Posted by Andrew on May 03, 1998 at 14:32:26 in host5-99-57-225.btinternet.com:
In Reply to: Re: Titanic sister ships - The Gigantic posted by Paul Motheral on May 03, 1998 at 01:10:50:
The White Star line originally planned 3 ships, the Olympic, Titanic and the Gigantic. Work had only just begun on the Gigantic when the Titanic sank. Work was postponed untill the end of the enquiries into the loss of the Titanic. When work resumed there were changes to the plans, including a "double skin", giant lifeboat davits and watertight bulkheads travelling as far up as B deck. It was also thought that the name Gigantic would no longer be appropriate, after these new super-ships were proved so fragile, so the name was changed to something more patriotic, R.M.S Britannic. The Britanic was launched on February 26 1914, and was scheduled to commence service in the spring of 1914. However the outbreak of world war 1 intervened and the almost completed Britannic's interiors were turned into dormitories of a hospital ship. HMHS Brittanic entered service on December 12 1915, however only 11 months later she was sunk in the Kea channel by an enormous explosion. Dissapearing within an hour. out of 1100 people on board only 30 died. It has never been succesfully decided why the Britannic sank, though it is widely believed that she hit a mine. She now lies in 350 feet of water, and is the largest Ocean Line
I hope this has been some help,
Andrew.