Britannic Pipe Organ

[David Allen Koppang]

I've heard that the Britannic was to have a pipe organ installed at the Grand Staircase or thereabouts. If so, what would be the point of it? (picturing someone's bratty kid getting up at 3 AM and giving the entire 1st class area an early wake up call.)

 

[Dave Gittins]

White Star apparently realised that Olympic and Titanic were actually a bit tame, compared with their competitors from Cunard and Germany. It was intended to make Britannic a bit more spectacular. Pipe organs were quite common on ships and were often used on shore for purely secular purposes. You'll find quite a number of contemporary recordings of singers with organ accompaniment. As to the pesky kids, an organ could be locked up and in any case it required hand or electric blowing. No problem!

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Apparently the pipe organ on the Britannic was in a small room behind some panelling opposite the stairs on A-deck. In the illustration of the staircase you can see the door to this room and above it some sort of wrought-iron (similar to the lift gateways) allowed the music to flow out and down the various deck levels. For more information about what this overall area on Britannic check out Mark and Remco's R.M.S Britannic articles at www.hopsitalshipbritannic.com

Hope this helps,

Nigel

 

[Brian R Peterson]

From what I understand from reading the specs on the Britannic the organ was to be steam powered which would have given it an awesome range.

The room in which the pipe organ was to have been housed was located at the foot of the A Deck Forward Grand Staircase, and as mentioned above the woodwork was open in spaces featuring elaborate wrought iron designs similar to those of the balustrades to allow the music to freely emanate about the ship.

As for if just anyone could access it, they could not. From what I understand the keyboard and pedals were locked and only the musicians were to have keys.

Best Regards,

Brian

 

[Jeremy Lee]

The pipe organ in the end wans't installed, wasn't it? White Star conceived the plans but was such a pipe organ ever produced?

 

[Nicolas Roughol]

I believe we don't know for sure. During the first dive to the wreck made by Cousteau in the late 70s, he reported that remains of a pipe organ were visible in the GSC area. He also reported that at least one of the staircases domes was intact. Both of these claims are still debated among most Britannic enthusiasts.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

What about the latest dive? Nobody explored the GSC area? By the way, was the GSC EVER installed on the Britannic?

 

[Nicolas Roughol]

Jeremy, you should report to Britannic reference website, its link is given just a few posts earlier on this page, it has an interview of one of Cousteau's team members who dived on her, and he talks about the dome. Other dives are described too, this should help...

edit: link above was wrong, here's the direct link to the mentionned interview

 

[Michail Michailakis]

Hi,

Cousteau actually swam inside the GSC area.The video of that dive can be seen in the documentary that followed that expedition and was part of the famous COUSTEAU ODYSSEY series.The episode was titled: "Calypso's Search For The Britannic".It's a curious coincidence, but a VHS copy is currently available at eBay!

Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000O9T0NU/?tag=encyclopediat-21

Best regards,
Michail

 

[Michail Michailakis]

Jeremy,

I was told that the GSC area was explored during the last expedition.Regarding the second question the answer is yes, but the wooden panelling was only partially installed and the resulting ambient was quite spartan.

Check the following photo to get an idea:

Best regards,
Michail

 

[Michail Michailakis]

Hello,

Check the following link for the latest information regarding the pipe organ:

rms_adeck

Best regards,
Michail

 

[Bob Read]

Michail:

That is an excellent find! Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Bob Read

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Thanks Michail for posting this. I especially like the illustration depicting the A-deck foyer landing. It does give you an idea on the envisioned luxury Britannic was meant to have. So A-deck would have had two clocks?

Nigel

 

[Timothy De Paepe]

This thread is several years old, but the following may be of interest:
I noticed that a cd will appear with music played on the Britannic-organ:
http://www.qobuz.com/album/johann-sebastian-bach-lowell-mason-arthur-sullivan-the-britannic-organ-vo l-3-music-on-the-high-seas-1912-1926/4260034868410

An article on the instrument and its "discovery" can be found here:
http://www.musee-suisse.ch/ci/08_seewen/presse/britannic/e/britanik_english.pdf

Best regards,
Timothy

 

[X9012]

I believe the Organ is in a museum elsewhere and able to seen today, not installed on Britannic.
As posted above, I am aware this is old, if you already know this, I apologize, just being useful.