Interesting photo

[Bob sav]

History of the Image:
This striking image showcases the sheer scale of the massive shipbuilding projects in the early 20th century. The ship in this photograph is either the RMS Olympic or its famous sister ship, the RMS Titanic, both built at Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• The Propellers: The three colossal propellers seen here were designed to power these ships through the North Atlantic at speeds of up to 21 knots. The center propeller was powe…
See more

 

[Jack Jäger]

Hi Bob, Are there not four propellers on view?

JJ

 

[Jimsky]

Olympic has different set of propellers.



This photograph is often said to be the Titanic in early 1912. It is not. This photograph actually is of the Olympic, and it was taken on January 29, 1924, nearly a dozen years after the Titanic sank. There are no known photographs of Titanic showing her central propeller in place; all of the ones available at this time are actually of the Olympic. If they are labeled “Titanic“, they are mis-captioned. As such, the photographs of Olympics' propellers cannot be used as proof that the Titanic had a four-bladed central propeller. (Harland & Wolff photo 1796, Courtesy Jonathan Smith Collection)

The mystery of Titanic's central propeller

A unique engineering notebook helps unravel an enduring Titanic mystery

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[Kurt Konrath]

Hi Bob, Are there not four propellers on view?

JJ

There are four if you look behind the right aft propeller,

 

[Bob sav]

There are four if you look behind the right aft propeller,

Don't know, maybe your eyes are better than mine

 

[Roger Pellett]

The Olympics had an interesting propulsion system. Two four cylinder triple expansion reciprocating steam engines each driving an outboard propeller and discharging their exhaust steam to a common steam turbine that drove the center propeller. Therefore, triple screws.

Lusitania and Mauritania had a pair of cross compounded turbines; each a high pressure turbine discharging steam to a low pressure turbine. Each HP turbine drove an outboard shaft and each LP turbine drove an inboard shaft; quadruple screws.

The picture is more likely Lusitania or Mauritania.

Roger

 

[neptune]

There are four if you look behind the right aft propeller,

That's what he said Kurt,

are there not four propellers on view,

Best regards John,

 

[Smithy]

I thought it might have been Mauritania. The ships look very similar.

My photo seems to show two lines of support blocks, not one. Maybe they were installed later than the original post just for the launching?

 

[Uwek]

History of the Image:
This striking image showcases the sheer scale of the massive shipbuilding projects in the early 20th century. The ship in this photograph is either the RMS Olympic or its famous sister ship, the RMS Titanic, both built at Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• The Propellers: The three colossal propellers seen here were designed to power these ships through the North Atlantic at speeds of up to 21 knots. The center propeller was powe…
See more

View attachment 476725

The shown ship is the Mauretania

 

[Jack Jäger]

The photograph has Jonathan Smith collection printed on the right hand side and I guess it might come from the book,

'Raise the Titanic! The ITC Entertainment Collection'​

The add. for the book reads; 'Raise the Titanic! The ITC Entertainment Collection is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the 1980 movie through the use of official company colour photographs. Titanic historian Jonathan Smith brings together a collection of imagery from his personal Titanic archives of original publicity photographs,',
enough said. JJ..

 

[AllanKP69]

From the Massachusetts Maritime Academy:
Although there are no photographs of Titanic’s propellers, historians have relied on photos of her sister ship, Olympic, for information. Both Titanic and Olympic had three propellers; a central propeller and two wing propellers. We know that Titanic’s wing propellers were each 23 feet, 6 inches in diameter, each having three blades. For years, historians thought that Titanic's central propeller had four blades, just like Olympic. After further research, it is now believed that Titanic's central propeller had a diameter of 17 feet and just three blades.

Below is the starboard prop from Titanic, photographed in 2000. For anyone interested in Titanic or any of the ships carrying people emigrating from Ireland I highly recommend a day at Cobh in Cork.

Allan

 

[Kramer]

Olympic has different set of propellers.

View attachment 476739

This photograph is often said to be the Titanic in early 1912. It is not. This photograph actually is of the Olympic, and it was taken on January 29, 1924, nearly a dozen years after the Titanic sank. There are no known photographs of Titanic showing her central propeller in place; all of the ones available at this time are actually of the Olympic. If they are labeled “Titanic“, they are mis-captioned. As such, the photographs of Olympics' propellers cannot be used as proof that the Titanic had a four-bladed central propeller. (Harland & Wolff photo 1796, Courtesy Jonathan Smith Collection)

The mystery of Titanic's central propeller

A unique engineering notebook helps unravel an enduring Titanic mystery

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Awesome picture! Does anyone have any other pictures of the Olympic laying around? After my Endurance build, I plan on building the Titanic from OcCre or Amati, but modify to be the Olympic. My wife's grandmother came to the US from Malta on the Olympic.

 

[Smithy]

Does anyone have any other pictures of the Olympic laying around?

Take a look at the replies to the original post. The photo is not the Olympic but the Mauritania.

 

[Kramer]

Take a look at the replies to the original post. The photo is not the Olympic but the Mauritania.

Rats! Good catch. Thanks.

 

[mdpaulhus]

Just a quick note in response to the comment about two lines of support blocks versus one in the photos.

The original photo is of the ship in a graving dock for repairs. A graving dock (what many people mistakenly call a drydock) allows a ship to be floated in and then it is closed and the water pumped out. You can see the lateral support beams between the upper hull side and the sides of the graving dock in the photos. Ships would have been keel blocked as shown in a graving dock. The original photo is from abt 1908/1909 when the ship was in dock for repairs after striking a submerged object. You can see the damage on the starboard inboard propeller. I believe that the outboard props were changed to 4 blades at this time. I understand that during the subsequent docking the inboard props were also changed to 4 blade. So this explains all the variations in photos.

The second photo with two lines of " blocks" is actually a photo of the vessel under construction. The two lines are actually the launching ways and the photo is taken from the water. The ways are slightly angled down towards the water. They would have been greased, wedges driven in to lift it off of construction blocks, and then through a complex set of levers the ship would ultimately be released and slide into the water.

 

[Smithy]

Just a quick note in response to the comment about two lines of support blocks versus one in the photos.

Brilliant! Thanks very much for clearing that up. Now I can stop trying to figure out how they would lift the ship up to get the launching ways underneath. (I am a bear of very little brain.)

 

[AllanKP69]

Awesome picture! Does anyone have any other pictures of the Olympic laying around?

Kramer (Cosmo?)
Google RMS Olympic for a lot of photos like the one below that I just found. You may want to also contact the folks at Cobh as they might have a lot more. The Cobh Heritage Center may be a good place to start. If they cannot help, hopefully they will give you a good contact.
Allan

The Queenstown Story,
Cobh Heritage Centre,
Cobh,
Co.Cork,
Ireland.
Eircode: P24 CY67

Phone: +353 (21) 481 3591
Email: info@cobhheritage.com

 

[Kramer]

Kramer (Cosmo?)
Google RMS Olympic for a lot of photos like the one below that I just found. You may want to also contact the folks at Cobh as they might have a lot more. The Cobh Heritage Center may be a good place to start. If they cannot help, hopefully they will give you a good contact.
Allan

The Queenstown Story,
Cobh Heritage Centre,
Cobh,
Co.Cork,
Ireland.
Eircode: P24 CY67

Phone: +353 (21) 481 3591
Email: info@cobhheritage.com
View attachment 477265

Gidde-up! Thanks, Allen, I definitely will.