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User:Omnis Scientia/Olympic–Hawke collision

Coordinates: 50°46′39.6″N 1°16′41.5″W / 50.777667°N 1.278194°W / 50.777667; -1.278194
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RMS Olympic and HMS Hawke collision
Images documenting the damage to Olympic (left) and Hawke (right) following their collision
Date20 September 1911; 113 years ago (1911-09-20)
LocationThe Solent, Isle of Wight
Coordinates50°46′39.6″N 1°16′41.5″W / 50.777667°N 1.278194°W / 50.777667; -1.278194
TypeMaritime incident
ParticipantsCrew of the RMS Olympic and HMS Hawke
Outcome
  • Both ships remained afloat but heavily damaged.
  • White Star Line held liable for damage to HMS Hawke.
  • Repairs to RMS Olympic delayed maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic.

On 20 September 1911, while travelling down the Solent, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke collided with the White Star ocean liner RMS Olympic.[1]

The Olympic was, at the time, the world's largest ocean liner and was undergoing what would have been her fifth voyage. In the course of the collision, Hawke lost her inverted bow, which was replaced by a straight bow. The subsequent trial pronounced Hawke to be free from any blame. During the trial, a theory was advanced that the large amount of water displaced by Olympic had generated a suction that had drawn Hawke off course, causing the Olympic's voyage to be delayed. The White Star Line also lost on appeal.[2]

The collision had the consequence of delaying the completion and maiden voyage of Olympic's sister ship, the RMS Titanic. Due to the financial blow suffered from collision, the White Star Line was eager to get Olympic back into service and diverted workers from the still-under-construction Titanic to help with the repairs.

Background

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Damage to the Olympic under the waterline.

The collision took place as Olympic and Hawke were running parallel to each other through the Solent. As Olympic turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of Hawke, William Frederick Blunt, by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action.[3] Hawke's bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with Olympic's starboard side near the stern,[4] tearing two large holes in Olympic's hull, above and below the waterline, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. Olympic settled slightly by the stern,[5] but in spite of the damage was able to return to Southampton under her own power; no one was killed or seriously injured. HMS Hawke suffered severe damage to her bow and nearly capsized.[6][7][8]

Captain Edward Smith was in command of Olympic at the time of the incident; he would die seven months later as captain of RMS Titanic, Two crew members, stewardess Violet Jessop and stoker Arthur John Priest,[9] survived not only the collision with Hawke but also the later sinking of Titanic and the 1916 sinking of Britannic, the third ship of the class.[10][11] First Officer William Murdoch, Chief Officer Henry Wilde, and Chief Purser Hugh McElroy, all of whom died in the Titanic sinking, were also aboard the ship. Also on board, as passengers, were businessman William Payne Whitney and politician William Waldorf Astor.

Inquiries

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At the subsequent inquiry the Royal Navy blamed Olympic for the incident, alleging that her large displacement generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side.[12][13] The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for Olympic's operator. A legal argument ensued which decided that the blame for the incident lay with Olympic and, although the ship was technically under the control of the harbour pilot, the White Star Line was faced with large legal bills and the cost of repairing the ship, and keeping her out of revenue service made matters worse.[3][14][15] However, the fact that Olympic endured such a serious collision and stayed afloat appeared to vindicate the design of the Olympic-class liners, and reinforced their "unsinkable" reputation.[3]

Repairs

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It took two weeks for the damage to Olympic to be patched up sufficiently to allow her to return to Belfast for permanent repairs, which took just over six weeks to complete.[16] To expedite repairs, Harland and Wolff was obliged to replace Olympic's damaged propeller shaft with one from Titanic, delaying the latter's completion.[17] By 20 November 1911 Olympic was back in service. However, on 24 February 1912, the ship suffered another setback when she lost a propeller blade on an eastbound voyage from New York, and once again returned to her builder for repairs. To return her to service as soon as possible, Harland & Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage by three weeks, from 20 March to 10 April 1912.[16][18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Nixon, W. C. (December 1911). "Collision Between H. M.S. Hawke And R. M. S. Olympic". U.S. Naval Institute. 37 (4). Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  2. ^ Protasio, John (August 2007). "Collision at Spithead". U.S. Naval Institute. 24 (4). Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Marriott, Leo (1997). TITANIC. PRC Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85648-433-5.
  4. ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 81.
  5. ^ RMS Olympic: Titanic's Sister. The History Press. 7 September 2015. ISBN 9780750963480.
  6. ^ "RMS Olympic – The Old Reliable". titanicandco.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  7. ^ "Olympic". tripod.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  8. ^ Edwards, John (20 September 2020). "Olympic Survives Collision". Ocean Liners Magazine.
  9. ^ "Titanic's unsinkable stoker" Archived 8 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 30 March 2012
  10. ^ Beveridge & Hall 2004, p. 76
  11. ^ Piouffre 2009, p. 89.
  12. ^ Bonner, Kit; Bonner, Carolyn (2003). Great Ship Disasters. MBI Publishing Company. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-0-7603-1336-7.
  13. ^ "Why A Huge Liner Runs Amuck". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Magazines. February 1932. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  14. ^ « Maiden Voyage – Collision With HMS Hawke » Archived 22 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine, RMS Olympic archive. Accessed 21 May 2009.
  15. ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 76.
  16. ^ a b Piouffre 2009, p. 70.
  17. ^ Chirnside 2004, pp. 69–70.
  18. ^ "Classic Liners and Cruise Ships – RMS Titanic". Cruiseserver.net. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2009.

Sources

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