HMHS Britannic
Sign in to saveAlso known as RMS Britannic
Olympic-class ocean liner. Sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic
Key facts
- Name
- HMHS Britannic
- Owner
- White Star Line
- Operator
- White Star Line (1915) Royal Navy (1915–1916)
- Port of registry
- Liverpool , United Kingdom
- Route
- Southampton to Mudros , via Naples
- Builder
- Harland & Wolff , Belfast
- Laid down
- 30 November 1911
- Launched
- 26 February 1914
- Completed
- 12 December 1915
- In service
- 23 December 1915
- Out of service
- 21 November 1916
- Fate
- Sank after striking a naval mine on 21 November 1916 near Kea in the Aegean Sea
- Class type
- Olympic -class ocean liner
- Tonnage
- 48,158 GRT , 24,592 NRT
- Displacement
- 53,200 long tons (54,100 t )
- Length
- 882 ft 9 in (269.1 m) overall
- Beam
- 94 ft (28.7 m)
- Height
- 175 ft (53 m) from the keel to the top of the funnels
via Wikipedia infobox
~37 min read
Encyclopedic overview
HMHS Britannic (/brɪˈtænɪk/) was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of ocean liners and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the younger sister of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea at position, in November 1916. At the time Britannic was the largest hospital ship in the world, and the largest vessel built in Britain.
Britannic was launched on 26 February 1914, months before the start of the First World War. The ship was designed to be the safest of the three ships with design changes made during construction due to lessons learned from the sinking of the Titanic. Britannic was laid up at her builders, Harland & Wolff, in Belfast, for many months before being requisitioned by the British government to be operated as a hospital ship. In 1915 and 1916 she operated between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “HMHS Britannic” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.