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The fate of the Olympic
- Thread starter Neil McRae
- Start date
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- olympic
Jason D. Tiller
Member
White Star merged with Cunard; it wasn't a total collapse.
Mark Baber
RIP
White Star merged with Cunard
To be precise, White Star and Cunard merged their North Atlantic operations to create Cunard White Star, but the two companies maintained their separate corporate identities;
And, in any event, Olympic was retired after the creation of Cunard White Star, not the other way around.
To be precise, White Star and Cunard merged their North Atlantic operations to create Cunard White Star, but the two companies maintained their separate corporate identities;
And, in any event, Olympic was retired after the creation of Cunard White Star, not the other way around.
Jason D. Tiller
Member
Right, thanks, Mark.
Exactly. As we know, Olympic went out of service two and a half years after Cunard White Star was formed.
Exactly. As we know, Olympic went out of service two and a half years after Cunard White Star was formed.
Mark Baber
RIP
Not quite a year. Cunard White Star was created on 10 May 1934; Olympic began her final transatlantic roundtrip on 27 March 1935.
Mark Baber
RIP
Not "technical," Adam. Accurate.
Maybe White Star could see that there was going to be bigger issues to deal with
Both White Star and Cunard were facing a real possibility of bankruptcy without the government financing that was the quid pro quo for the creation of Cunard White Star.
Maybe White Star could see that there was going to be bigger issues to deal with
Both White Star and Cunard were facing a real possibility of bankruptcy without the government financing that was the quid pro quo for the creation of Cunard White Star.
Stanley C Jenkins
Member
I have not been following this thread (on-going computer problems!) but surely the Olympic was scrapped when the Queen Mary was completed - an old-fashioned, Edwardian ship being replaced by a vessel of the very latest design. I don't see what this has to do with the demise of the White Star Line.
Mark:
My comment about tbe forthcoming "bigger issues" was of course an off the cuff remark about the rising concern over the Nazi regime and the coming of World War II.
Why so serious? ;-)
Stanley:
Fair point, but then Aquitania for instance was around until 1950. The end of the careers of the likes of Olympic and Mauretania could be seen as a bit of a "changing of the guard" though.
Cheers,
Adam.
My comment about tbe forthcoming "bigger issues" was of course an off the cuff remark about the rising concern over the Nazi regime and the coming of World War II.
Why so serious? ;-)
Stanley:
Fair point, but then Aquitania for instance was around until 1950. The end of the careers of the likes of Olympic and Mauretania could be seen as a bit of a "changing of the guard" though.
Cheers,
Adam.
Mark Baber
RIP
Stanley, as I mentioned earlier, Olympic made her last sailing in March 1935; QM didn't make her maiden voyage to New York until 27 May 1936.
For an explanation of what all of this has to do with White Star, look here. Once the two lines' North Atlantic fleets were merged, the new company simply had too many ships---and in particular too many large ships. In fairly short order, White Star's Olympic (early 1935) and Homeric (late 1935) and Cunard's Mauretania (late 1934) were withdrawn, and by the time QM came along Majestic II (early 1936) was also gone, leaving only Mauretania and Aquitania to serve with QM.
There has been much discussion over the years about the factors that went into the decisions made by Cunard White Star and whether Olympic might have survived longer if White Star as an independent company had survived longer, but the fates of all six pre-merger large ships were directly affected by the merger.
For an explanation of what all of this has to do with White Star, look here. Once the two lines' North Atlantic fleets were merged, the new company simply had too many ships---and in particular too many large ships. In fairly short order, White Star's Olympic (early 1935) and Homeric (late 1935) and Cunard's Mauretania (late 1934) were withdrawn, and by the time QM came along Majestic II (early 1936) was also gone, leaving only Mauretania and Aquitania to serve with QM.
There has been much discussion over the years about the factors that went into the decisions made by Cunard White Star and whether Olympic might have survived longer if White Star as an independent company had survived longer, but the fates of all six pre-merger large ships were directly affected by the merger.
Michael Kestner
Member
This may have been posted before, but I found this on youtube the other day. It's video footage of the olympic steaming away to the scrapper, and later the lower remains of her hull being towed away for final demolition.
Stanley C Jenkins
Member
There were clearly too many big ships on the north Atlantic route by the mid 1930s and scrapping of redundant vessels was inevitable. However, the fate of the Olympic was sealed, not so much by her age or condition, but by her archaic appearance - an Edwardian Baroque liner, with a straight stem, clipper stern and four huge funnels, was somewhat out-of-place in the art deco era (?)
Ellen G. Butland
Member
Cunard needed money to complet Queen Mary. When Cunard and White Star merged (which was British Govt's condition to Cunard to get money for QMary) Cunard found itself with too many ships. White Star men said the only thing wrong with their ships was the colour of the funnels. For my money, Olympic was in better condition than Berengaria eventually proved to be - the electrical fires in Berengaria's wiring sealed her doom - and possibly saved Aquitania because she was supposed to become chipped steel when QElizabeth came into service. WWII was the clincher, Aquitania stayed on. It would have been nice to see Olympic there too, but alas, not to be.
Ellen G. Butland
Member
Yes, I did mean WWII service, and of course I realise she could have been lost. Do you mean that since she WAS scrapped, there are still a few bits of her around. I believe some wood panels are installed in a modern cruise-ship as a feature. (Believe ship in question is Millenium) .
