Posted by James pepper on October 26, 1999 at 07:42:39 in 205.188.192.37 :
In Reply to: the mystery of the aft boat deck board posted by Bruce Beveridge on October 26, 1999 at 00:35:52:
Dear Bruce:
I've been reading "Hull Down" by the commodore of the White Star Line published in 1925. It mentions that the YMCA set up recreational activities on the Olympic. I have two volumes on the YMCA during World War I and it mentions the YMCA's activities on troop ships. They probably had some sort of basketball game on board the ship. All you would need is a few nets to keep the ball from falling off the ship. Also in this book is a very good print of the stern view of Olympic. The dark colors are almost black, they very well could be black. The funnel colors are very dark. There was a lot of discussion of why they used White, that it lit up the ships very brightly and may not be having the desired effect. Also this book mentions that not only did Olympic sink a german submarine but that it collided again with another ship, and shows a picture of the stern all smashed up, with the rudder off in drydock. Apparently, Olympic was in New York Harbor when World War I started , another White Star ship was next to it. The author commanded both ships during the war. This book mentions that Olympic was outfitted at Southampton to be a troop ship so it may have been painted there. There is a reference to Olympic visiting Boston during the war to aquire troops.
Sincerely,
James Pepper