What if RMS Britannic Didn't Sink in 1916? | Titanic's Sister, Alternate History

it's july 1942 and the former white star liner britannic is steaming at full speed through a war zone aboard her are 7 800 troops destined for battlefields in north africa for days now the ship has hidden from enemy submarines in rain squalls and sailed an unpredictable zigzag course but now on a dreary afternoon the ship's luck has finally run out [Music] ladies and gentlemen it's your friend mike brady from ocean liner designs now few ships from history could boast of a career as epic and tragic as the rms britannic the white star line's true pride and joy britannic served in two world wars and was once a favorite of the rich and famous in peacetime in the 1920s and 1930s she dominated the transatlantic trade but few could have imagined that she would one day set the stage for one of the largest single losses of life at sea in human history britannic's story began with the conception of the olympic class ships a trio of ocean liners that would work in tandem to carry passengers across the atlantic in enhanced standards of comfort and safety the latter part of that equation was shattered early on when in april of 1912 the second liner of the trio titanic sank after striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage britannic was unfinished at the time of titanic's loss so construction was halted and she was partially redesigned her watertight compartments were mostly raised as high as b-deck and she received a double hull where along the lengths of her boiler rooms and engine room a watertight inner skin was installed aside from this her lifeboat complement was vastly overhauled instead of the smaller wellan type lifeboat davits britannic was fitted with enormous electric gantry davits which towered way over the boat deck and were designed to lower lifeboats even if the ship was listing way over on its side britannic would be far more luxurious than her sisters as well lessons had been learned from the operation of olympic and titanic before her where in some cases her older sister ships had been plain and spartan britannic would be sumptuous and luxurious this was most evident in the swimming pool which on britannic would feature magnificent green marble britannic also received a children's nursery and enhanced accommodation for second and third class in the first class grand staircase was mounted a towering pipe organ which was quite unique for the ship but crucially she was outfitted with more bathrooms for passengers in first class on olympic and titanic passengers were expected to use communal bathrooms out in the hallways but on britannic almost every stateroom had its own bathroom which was unusual for the time before britannic could be completed however there was trouble because tensions had finally boiled over in europe and the first world war had broken out at first the world's great liners were largely mothballed until decisions could be made on how to use them olympic was eventually put to work as a troop ship and it was thought that britannic would follow suit but by 1915 the british had suffered horrible losses in the botched dardanelles campaign and they needed floating hospitals to take care of their wounded and safely transport them back to britain britannic was ideally suited to this task so her beautiful internal fittings were hauled away and kept in warehouses and in december of 1915 the hospital ship britannic sailed for her first wartime service britannic was painted all white for this role as firing on a marked hospital ship went against the rules of war prominent red crosses and a green stripe were painted on her hull too while up on the boat deck large red crosses could be illuminated at night time and a huge lamp could be lowered to shine on the painted red crosses on the ship's hull in wartime ships go to great lengths to hide their lights for fear of the enemy but hospital ships rely on being recognizable as non-combatants britannic's public rooms were converted for use and extensive hospital awards were installed in her promenade decks and large internal spaces along with accommodations for doctors nurses and navy personnel the britannic made three voyages to the mediterranean between december 1915 and june 1916 when she was decommissioned and returned to belfast for conversion into a passenger ship at last but then this work was interrupted as well although the dart nells campaign had ended in failure in january of 1916 there were still many british troops abroad fighting against the ottoman empire in egypt and the middle east so britannic was again recalled into service and operated between southampton and greece her voyages at this time were largely not eventful except for a small incident in november 1916 when crew in the forward number two cargo hold heard and felt a distinctive crash as britannic collided heavily with something in the water they rushed up on deck expecting to have to evacuate but found strangely that all was quiet they reported this to the bridge and lookouts at the stern were alarmed to see a mine bob to the surface two months earlier the german submarine u73 had laid mines in the kia channel where britannic was now sailing the ship had hit one dead on with such force that the mine's anchor chains were severed so it floated freely to the surface fortunately for britannic the mine was inert and it failed to explode after the war when britannic was dry docked for her refit a deep indentation in her forward plating was spotted it's thought unlikely that given the safety enhancements made to britannic after titanic's loss that a single mind would be enough to sing her but it was still a close call regardless in early 1917 britannic was overhauled again this time for a brand new wartime role with commonwealth troops in canada now required to join the fight over in europe olympic and britannic and their rivals aquitania and mauritania were put to work on troop ship duties taking thousands of men over to the western front on board britannic her hospital beds were replaced with steel bunks and she was fitted with basic armament for protection three bl six-inch guns were mounted two forward and one aft olympic received four of the same guns but because britannic had a large structure that was built for third class on her stern she could only carry one gun there when britannic was rushed into service as a hospital ship her aftermost set of gantry davits were not installed in time but in 1917 they were finally fitted britannic also received a wild dazzle camouflage scheme intended to confuse enemy submarine commanders at a distance the scheme was called the type 18b dazzle scheme and made use of black grey olive mauve and blue paint she was certainly hard to miss for most of 1917 britannic made a dozen voyages across the atlantic dodging german submarines and relying on her high top speed for safety for this reason she never sailed in convoy or with an escort and her engines were pushed to the max thanks to her more powerful central turbine which was rated at 18 000 horsepower britannic could reach speeds of up to 24 knots in 1917 her sister ship olympic famously rammed and sank a german u-boat but britannic's trooping voyages were ordinary say for one occasion when a periscope was thought spotted in the distance and some cursory shots were made to scare the enemy's sub away by 1918 with the united states having entered the war britannic marked her first arrival in new york harbor not as a passenger ship of course but still thousands turned out to see the massive liner arrive for the first time by 1919 the war was over and both britannic and olympic had survived the conflict putting white star line in a good position to resume regular passenger services but first hundreds of thousands of soldiers had to be repatriated to britain canada and the united states olympic and britannic worked hard side by side and britannic became a regular site in halifax of the two ships britannic was withdrawn from service first in august of 1919 for overhaul the olympic which had been hastily repainted in her civilian colors would maintain an austerity service between southampton and new york to lessen the impact of having two major liners out of commission for overhaul at belfast finally all of the magnificent interior fittings intended for britannic back in 1914 were installed the pipe organ the green marble swimming pool on the inside slowly the cold steel wartime interiors were transformed into the very height of edwardian elegance a critical change was also made to britannic's engineering spaces though she was converted to oil burning boilers which were more efficient and reduced the size of her engineering complement from about 350 to just 70 men the additional lifeboats on her boat deck which had been fitted during the war were removed giving her a cleaner look and in june 1920 into belfast lock steamed britain's largest liner a resplendent site after six long years britannic was finally complete and ready for her maiden passenger voyage with britannic in service again white starline could capitalize on a post-war boom as millions were displaced in europe by the war and sought to flee the economic carnage that was left in its wake olympic had to be refitted too and she was actually more tired out than britannic was so she was withdrawn from the austerity service in 1920 and the older ss adriatic was brought in to replace her britannic's maiden passenger voyage received huge press attention as it represented a major achievement for the british merchant fleet which had suffered so terribly during the war britannic carried the name of the british empire itself and she was the pride not just of the white star line but britain the blue ensign fluttering proudly from her stern and with captain bertram hayes in command white starline's new flagship carried over 2 200 people in comfort and luxury to the new world for the first time arriving in new york harbor the turnout to see her was even greater than when she had first steamed there back in 1918 this triumphant moment set the tone for a big few years for britannic her exemplary career as an ocean lighter had just begun by early 1921 olympic had rejoined britannic on the transatlantic service and for the first time since the white star's executives had dreamt up the idea of the three mammoth sister ships in 1907 the two remaining olympic class liners were at last providing a regular transatlantic passenger service the two sisters would often pass at sea the occasion usually marked with a close run pass by and blasting of the ship's whistles it's said that so many passengers crowded the decks of the two ships for these occasions that they would list over towards each other as they passed olympic and britannic quickly developed a dedicated clientele but it was britannic with her enhanced first-class accommodations and beautiful interiors that became the favorite for film stars the wealthy and the general public as a whole britannic had carried the title as britain's largest merchant ship but in 1921 germany's remaining liners had been acquired as war reparations by the british government and white starline was able to buy the ss bismarck at a discounted rate renamed majestic at last three massive white star liners were operating on the atlantic [Music] majestic actually took two of britannic's titles the largest british merchant ship and also white star line's flagship accordingly commodore hayes was transferred to the newest ship but the introduction of majestic meant the white star offering now provided passengers three distinct flavors of travel to choose from olympic the more austere attracted the old money and the traditional majestic the flashy and the ostentatious but it was the britannic that attracted the wealthy and the stylish the 1920s were a period of great success for the white star line but competition with their old rival cunard remained high although they'd lost lusitania in the war she was replaced with majestic's german sistership which had been renamed berengaria by line they too could now operate a three superliner service with mauritania and aquitania sailing alongside the newer ship by the mid to late 1920s though the immigrant trade had begun to dry up as the united states had imposed restrictions on intake and then the great depression brought a killer blow [Music] british industry was devastated costs rose and few could afford expensive transatlantic crossings even more worryingly though european rival shipping lines had begun to introduce newer and better ships which totally outclassed the old british liners germany with the new superliners europa and bremen italy with the rex and conte de savoya and france with normandy by 1932 britannic's yearly passenger tally had dropped to just 12 000 from the 32 000 that had been in 1928. britannic at olympic were both put in for refit to try to attract a upper middle class passenger with britannic receiving a cinema and an extended dance floor corrosion of the gantry davits after almost 10 years of continual passenger service was found to be extensive so they were finally removed and britannic received a more conventional lifeboat layout that was similar to her sister olympic the giant gantry davits instead being replaced with well in quadrant davits the refits kept britannic up to date with navigational practices too as her old marconi wireless was replaced with a newer set and an early form of radio based position finding navigational aid was installed to work in conjunction with light ships and shore stations the white star line had plans to introduce a new superliner to compete with their german french and italian rivals but construction was halted by the stock market crash in 1929. similarly cunard was working on their own super ship which too had to be halted when funds dried up the british government here sensed an opportunity to consolidate the two rival companies and therefore focus the efforts of the transatlantic british passenger trade into one conglomerate the government promised to fund the construction of one of these two superliners in the event of a merger and in 1934 that merger occurred but it was cunard thanks to the political maneuvering of its chairman sir percy bates and its close relationship with the british admiralty that retained the majority share the company was named cunard white star and the old white star line's new superliner project was cancelled and scrapped while cunard's hull 534 was completed eventually becoming the queen mary with the two companies consolidated bookings were still at an all-time low and there was simply just not as much need for that many liners so the oldest would have to be retired and scrapped first in 1934 it was mauritania and olympic that were pulled from service mothballed and sent to the breakers aquitania and britannic were next on the list but importantly it was britannic's high number of stateroom bathrooms which meant that she was still an earner so she was temporarily spared white star had intended to introduce a pair of modern small aligners to take over from olympic and britannic in lieu of the cancellation of their superliner project these two motor vessels were named oceanic and georgic by 1935 discussions were being had about majestic berengaria britannic and aquitania queen mary was due for introduction in 1936 so there was just a surplus of superliners it came down to basic economics but it was berengaria and majestic that was suffering from electrical faults fires engineering problems and even serious hull fractures while aquitania and britannic were cheaper more reliable and more efficient to run instead of pulling the two older ships it was majestic that was first pulled from service in early 1936 followed by berengaria in 1938. aquatania was kept in service until the queen elizabeth could be completed by about 1940 while britannic continued to maintain services supporting the smaller oceanic and georgic but she too was due to finally be retired and scrapped in july 1939 she was at last pulled from service after 25 years and laid up awaiting destruction but then something happened [Music] tensions in europe had been escalating since the nazis rose to power in 1933 and it was the german invasion of poland in september 1939 just two months after britannic was laid up that sparked the outbreak of the second world war again britain needed to rely on its merchant fleet for salvation and britannic was saved from the scrapyard her engines were in fine condition triple expansion steam engines are famously simple and reliable in their function on top of this the britannic's lavish interiors had already been stripped away and auctioned off and converting her into a troop ship again would be a fairly simple task she was painted a dull battleship grey and covered in quadruple vicar's anti-aircraft gun mounts at her stern she was given a single qf4 inch gun with another mounted forward just in front of the foremast with enough bunks installed for almost 8 000 men britannic's lifeboat compliment would prove dismal in a disaster so dozens of rafts known as carly floats were mounted in quick release cages along her boat deck and after promenade deck the old gray troop ship that emerged in december 1939 was almost unrecognizable as the once beautiful britannic in fact she had even been renamed in a curious position because she had been awaiting a purchaser for scrapping britannic was actually bought outright by the british admiralty and was crewed entirely by royal navy personnel accordingly she was renamed hms resolute and put to war service to combat magnetic mines some ships received a gaussian cable which was essentially a giant copper cable that wrapped around the entire length of the ship connected to its hull queen mary received one of these and you can clearly see it in photos from the era but the process was expensive and complicated so the fitting of the gaussian cables was reserved mainly for capital ships instead as she was an older ship the resolute would have her magnetic field altered by a process known as wiping a large electrical cable would be dragged along the hull of resolute by a smaller ship which would temporarily negate magnetic mines resolute would need to be frequently wiped in this manner for the rest of her wartime career the next few months saw resolute sailing in convoys alongside her old rival aquitania carrying thousands of troops between england scotland canada and north africa by late 1941 japan had entered the war and resolute was employed alongside aquitania queen mary and queen elizabeth in reinforcing australia and papua new guinea transatlantic liners however just weren't designed for service in hot climates and for the 7 900 troops aboard resolute the conditions were almost unbearable and the ship's cavernous steel hull became something of an oven remarkable photos show resolute moored in sydney harbour a destination she was never intended to reach by design but by 1942 she was returned to the atlantic all the while dodging german u-boats and aircraft it was then in july 1942 that her luck finally ran out at 1 30 p.m on july 16 1942 resolute was steaming without escort at speed off the coast of south africa bound for simon's town aboard her were 7 780 men predominantly from the 51st highlander division destined for north africa unbeknownst to the ship's crew however her position had been monitored by u-boats lying in wait for british shipping off the coast at 1 30 her zig-zag course brought her perfectly within the sights of the type 9 u-boat u-172 commanded by captain leutenant karl emerman emerman fired a spread of four torpedoes at an almost perfect 90 degree firing angle two of the torpedoes fell astern but the two others found their mark resolute was dealt a crippling blow with the first torpedo striking just below the fourth funnel in line with the engine rooms and the second torpedo striking just aft of the main mast on the bulkhead between two watertight compartments the impact of the two almost simultaneous strikes was enormous and all the safety measures taken in the wake of the titanic disaster back in 1912 were completely overwhelmed the inner skin could not hope to hold up against a german torpedo many of the engineers on watch at the time of the impact in the engine rooms were eviscerated and the ship immediately began to take on an enormous amount of water the automatic watertight doors were engaged by the bridge but the jarring force of two torpedo impacts from the side jammed the watertight doors rails for most of the compartments aft of the number three funnel with no way to close them the resolute was now flooding uncontrollably and the ship was doomed many of the troops quartered low and aft on e f and g deck were drowned in their bunks without time to escape and the ship began to settle in the water quickly by the stern there was really no time to organize an efficient evacuation and thousands of panicked men swarmed the ship's upper decks as her stern began to dip into the water just five minutes after the attack with her electrical generators flooded the ship's interiors were darkened as the backup lighting kicked in and many of the doorways and staircases were jammed as hundreds attempted to rush up to the boat deck a few lifeboats were lowered as the crew attempted to regain control of the situation but most of them remained attached to the ship as the bow began to rise into the air just 12 minutes after having been hit resolute funnels began to collapse as water raced up the boat deck a huge wave knocked men sprawling into the ocean as water surged inside unhampered by watertight doors it was only the forward most doors that have been able to close so that by the time the bow was about 30 or 40 degrees up into the air the ship began to sink slightly slower giving the crew time to free some of the quick release carly floats 19 minutes is all it took for the hms resolute the former pride of british shipbuilding to slip beneath the waves taking thousands with her when resolute failed to arrive at simon's town a search was organized and two days later on july 18 a short sunderland flying boats spotted a clump of lifeboats and floats tied together in all 6348 men were lost in a devastating blow in fact the blow to morale was so great that the true cost of resolute's loss was covered up by the admiralty and few details were given to their next of kin until after the war britannic had one of the most fascinating careers of any ship serving in two world wars and providing safe passage for hundreds of thousands of people sadly today she is best remembered for her tragic demise but i like to think back on those glorious days in 1921 when she was the very pride and joy of the white star line and the greatest ship afloat [Music] you

Channel: Oceanliner Designs

Views: 418,329

Keywords: great ocean liners, maritime history, ocean liners, famous oceanliners, ships documentary, history of ships

Id: t7nvGxe5uSo

Length: 24min 15sec (1455 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 29 2022