is one movie about it; the film was a partly fictional account featuring a German agent taking the identity as the ship's priest, sabotaging the liner while first trying to have her torpedoed by a submarine shadowing her. When this failed, he continued to his plan by making a bomb, which created an explosion, as her cargo was full of ammunition and weaponry. The movie, simply called 'Britannic', was made on a lacking budget and came out in 2000.

She is also seen in the book Lost Liners, which tells the stories of Titanic, Britannic, Lusitania and other famous sunken ships. Ghost Liners is a another book that covers the sinking.

Trivia[]

Three Titanic survivors were on the Britannic when it sank and survived. They were Archie Jewell, Violet Jessop and Arthur John Priest.

Sources[]

http://www.paullee.com/titanic/gigantic.html

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