legoking5522
Member
if Titanic didn't sink, would she have been used in World War one? I mean Olympic was used as a hospital boat.
Would Titanic have been a war ship if she didn't sink?
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Milos Grkovic
Member
Actually, one minor correction on this part, Olympic was converted into a troop transport while Britannic was a hospital ship.
The British Royal Admiralty called Britannic for hospital ship service and Olympic for a transport ship. Titanic would most definitely be used by the Admiralty. Though HMT or HMHS, we don't know. That would be up to the Royal Admiralty. Titanic would have joined WWI either as a troopship or a hospital ship.
Michael Brady of Oceanliner Designs produced a video, discussing this topic:
Michael H. Standart
Member
There was a dubious flirtation with the concept of "Armed Merchant Cruisers" which in practice didn't work out that well. Liners are designed to operate on specific routes or lines, hence the term 'Liner.' This was also where they were the most efficient.
Those efficiencies tended to vanish when they had to changes courses and speeds all the time with little or no notice, the way a warship has to, so they tended to be fuel hogs. Worse, in actual combat, they tended not to do so well. The SMS Cap Trafalgar sunk in a vicious gun dual by the HMS Carmania, but the Carmania herself was so severely damaged that she almost sank before she could make safe harbour.
Those efficiencies tended to vanish when they had to changes courses and speeds all the time with little or no notice, the way a warship has to, so they tended to be fuel hogs. Worse, in actual combat, they tended not to do so well. The SMS Cap Trafalgar sunk in a vicious gun dual by the HMS Carmania, but the Carmania herself was so severely damaged that she almost sank before she could make safe harbour.
Mark Baber
RIP
Maybe, maybe not. Lusitania remained in commercial service, as did Adriatic II. Although many top-of-the line ships were requisitioned for service as troopships, hospital ships or armed merchant cruisers, not all were. Although greatly limited, commercial passenger service was maintained throughout the war.
legoking5522
Member
Well, if she was made into a troop transport would she have some defense against torpedoes and what would that even look like?
Another thing is all the other big boats like titanic used in World War I where sunk would she be a target then?
Another thing is all the other big boats like titanic used in World War I where sunk would she be a target then?
Mark Baber
RIP
There's not much defense against a torpedo other than speed and manoeuvrability.
I'm not sure what you mean by "all the other big boats ... where sunk." Lusitania and Britannic were sunk but Olympic, Mauretania, Aquitania and Leviathan all survived.
I'm not sure what you mean by "all the other big boats ... where sunk." Lusitania and Britannic were sunk but Olympic, Mauretania, Aquitania and Leviathan all survived.
legoking5522
Member
I was speaking of Lusitania and Olympic, I didn't even know there were other big boats besides Titanic's sistership.
Michael H. Standart
Member
Olympic survived the war as well. Most of the "Big Boats" did.
Steven Christian
Member
As much as I dislike using Wiki for anything these days sometimes it is convenient. Yes. Most of the big liners survived with the noted few exceptions. But many other smaller troop ships got sunk.
List of maritime disasters in World War I - Wikipedia
List of maritime disasters in World War I - Wikipedia
Mark Baber
RIP
Here's how the war affected White Star:
11 November 1918: World War I ends. In 1914, White Star owned or operated 31 ocean-going ships. Ten of these were war casualties: Delphic I, Cymric, Afric, Arabic II, Victorian (which had been returned to the Leyland Line and renamed Russian), Armenian (which had also been returned to Leyland), and Southland were torpedoed; Laurentic I was sunk by mines; Oceanic II was wrecked; and Georgic I was scuttled by a German raider. Two others ships survived but never returned to White Star: Teutonic and Cevic were permanently taken by the Government. In addition, Britannic II, the third of the Olympic class liners, which had been launched but not completed when the war began, was lost to a mine, and Justicia, placed under White Star management after being completed in 1915, was lost to torpedoes. As severe as White Star's losses were, they could have been worse. Among the survivors, Persic and Celtic II were hit by torpedoes and survived; Celtic and Lapland hit mines and survived; Celtic, Baltic II, Megantic, Zealandic, Ceramic (twice) and Belgic IV were attacked by U-boats but were missed by or outran them. And Olympic earned the nickname "Old Reliable" by carrying over 200,000 troops, traveling 180,000 miles, sinking a U boat, attempting to rescue a sinking battleship, and escaping U boat attack at least four times. In all, White Star ships carried over half a million troops and 4 million tons of cargo during the war. (Sources: Williams' Wartime Disasters at Sea; de Kerbrech's Ships of the White Star Line; Eaton & Haas' Falling Star; Mills' RMS Olympic: The Old Reliable; Rentell's Historic White Star Liners.)
11 November 1918: World War I ends. In 1914, White Star owned or operated 31 ocean-going ships. Ten of these were war casualties: Delphic I, Cymric, Afric, Arabic II, Victorian (which had been returned to the Leyland Line and renamed Russian), Armenian (which had also been returned to Leyland), and Southland were torpedoed; Laurentic I was sunk by mines; Oceanic II was wrecked; and Georgic I was scuttled by a German raider. Two others ships survived but never returned to White Star: Teutonic and Cevic were permanently taken by the Government. In addition, Britannic II, the third of the Olympic class liners, which had been launched but not completed when the war began, was lost to a mine, and Justicia, placed under White Star management after being completed in 1915, was lost to torpedoes. As severe as White Star's losses were, they could have been worse. Among the survivors, Persic and Celtic II were hit by torpedoes and survived; Celtic and Lapland hit mines and survived; Celtic, Baltic II, Megantic, Zealandic, Ceramic (twice) and Belgic IV were attacked by U-boats but were missed by or outran them. And Olympic earned the nickname "Old Reliable" by carrying over 200,000 troops, traveling 180,000 miles, sinking a U boat, attempting to rescue a sinking battleship, and escaping U boat attack at least four times. In all, White Star ships carried over half a million troops and 4 million tons of cargo during the war. (Sources: Williams' Wartime Disasters at Sea; de Kerbrech's Ships of the White Star Line; Eaton & Haas' Falling Star; Mills' RMS Olympic: The Old Reliable; Rentell's Historic White Star Liners.)
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