Michael F. Koch
Member
Why was Olympic painted white and then changed
- Thread starter Michael F. Koch
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- olympic
Parks Stephenson
Member
My understanding is this was done solely to improve the contrast of the hull against the dark gantry for photgraphic purposes. That way, the lines of the hull were sure to be recorded on film. There was no need to do the same for the second and third hulls of the class.
Parks
Parks
Dan Cherry
Member
That is my understanding, as well.
Mark Chirnside
Member
Yes, I agree with Dan and Parks.
Often, important ships and the first of a class were white painted, especially for photographs. One example was the Oceanic of 1899, dubbed ‘the ship of the century.’
But black was used for hulls at the time when ships were in service, for practical necessity; among other things, corrosion caused by the sea air was much less noticeable on a black hull. Coal also made dirty marks on a white hull and didn’t show-up on a black one.
Photographs of the third sister painted white while serving as a hospital ship demonstrate this; the rust and coal dust show-up obviously. People sometimes refer to Britannic as a ‘rust bucket,’ but if you removed the black paint and camouflage from other liners of the time, they would look just as bad, if not worse.
Later, after oil-firing had been introduced to the liners, it was possible for white-painted hulls to be applied; Mauretania was given a white hull in the early 1930s when she was used for cruising, but there was still the problem of rust.
Best regards,
Mark.
Often, important ships and the first of a class were white painted, especially for photographs. One example was the Oceanic of 1899, dubbed ‘the ship of the century.’
But black was used for hulls at the time when ships were in service, for practical necessity; among other things, corrosion caused by the sea air was much less noticeable on a black hull. Coal also made dirty marks on a white hull and didn’t show-up on a black one.
Photographs of the third sister painted white while serving as a hospital ship demonstrate this; the rust and coal dust show-up obviously. People sometimes refer to Britannic as a ‘rust bucket,’ but if you removed the black paint and camouflage from other liners of the time, they would look just as bad, if not worse.
Later, after oil-firing had been introduced to the liners, it was possible for white-painted hulls to be applied; Mauretania was given a white hull in the early 1930s when she was used for cruising, but there was still the problem of rust.
Best regards,
Mark.
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
Mark Chirnside
Member
Shelley,
I've seen photos of Olympic in her wartime camouflage; in fact, much of it was changed at various points during the war and some sources say it was altered at least four times! Some of the photos of her I purchased from the Imperial War Museum, and I have a colour postcard too. I am not sure if the postcard is accurate and I'm unsure of the exact colours offhand, I'll have to check this out.
Best regards,
Mark.
I've seen photos of Olympic in her wartime camouflage; in fact, much of it was changed at various points during the war and some sources say it was altered at least four times! Some of the photos of her I purchased from the Imperial War Museum, and I have a colour postcard too. I am not sure if the postcard is accurate and I'm unsure of the exact colours offhand, I'll have to check this out.
Best regards,
Mark.
Michael F. Koch
Member
Thanks for all the info guys! Wow, it seems like an aweful waste of paint to paint her white just for the photographs!
Michael
Michael
Parks Stephenson
Member
Judging by the discussions I read on the various boards, the whitewash they wasted on Olympic was nothing compared to that wasted during the Titanic inquiries. 
Parks
Parks
Parks Stephenson
Member
One last point...I believe the hull was painted a light grey, not white.
Parks
Parks
Mark Chirnside
Member
Michael H. Standart
Member
The photograph I have of the Aquatania at launch appears to be a very light grey. I have several of the Mauritania as well...thanks to the reprints of the Shipbuilder articals...which show the ship painted in much the same way.
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
Yep- Titanic was the only one launched with the black hull- Olympic was very light gray- rusty red below the waterline, Britannic started off grey, then was painted up for hospital ship duty.
Tracy Smith
Member
Does anyone know if ships today rust this quickly or has a way to r~~~~~ the development of rust been developed?
Parks Stephenson
Member
No one has developed a cost-effective or practical way of rustproofing a ship. The only way to stay on top of rust is continuous, preventative maintenance.
Parks
Parks
Mark Chirnside
Member
Parks,
All of the sources I have seen about Britannic's launch, including a newspaper article that I researched, described her hull as a dark grey. Where did the black colour information come from? I think the confusion is that this dark grey can look very close to black, especially in the old photographs. But if you compare some of them closely, there's a difference.
Regards,
Mark.
All of the sources I have seen about Britannic's launch, including a newspaper article that I researched, described her hull as a dark grey. Where did the black colour information come from? I think the confusion is that this dark grey can look very close to black, especially in the old photographs. But if you compare some of them closely, there's a difference.
Regards,
Mark.
