Titanic Quarter
—Launched 1910 —
The Olympic Slipway is where RMS Olympic was built beside her sister ship, Titanic. Although quiet and peaceful today, in 1910 this entire area was a hive of human industry, reverberating to the deafening din from steel plates being hammered and riveted and from the belching of mighty steam cranes at the Harland and Wolff shipyard.
The massive Arrol Gantry stood like a geometric spider's web around the shapely hulls of Olympic and Titanic on Slips Nos. 2 and 3. This gantry, measuring 840 ft. long and 270 ft. wide and reaching up to 228 ft. at its tallest point, had been constructed by Sir William Arrol and Company of Glasgow. The keel of the Olympic was laid in Slip No. 2 on 16 December 1908, and up to 4,000 men were involved in her construction.
The Harland and Wolff yard had eight slips at this time, all capable of taking large vessels. The Olympic was the first of a trio of Olympic-class vessels built for the White Star Line by Harland and Wolff. She was followed by the famed Titanic, and a third ship, originally to be called Gigantic, but eventually named Britannic. Ships Nos. 2 and 3 were specially laid for the construction of these new White Star liners, and the huge weight of their hulls meant the slips had to be strengthened with reinforced concrete up to 4.6 ft. thick.
The Olympic was launched on October 20,
1910 to great excitement, in the presence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Countess of Aberdeen. The launch proceedings were specially arranged by Lord Pirrie, the Chairman of Harland and Wolff. With a launch weight of 24,600 tons, a large amount of lubrication was required to set her in motion and it is recorded that 15 tons of tallow, 5 tons of tallow and train oil, mixed, and 3 tons of soft soap were deployed for this purpose.
At the time of launch, the ship was an empty shell and work continued after launch to complete her fit and finish. While being fitted out, great emphasis was placed on luxury. She was fitted with a swimming pool (one of the first on a transatlantic liner), a Turkish bath, eleven different styles of decor for first class cabins, and lush greenery in the Palm Court. Her forward grand staircase was a work of great beauty.
The Olympic was completed by the end of May 1911, the fitting out having been finished in just over seven months from the date of launch. This was a remarkable achievement, considering that the company was also completing five other vessels at that time, as well as preparing for the launch of Titanic. At the time of the liners' construction, about 14,000 men worked at Harland and Wolff's Belfast yard. They worked a forty-nine hour week, with only half an hour for lunch and received about £2 per week. They had one week's
holiday in the summer, plus two days at Christmas, and two at Easter.
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