September 20, 1911: Only seven months before Titanic left Southampton an event took place in the Solent near the Isle of Wight. The Olympic, the first of White Star's big three was traveling parallel with the cruiser HMS Hawke. Olympic at over 46,000 tons and the little cruiser Hawke at only 7,350 tons were about to collide. Capt. Edward J. Smith, who would command the Titanic, was at the helm of the Olympic. They were traveling between 100 and 300 yards apart when the Hawke seemed to be pulled into the giant liner. The bow of the Hawke rammed the Olympic about 80 feet ahead of the stern putting two holes in her. Fortunately nobody on either ship was injured in the incident and both ships made it to port under their own power. The passengers on the Olympic were put ashore using tenders and she returned to Southampton for makeshift repairs and then returned to the yard of Harland & Wolff in Belfast, knocking the Titanic out of the fitters yard so that she could resume service quickly.

In the inquiry that followed it was determined that hydrodynamic forces caused by the massive size and power of the Olympic were to blame. This was still a time of learning for those who sailed such large ships. However Capt. Smith would have an almost identical incident on the Titanic. While leaving Southampton on her maiden voyage hydrodynamic forces created by the screws of the Titanic caused the liner New York to break her moorings and nearly collide with the doomed liner. If the collision had occurred it may have prevented the Titanic from sailing and of course from sinking.

© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

Damage to the Olympic

RMS Olympic Photo Gallery