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. 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. 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.

1. BLACK HAWK
MINES
HMHS Britannic
"The forgotten Sister"

2. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

3. • 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.
• 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.

4. 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.
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 "

5. • 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 ".
• 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.

6. WAR BREAKS OUT
• In August 1914 Britain, France and Russia declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. This
would have a dramatic effect on the life of the Britannic.
• Both the Olympic and Britannic were placed together in secure holdings at Belfast. The owners
knew that soon the ships would be called for government duty. Both ships remained in Belfast for
ten months.
• On the 13th November 1915, the Britannic was requisitioned by the British government as a
hospital ship.
• Orders were given to prepare her for sea going voyages to transport wounded soldiers back
home.
• The fixtures and fittings that were to be placed on the Britannic were stored for after the war.
Instead she was fitted out to resemble a hospital. The first class dining rooms were converted into
operating theatres and main wards. B deck would house the medical officers and other staff. The
ship was fitted to carry 3,309 people.
• Because she had stood so long at Belfast major works had to be carried out to her. Her lifeboats
had not totally been installed. Only five davits had been fitted and so 6 Welin type davits were
installed each could load one open and one collapsible lifeboat.
• Also, her hull had to be repainted after standing in water for so long. It was painted in the
internationally recognised colours of a hospital ship. A green band was painted on each side of
the ship broken by three giant red crosses. This stood her out as a hospital ship providing her with
safe passage to wherever she was going. She was given ship number 9618.
• The Britannic left the Irish Sea on route to Mudros on 23rd December 1915. It was her maiden
voyage, quite a contrast from the maiden voyages of her sisters. Her trip was successful and
indeed made several more trips until her luck ran out.

7. THE SINKING OF THE
HMHS BRITANNIC
• She left Southampton for her final voyage at 2.23 p.m. on the 12th
November 1916.Captain Charles Bartlett (also known as the Iceberg
Charlie) was given command again with his assistant Captain Harry
William Dyke .
• The ship steamed to Naples arriving on Friday morning (17th November).
She took on board more coal and water as was the usual custom. Bad
weather prevented an early departure. She was secured in Naples for two
days until Sunday when Bartlett decided the weather was suitable for
departure.
• The passage seemed quite normal. Church services were held as normal to
pray for the wounded and for the end of war.
• At 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday 21st November, Bartlett changed course for the
Kea Channel with Chief Officer Robert Hume and Fourth Officer D.
McTowis on the Bridge. All seemed well.
• Suddenly at 8.12 a.m. a loud explosion echoed around the ship. Reverend
John A. Fleming , the Presbyterian Chaplain, onboard described the blast
as " if a score of plate glass windows had been smashed together ."

8. • Bartlett knew had had to act fast. He realised what had happened -
an explosion between cargo holds 2 and 3. He also knew that the
ships water tight skin extended as far as boiler room no.6 and that
the blast had damaged the bulkhead between holds 2 and 3 and
bulkhead hold number 1.
• Bartlett ordered the watertight doors closed but the doors between
boiler room 5 and 6 failed to close properly. Water travelled further
aft as a result which would prove fatal to the ship.
• It was a custom of the ship that during shift changes certain
watertight door would remain open so that the crew could enter and
leave the boiler rooms.
• Within minutes of the explosion, water was poring in so much that
the ship developed a serious list to starboard. The situation was
becoming more serious by the minute. Within 15 minutes after the
explosion, the portholes on E deck were under water. Unfortunately,
many of them were open because the nurses opened them to let
fresh air circulate the wards for the benefit of the patients. Because
they were open they were letting in water which added to the
emergency.

9. • Meanwhile, Bartlett thought he would have enough time to beach the ship on
the nearby island of Kea. However, the list to starboard and the weight of the
rudder hindered the ship's progress in the water. He realised that the ship would
not make the coast and ordered the engines to be stopped and the lifeboats to
be lowered.
• A distress signal had already been called giving Britannic's position. Help was
on its way from the British destroyer " Scourge " and the French tugs " Goliath "
and " Polyphemus ". The British auxiliary cruiser " Heroic " also replotted her
course to join the rescue.
• The lifeboats had begun to be lowered. Captain Dyke arranged the lowering of
the boats on the starboard boat deck. Fifth Officer G. Fielding swung out two
boats on the portside but left them hanging six feet from the water. He realised if
he dropped them the ships great propellers would suck the little boat into her
wake and destroy all inside the boat. Two boats left without permission and
were destroyed by the propellers.
• A remarkable story was told by Mrs. Violet Jessop , one of the stewardesses
on board. She had infact been onboard the Olympic when she collided with
the HMS Hawke and had also been onboard the Titanic. She seemed a very
fortunate lady who had the same amount of lives as a cat. As she had seen the
effect of the giant propellers twice before, she jumped from the lifeboat before it
was sucked into the propellers. The suction was still to great and she was pulled
in. However, for some reason she was not chopped to pieces but was thrown
clear of danger and when she rose to the surface she hit her head on the
lifeboat but was dragged to safety by survivors in another boat.

10. • Like on the Titanic, the engineers remained at their posts until the
last minute before escaping through the funnel casing of the fourth
stack. Britannic had not long to live. She had already begun to keel
over. Survivors in the boats could hear explosions coming from her
inside.
• Britannic finally rolled over at 9.07 a.m. There were 35 lifeboats and
hundreds of people frantically swimming in the water.
• In 55 minutes the 48.158 ton ship had sunk.
• Bartlett swam to a nearby ship and quickly began co-ordinating a
rescue mission to save those in the water.
• At 10.00 a.m. the Scourge saw the lifeboats and started to pick up
survivors. The Heroic was also on the scene and doing the same.
She alone picked up 494 survivors. There was a total of 625 crew
and 500 medical officers on board at the time of her sinking. A total
of 21 crew and 9 Officers and men of the RAMC were killed in the
disaster. A much lower ratio than her sisters in mortality rates.