The ‘Titanic’ was one of how many White Star ‘Olympic’-class ocean liner British passenger ships?

The Royal Mail Ship (RMS) ‘Titanic’ was one of three ‘Olympic’-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. At the time, it was the largest ship afloat. On April 15, 1912, the ocean liner hit an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The tragic event impacted an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard. More than 1,500 died.

The other White Star Line two ocean liners were the RMS ‘Olympic’ and His/Her Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) ‘Britannic’.

RMS Olympic was the lead ship of the trio that had a long career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935. This included service as a troopship during WWI, which gained her the nickname “Old Reliable”. After the war in 1918, she returned to civilian service and continued as a ocean liner. When the Great Depression occurred, there was a slump in trade making her operationally unprofitable. In 1935 the RMS Olympic was withdrawn from service and sold for scrap in 1935; demolition was completed in 1937.

His/Her Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) ‘Britannic’ was the third vessel of the White Star Line that was launched just before the start of the WWI. She was the safest of the three ships with design changes implemented during construction due to lessons learned from the sinking of the ‘Titanic’. Requisitioned as a hospital ship in 1915, she served the United Kingdom but on November 21,1916, she was shaken by an explosion caused by a navel mine of the Imperial German Navy and sank.