Spirit of the Olympic

I remember my first launch. That is when a ship gains her own spirit and begins making memories. My memory spans many years, thanks to what some could call sheer dumb luck because disaster mars my class's ships. The year was 1910. I was eager to prove my worth as a passenger liner and make my builder, Thomas Andrews, and his crew proud of me. As it were, I was the eldest of three ships in the class I was named for. My middle sister was still in construction, having been laid down the year after me and wouldn't receive her spirit for another year. My youngest sister was still in the blueprints stage, meaning she didn't exist yet. I didn't even know my sister's name. I only knew Titanic who beside me in the shipyard. I was a sight to behold. I was the largest vessel ever to sail the sea, bigger than any other ship who had gone before. It was a title I would hold until Titanic awoke.

After my sea trials, I was put to work doing what I was designed to do. My maiden voyage was nerve-wracking. Thankfully, my builder was with me and I was in the hands of a very experienced captain. Despite my nervousness, I put all my faith in my captain to get me to my destination safely and I was comforted by the presence of my builder. He knew me from the ground up and, even with no memory of my construction, I knew him. Even before she gains a spirit, a ship knows her builder much like a child know her parents before being born.

My first major mishap came about the following year. I had a collision with a warship named the HMS Hawke. My huge water displacement caused her to slam into me. I was able to survive because my design made me able to float with four compartments filled. Water only filled two and one of my propeller shafts was twisted. I apologized over and over to the Spirit of the Hawke before limping back to Belfast. After all, she was a warship and I was merely a large passenger liner. Surely, she was more important than I. Despite being a warship, Hawke was very gracious and she forgave me. Her bow was damaged but she was relatively unharmed. Her employers weren't so gracious and I was saddled with all the blame. My only regret is that construction on Titanic was slowed while a shaft meant for her was used to replace my damaged one.

It wasn't long, though, before I got back out to the ocean which was my home. Again, a small disaster hit me again when I lost a propeller blade. Once again, Titanic's completion and maiden voyage was delayed to repair me. I was glad she didn't have a consciousness yet as she surely would've gotten exasperated at me. Looking back now, I feel as if I was directly responsible for what happened next.

April 14, 1912 is something no one would ever forget, even if they weren't alive then and would only hear the legend through the written word. I was out in the open ocean when my wireless operators got a distress signal from Titanic. I listened with growing dread as I heard she had struck an iceberg and sinking. Her maiden voyage was only four days old and she was already in terrible danger. My sister's wireless operators pleaded with mine to come and save her. Unfortunately, I was too far away to reach her in time and I was forced to leave my dying sister out there alone. I prayed for a ship to be close enough to reach her and save her passengers. I would learn later that five of Titanic's compartments had flooded, one too many to remain afloat.

In light of my sister's sinking, I was given enough lifeboats to save everyone on board, refitted with a double hull, and had my bulkheads raised. My days were filled with wondering if things would've been different if I hadn't struck the Hawke or lost a propeller blade. Would Titanic still be here now? I was put back in service in 1913 and thoughts for my sister somewhere out there in the ocean would soon cease to be in the forefront of my mind when the Great War broke out the next year.

I did what I was made to do until I was called to assist a warship called the Audacious. Her crew was able to board me safely and I tried to help their ship. It was no good. The weather was too bad for the tow line. The Spirit of the Audacious told me to stay safe before she sank. I was soon called into war service. I was fitted with guns and repainted with a "dazzle" camouflage to confuse the enemy. By then, I was hardened to the dangers of the sea and I had the sinkings of two ships behind me. I was ready for war. In 1918, I would do what no other ship of my type ever did before. The German U-boat named U-103 attacked me. She fired a torpedo at me which I was moved safely from harm's way. Needless to say, I was furious at her. In retaliation, my captain rammed me into her. I got a sense of twisted pleasure at splitting U-103 in two.

Over the course of the war, I picked up a nickname I'm proud to carry. I was called Old Reliable thanks to my stellar war service record. But like all things, I was glad when the war was over and I was soon converted back to being what I truly was. A dent was discovered below my hull's waterline caused by a torpedo that failed to detonate. I barely remember something had hit me somewhere along the line but I never know how close I was to joining my sisters, Titanic and Britannic, on the ocean floor. Britannic had been sunk two years after her first launch after striking a mine. She never knew her true purpose, knowing only her duty as a hospital ship.

The 1930's would see my trade decline as the Great Depression kept many from traveling on me. The year 1934 meant another ship-to-ship collision, this time with a lightship called the Nantucket. The fog that day was hard to see through and I didn't see the Nantucket in time to turn and save her. I sliced through her and she sank. Seven of her eleven man crew died because of me. The Spirit of the Nantucket blamed only the fog while I blamed myself. By this time in my long life, I was ready to be retired. My wish was soon granted in 1935 when I was pulled from service, 24 years after my first launch.

So, where am I now? I am wherever you can find me. I was sold for scrap, allowing my spirit to be set free. I don't have a wreck to return to but I'm still here. Many of my components were built into other ships so I'm always with people. As long as they know my parts' origin, I'm not forgotten. Maybe someday, you might sail on a ship bearing a piece of me. I'm forever in my tragic sister, Titanic's shadow but to most who love ships, I'm every bit as important as her. Even I, without a wreck, made the journey in 1975 to meet with shipwrecks in the Great Lakes with the spirits of ocean wrecks. I met Titanic on the way and together, we made our final voyage. I'm not as famous as many other ships but I implore you to think of me as well so that I, too, can stay alive. I am the Spirit of the Olympic.