White Star Line Continued:
The Big Three and the En
The R.M.S. Olympic:

Launched: 1910
Volume: 46,439 gross tons
Length: 882 feet
Speed: 21 knots
Demise: Scrapped in 1935

When Cunard introduced their super grayhounds
Lusitania and Mauretania in 1909, the White Star Line planned to enter their own group of super ships built for luxury instead of speed. The plan became reality when the Olympic was commissioned in 1911. The world was amazed at the size of the Olympic, who had just tipped the scales and achieved the "biggest ships in the world" status. She was the most luxurious thing afloat at that time and she was celebrated as a triumph of British technology. The Olympic had all of the world's attention until White Star launched the next ship in the series. During World War One, this vessel served galantly in her "dazzle paint" as a troop ship. During one unbelievable voyage during the War, the Olympic was fired on by a German U-boat. The captain ordered her to swing around, and she rammed the submarine, sinking it. The Olympic had its share of troubles, just like most of White Star's other ships. In September of 1912, she collided with the British cruiser H.M.S. Hawke. In 1934, the Olympic sank the Nantucket Lightship. In the 1930s, the Olympic lost money and business and was scrapped in 1935.
The R.M.S. Titanic:

Launched: 1911
Volume: 46,500 gross tons
Length: 882 feet
Speed: 21 knots
Demise: Struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank

Most likely the most known of all of the ships of the Edwardian age is the White Star Line's
Titanic. On May 31, 1911, the Titanic took to the water for the first time and began her fitting out. She slightly surpassed her sister ship Olympic in size and was the largest ship in the world. (The "largest in the world" status would be passed from ship to ship many, many times in these golden years of transatlantic travel. Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic is nowhere near the largest ship built today.) Many new ideas found themselves made solid on these White Star superliners. There was one of the first swimming pools installed on a ship, a squash "racket ball" court, and even a Turkish Bath "sauna." These amenities added to the quality of travel for the passengers fortunate enough to afford a first class ticket. On April 10, 1912, the ship began the voyage to New York that would never be
completed. To add to the aura surrounding the ultimate destiny of this ill-fated vessel, a frightening event took place on her way out to sea from Southampton. Steaming down the river, the turbulance in the water broke the American liner New York's ropes that tied her at her berth. Slowly, the New York began to back into the giant Titanic and a collision would most certainly have happened if it weren't for the assistance of some nearby tugs. The two vessels came within mere feet of hitting, resulting in the bad omen that many people said had marked the Titanic as a doomed vessel. On the fourth day of her journey, she sideswiped an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, broke in half, and went to the bottom taking over 1,500 souls with her. As a result of the lack of lifeboats, only 700 out of 2,200 were saved. (Ironically, the heroic ship in this story, the Carpathia, belonged to the Cunard Line which merged with White Star and dissolved it in the 1930s.) In 1985, Robert D. Ballard, in an expedition to find the ship, located the Titanic sitting two miles below the surface of the harsh, unforgiving Atlantic.
The R.M.S. Britannic:

Volume: 48,000 gross tons
Length 882 feet
Speed: 21 knots
Demise: Struck a mine in 1916 while serving as a hospital ship.

Bruce Ismay had planned for this last ship in the trio to be White Star's masterpiece, placing the line far ahead of any competitors. Originally to be named
Giganitic, this third ship in the Olympic class "Big Three" plan had its name changed to Britannic following the Titanic disaster. White Star had decided to abandon the plan of naming ships to suggest size, and chose a name that had brought them luck in the past, to help people disaccociate this ship with her doomed sister. After the sinking of the Titanic, work on the Britannic was halted, and new plans were drawn up that would make her a safer ship. The double skin was brought all the way up past the waterline, more structural support made the hull stronger, and most obvious, the lifeboat capacity was tripled. Huge gantry davits were installed and could handle six lifeboats at one time. These are evident in this photograph.
The
Britannic never saw service as a passenger liner. Shortly after her launch, the First World War broke out, and the Britannic was completed in February of 1914 as a hospital ship. She served the wounded until 1916, when she struck a mine in the Agean Sea and sank. Thirty-two lives were lost. Today, she remains one of the largest wrecks laying on the ocean floor.
The R.M.S. Majestic:

Launched: 1914 (as the German
Bismarck)
Volume: 56,551 gross tons
Length: 956 feet
Speed: 23.5 knots
Demise: burned and scrapped in 1936

The German company Hamburg-America had planned their third vessel in their "big three," the
Bismarck, to be the grandest and largest thing afloat at the time of her commissioning. She had been launched, but sat at the shipyards during the War, rusting away. At the end of the global conflict she was given, by order of the Treaty of Versailles, to the White Star Line as reparations for the loss of the Britannic. The hull was completed and re-christened the Majestic, White Star Line's only three stacked vessel. When she reappeared in 1922 in White Star colors, she was the largest ship afloat (and remained so until 1935) and was immediately assigned the flag ship of the line. Affectionately known to passengers and docking crew as  the "Magic Stick," the Majestic became one of the most popular post-war transatlantic liners. She ran in direct competition with the United States Line's Leviathan and Cunard's Berengaria, also both acquired from the Germans after the War. (All three liners were sister ships, causing fierce competition between the three lines.) The Great Depression of the 1930s played a major role in the development (or lack of) in the passenger shipping industry.  In the years of the Depression, the large liners became simply too expensive to operate. The Majestic was retired in 1936 and sold to the scrappers, but the British Admiralty suddenly became interested in her. They ripped out her engines, moored her, renamed her Caledonia and used her as a training vessel. She caught fire and was scrapped the same year.
The R.M.S. Homeric:

Launched: 1913 (as the German
Columbus)
Volume: 34,352 gross tons
Length: 774 feet
Demise: retired due to Depression and scrapped in 1936

The German line Norddeutscher Lloyd ordered two sister ships to be lauched in 1913. One was to be named
Columbus, and the other Hindenburg. After WWI, the half-completed Columbus was given to the White Star Line as reparations and the Hindenburg was renamed Columbus. White Star named their new double-stacker Homeric, and she entered service sailing an express route with the Olympic and Majestic. She was noted as being the largest double-screw vessel in service, and one of the steadiest ships afloat (before the invention of stabilizers) and was very popular with the public. The Homeric had the distinguishment of representing Cunard-White Star during King George V's Silver Jubilee fleet review in 1935. All in all, this ship had a short career. The Depression forced the Cunard-White Star Line to retire the Homeric prematurely, and she was sold for scrap.
The R.M.S. Britannic / R.M.S. Georgic:

Launched: 1930 / 1932
Volume: 26,943 gross tons / 27,759 gross tons
Length: 712 feet / 711feet
Speed: 18 knots / 18 knots
Demise: scrapped in 1960 / scrapped after WWII

At the end of the 1920s, a new brand of liner had made a debut: the motorship. These ships grew in popularity partly because of the low profiles these ships made. The tall stacks could be abandoned for very squat funnels. The Cunard-White Star Line ordered two new motorships, naming them
Britannic and Georgic and painted them in White Star buff and black. These new ships became very popular with the travelling public. The Britannic was decorated in more traditional liner style, harkening back to the days of the Olympic and Majestic, while the Georgic had more of an art deco style, reflecting the changing of the times. The Britannic boasted the distinction of carrying the most passengers of all of the past White Star Liners. In the later 1930s, Cunard liquidated the rest of White Star's assets, and dropped the White Star name altogether. These only remaining White Star liners now
belonged to Cunard, but they retained their original colors. These ships served up to the outbreak of WWII, when they were both converted to troopships. The Georgic caught fire, and was repaired and put back into troop service. After the war, the Georgic was sent to be refit which included removal of the first funnel, and sailed for only a short period afterwards. The Britannic finished her wartime efforts, was restored and returned to service in White Star colors. She continued until 1960 when repair costs forced Cunard to retire her and send her to the scrappers.

1