News : HMHS Britannic - The Forgotten Sister BlackHawk Mines Corp Zimbio

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News  HMHS Britannic - The Forgotten Sister
BlackHawk Mines Corp Zimbio

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  Posted by shintsuyen 4 days ago
(http//www.zimbio.com) http//www.titanicandco.co
m/britannic.html 
The Olympic and Titanic have been built. The HMHS
(His Majesty's Hospital Ship) Britannic was the
third " wonder ship" to be built. Originally, the
ship was to be named " Gigantic ", but due to the
loss of the Titanic, her name was changed to
Britannic. The White Star Line knew if they were
to keep ahead in the race across the Atlantic the
new liner would have to be more magnificent than
her older sisters. 
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Due to the sinking of the Titanic, large scale
alterations would have to be made to her design.
She could not sink in under 3 hours. She must
carry enough lifeboats to accommodate every
passenger and crew member. 
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Britannic was being constructed in 1913. Her
structure ran 852 feet (longer than the Olympic).
She was fitted with a double skin hull. It ran
for the full length of the boiler and engine room
compartments. An extra bulkhead was added to make
17 compartments and five of them were extended to
the Bridge deck some 40 foot above the waterline.
These modifications should in theory prevent her
from sinking in under three hours. 
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The boiler room and engine rooms were more or
less identical to the Olympic except that
Britannic turbine engines could generate18,000
horse power. The engines were not built by John
Brown Co as in the case for Olympic but were
built by Harland Wolff. 
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Her stern would differ from the Olympics because
the aft shelter deck was enclosed so that the
third class passengers could enjoy a covered area
of exterior deck. The third class smoking room
was placed above their general room giving the
impression that the stern was much bigger. 
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Another striking difference was the layout of the
lifeboats. She was designed to carry 48 open
lifeboats. Forty-six of them would be 34 foot
long (making them the largest lifeboats ever
placed on a ship before). Two of the 46 would be
motor propelled and would carry wireless sets for
communications. The other two were 26 foot
cutters placed at both sides of the bridge. 
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Essentially, the interior of the ship would not
differ from the Olympic and Titanic. The builders
added extra delights throughout the ship for
every class. The second class were given a
gymnasium and many of her private room were
fitted with private bathrooms. 
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On the 26th February 1914 the Britannic was ready
for launching. The weather was grim but the
officials plodded on. At 11.10 a.m. a rocket
signalled the commencement of the ceremony and
the workforce removed the blocks keeping the hull
from slipping into the water. At 11.15 with the
help of 20 tonnes of tallow, train oil and soft
soap she moved down the slipway. She took 81
seconds to stand afloat in the water. 
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Following the successful launch she was towed to
the Abercon Basin to start her fitting. She was
pulled by the tugs " Herculaneum ", " Huskisson
", " Hornby ", "Alexandra " and the " Hercules
". 
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The British press were in favour of the ship and
described her as " a twentieth Century ship in
every sense of the word " and " the highest
achievement of her day in the practise of ship
building and marine engineering ". 
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Hundreds of workmen commenced the task of fitting
her out. Electricians, plumbers and carpenters
all played a crucial part. To the White Star
Line, progress was too slow and poor. On the 2nd
July 1914 they announced that Britannic would not
be ready for her maiden voyage until early spring
1915. Amongst the reason for delay was finance.
Harland and Wolff was owed 585,000 from the IMM
which would have made all the difference to the
progress if the money could have been used on the
ship. The financial problem was so great that
Britannic was not completed but left for nearly a
whole year.