Posted by Tom Rice on February 01, 1999 at 18:50:14 in 207.36.8.66:
In Reply to: Re: 'Gigtanic' name posted by Scott Andrews on February 01, 1999 at 10:47:30:
: : Russ,
: : Well, I may be opening a can of worms here - but I think the evidence is the "Gigantic" name was pretty much a hoax - it's been debated and debated, and I'll probably get lambasted by a few people - if you're going to quote the poster for "Gigantic" that's been used in a number of books - well it was done in the late 60's or very early 70's - it's not an original poster. Basically, if you're going to do a model of the ship in peace time colours - then use "Britannic" - I'm not going to get into the argument about the name "Gigantic" because generally it's been debated before.
: : Ray
: Ray,
: I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know, but for some of the other folks not versed in White Star lore, the name "Gigantic" has appeared a number of times in both press reports and in fanciful pre-construction advertisements printed in various British and US tabloids of the period. I think it may have started as a byproduct of the copy writer's lexicon and, one of my suspisions, Lord Pirrie's code names for unnamed proposals for the next "superliner" to be built by H&W. There have been reports in the British press from the mid-1880's of proposed ships to built by H&W for the White Star Line, to be named "Gigantic". When the second Oceanic was under construction, newspapers reported that an even larger vessel (gasp!) to be named "Gigantic" was on the drawing boards. This
: was presumably the ground work for "the big four" or possibly even Oceanics proposed but cancelled sistership (actually to be named "Olympic"). As we know, none of "the big four" was ever named "Gigantic". That poster of a four-funneled liner named "Gigantic" seems to suggest that this name was seriously considered for the Britannic, but there exists in the collection on the THS a set of plans contemporary to the Britannic of an unnamed four-funnel 1000 foot liner. These plans were given to THS by H&W. THS has referred to them as "Titanic II?" and has suggested that the proposed ship was a replacement for the lost liner. I believe that this set of plans represents a proposal that was being prepared for a 1000 foot liner as the natural next step past the Olympic-class. This fit into Lord Pirrie's desire and goal to build the first ship to hit this milestone, his pet project, and perhaps, the ship really being portrayed in that poster. And, the name "Gigantic" didn't die with Titanic, either. It cropped up in the press again in the 1920's regarding H&W's proposal to construct a 1000 foot ship. When officially released to the press, this turned out to be White Star's stillborn Oceanic (III), which would have posthumously fulfilled Pirrie's dream of building the first 1000-footer.
: As you can see, the ship "Gigantic" in reality may have been fabricated in the same manner as the Titanic's "unsinkability".
: Regards,
: Scott
Scott,
You where talking about the "Titanic II" ship plans that The THS has for sale.Is the plan much differant than plan of
titanic & Olympic? If so,In what way? Is it worth shelling out $40 Yankee Green Backs?