Richard E Byrd on board the Olympic

M

Matthew Jackson

Guest
It looks like the photos were taken showing the after wall of the Gym.

The last photo shows him standing on a patch in the deck. I think this may have been a former location for a lifeboat winch. They moved around a lot on Olympic after the Titanic sank. I think Simon Mills plotted them out, but I can't lay my hand on his book so I am doing that from memory.
 
What follows is the only report of Byrd's traveling on Olympic that a quick search of the NYT revealed. An article which appeared the next day confirms that Byrd did indeed sail as planned.

The New York Times, 13 August 1921

MANY TOURISTS SAIL ON 7 LINERS TODAY
---
Business Men and Pleasure Travelers Flocking to Europe for the Late
Summer
---
NOTABLES ON OLYMPIC
---
Lieut. Commander Byrd Off to Fly Back with Dirigible Bought by United
States
---
Seven liners leave today with well-filled cabins containing American
business men going to look after the export business abroad and tourists
who want to spend the late Summer in Europe and avoid the early rush
home.

Among those booked on the White Star liner Olympic, sailing today for
Cherbourg and Southampton, are [sic] Lieut. Commander R. E. Byrd Jr. of
the United States Naval Air Service on his way to England to bring home
the great dirigible recently purchased by the United States from the British
Government. Captain Sir Bertram Hayes, D. S. O., R. N. R., expects to
make the passage in less than six days, but Lieut. Commander Byrd
expects to fly back in less than three days. The difference in weight
between the two ships is 52,000 tons in favor of the dirigible.

[The balance of this article is irrelevant for present purposes and has
not been transcribed.]

-30-
 
Thanks Mark for your dates, These photos were probably taken on that occasion.

The pictures have a number of dates written on them

(UR=Upper right, Mid=Middle, LL=Lower Left, etc)

UL: 4/6/25 MID: LT.Com. R.E.BYRD JR. UR: 5524-2 LR: Not Legible
UL: 4/11/25 MID: LT.Com. R.E.BYRD JR. UR: 5524-3 LL: 8/29/21
UL: 2/1/26 MID: BYRD UR: 5522-14 LL: 8/15/21

The UL dates were probably some kind of secondary processing date, since they are all in the mid 1920's

The LL dates are probably the date of development: the earliest being Aug 15, 1921, just two days after Olympic sailed.
 
PS: I was working from flopped negs and accidentally crossed LEFT and RIGHT in the original post. The post has been corrected to reflect correct orientation for the positives.
 
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