Det Britiske skipet Britannic var det siste av i alt tre skip som Harland & Wolf bygde for White Star Line. Britannic ble ferdig i 1914, og var ment å gå i ruten mellom New York og Southampton. På grunn av Titanic`s forlis ble bygingen av Britannic forsinket grunnet nye sikkerhetsinstalleringer og moderninseringer, men den 26. Februar 1914 stå Britannic klar, og planen var å sette skipet i tjeneste i 1915. Men i november 1914 brøt den første verdenskrig ut, og Admiralitetet i London trengte senere Britannic som et hospitalskip. Frem til desember 1915 ble Britannic ombygd til et flytende sykehus, og den 12 desember 1915 entret Britannic tjeneste for Royal Navy som et hospitalskip. Den 21 november 1916 var Britannic på vei til Salonika i Hellas for å hente sårede soldater fra Gallipolli da hun ble rystet av en eksplosjon. Britannic begynte raskt å synke, og kapteinen satte kursen mot land for å berge skipet, men en time senere forsvant Britannic i dypet. Vraket av Britannic ble lokalisert av Jacques Cousteau i 1975 på en dybde av 119 meter utenfor øya Kea i Ægir havet sørøst for Athen. Vraket av Britannic anses som en krigsgrav...

The British ship Britannic was the last of a total of three ships that Harland & Wolf built for White Star Line. Britannic was completed in 1914, and was meant to service the route between New York and Southampton. Because of the loss of Titanic, the construction of Britannic was delayed because of new safety installation and modernization, but on 26. February 1914 Britannic was ready, and the plan was to put her in service in 1915. But in November 1914 the first world war broke out, and the Admiralty in London needed later on Britannic as a hospital ship. Until December 1915 Britannic was rebuilt to a floating hospital, and on 12 December 1915 Britannic entered service for the Royal Navy as a hospital ship. Britannic On 21 November 1916 Britannic was on a journey to Salonika in Greece to pick up wounded soldiers from Gallipolli when she suddenly was shaken by an explosion. Britannic started rapidly to sink, and the captain sat course towards land to rescue the ship, but an hour later Britannic disappeared in the deep. The wreck of Britannic was located by Jacques Cousteau in 1975 on a depth of 119 meters outside the island Kea in the Aegean sea southeast of Athen. The wreck of Britannic is considered a war grave...

 

Name:
Former names:
 Material:
Dimensions:
Brittanic
 Gigantic
Steel
852,0x 94,0x 48,16 f.
       
Brt \ Nrt: Built: Homeport: Cargo:
48158 \ Belfast ( UK ) 1914 Liverpool ( UK )  

 

The last of the three ships that Harland and Wolff built for the White Star Line under the agreement reached in 1907 was the Britannic, which was originally to be named the Gigantic. The keel was laid for hull number 433 prior to the maiden voyage of the Titanic, but construction was halted after the Titanic sank. Before construction resumed, a number of changes were made to the ship, including a name change from Gigantic to Britannic, a double hull that increased Britannic's beam by two feet and watertight bulkheads which reached as far as "B" deck - the Titanic's watertight bulkheads only went as far as "E" deck. The Britannic was also outfitted with giant-sized lifeboat davits. Those davits could each hold six lifeboats.The Britannic was finally launched on February 26, 1914. The White Star Line planned on putting the Britannic into service between New York and Southampton in the spring of 1915. In August 1914 the major European powers stumbled into World War I. The British Admiralty requisitioned the Britannic and her nearly-completed interior was transformed into dormitories and operating rooms for duties as a hospital ship. The Britannic entered war service on December 12, 1915, painted in white with a green stripe and red crosses on her side. The Britannic made a several successful voyages ferrying wounded soldiers from the battlefronts. On a voyage to Salonika on November 21, 1916, however, while en route to pick up still more wounded soldiers, an explosion rocked the Britannic as she sailed through the Kea Channel in the Aegean Sea. The Britannic began to sink quickly by the bow and her captain tried to beach the ship on Kea Island. However, that attempt failed and the Britannic sank within an hour. Fortunately, there were sufficient lifeboats for the 1,100 persons aboard and the only casualties were caused when the Britannic's captain started her engines in an attempt to beach her before she sank. Lifeboats that were near the stern of the ship were caught in the propellers, killing the occupants.

A study of the wreck of the Britannic discovered that her watertight doors remained open after the explosion and that the portholes on her lower decks were open, allowing the water to flow freely through the watertight bulkheads. Britannic sank in less than an hour, as opposed to the two and one-half hours it took the Titanic to sink, as a result of human error that undid the technological safeguards built into her. Ironically, the Britannic never carried a single fare-paying passenger.

Edited 29.06.2007