In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million for the first two ships was agreed plus "extras to contract" and the usual five percent fee. Cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland and Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five percent profit margin. Harland and Wolff were given a great deal of latitude in designing ships for the White Star Line the usual approach was for the latter to sketch out a general concept which the former would take away and turn into a ship design. The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, who had a long-established relationship with the White Star Line dating back to 1867. Majestic would be brought back into her old spot on White Star's New York service after Titanic's loss. The former was replaced by Olympic while Majestic was replaced by Titanic.
#HMT OLYMPIC VIRTUAL SAILOR UPGRADE#
The company sought an upgrade in their fleet primarily in response to the Cunard giants but also to replace their largest and now outclassed ships from 1890, the SS Teutonic and SS Majestic. Ismay preferred to compete on size rather than speed and proposed to commission a new class of liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being the last word in comfort and luxury. The White Star Line faced a growing challenge from its main rivals Cunard, which had just launched RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania – the fastest passenger ships then in service – and the German lines Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Pierpont Morgan, who controlled the White Star Line's parent corporation, the International Mercantile Marine Co. Bruce Ismay, and the American financier J.
The three ships had their genesis in a discussion in mid-1907 between the White Star Line's chairman, J. They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912. Built in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, the RMS Olympic was the first of the three Olympic-Class ocean liners – the others were the RMS Titanic and the HMHS Britannic (rumored to have been originally named Gigantic).