Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,995
The Stokers of the "Olympic" strike for their lives ...!
On the night of April 14th to 15th, 1912, the British luxury liner "Olympic" of the "White Star Line" shipping company is at sea.
The giant ship comes from New York and is on its way back to Europe when the long-range radio station receives an emergency call from the sister ship "Titanic" shortly before midnight, which ran in the opposite direction onto an iceberg, was badly damaged and is now sinking ...:
Although Captain Herbert James Haddock ...
... immediately changes course and drives to the scene of the accident at maximum speed, the "Olympic" is too far away to be able to intervene in any way.
Actually, "Olympic" and "Titanic" were absolutely identical ...
... but because first class passengers on the "Olympic", which was first put into service, complained about too much train on the promenade deck, part of this deck of the "Titanic" was glazed, which gave it a little more water displacement and made it the largest Ship made of her time.
The additional glazing of the "Titanic" can be seen on the next photo (compared to the picture of the "Olympic" above) ...:
When the "Olympic" found out over the radio on that fateful night that the "Cunard" liner "Carpathia" had taken all the survivors of the "Titanic" on board (at the time it was not known how desperately few there were!)...
... Captian Haddock breaks off the aid mission and sets course for Europe again.
Before the ship arrives - via the transatlantic cable - the latest news about the "Titanic" disaster in Great Britain ...:
Two of these messages cause considerable unrest among the stokers of the "Olympic":
First, the fact that the "Titanic" had too few lifeboats to provide a place for everyone on board - which also applies to the sister ship "Olympic".
Second: The stokers had by far the highest death rate among all groups on board! This is due to the fact that the boiler in the liner had to be filled with coal almost to the very end in order to provide electricity on board - and thus light! - to have during the night evacuation work and to be able to radio help!
When the stokers ...
... were finally able to save themselves, many could not make it out of the deep belly of the ship into the open ...
... and for those who made it, there were no more lifeboats!
Another message causes outrage:
It is known that the "White Star Line" has not paid any surviving employees of the "Titanic" any more wages since the night of the sinking, for their jobs no longer exist.
When the "Olympic" is being equipped for the next voyage to the USA (the "White Star Line" wants to demonstrate "Business as Usual"!), the ship's heating staff went on strike on April 24, 1912!
The men refuse to bunker coal for the journey and threaten to render the boilers unusable if, for example, the shipping company uses strike breakers.
They demand: The ship should be equipped with additional lifeboats before leaving port, which anyone can take on board.
The demands of the strikers - so shortly after the "Titanic" disaster - met with great sympathy and approval from the population!
After a short strike, the shipping company agrees - the Olympic will get additional boats that are among the existing ...
... be installed ...:
Because the space on the boat deck is limited, these are so-called "Berthons", collapsible auxiliary lifeboats ...:
But they serve their purpose ...:
The next picture suggests that the "Olympic" got "real" additional lifeboats ...:
But that's one of the many - false - legends that surround the two famous ships! The picture above was taken in Southhampton in 1912 and in the background you can actually see the "Olympic"!
The boats in the foreground are the lifeboats of the sunken "Titanic", which the "Carpathia" took on board during their rescue operation and which were then brought back to England.
The following picture shows the same "Titanic" boats on the foredeck of the "Carpathia" ...:
A little later it becomes law in Great Britain that all ships must have sufficient lifeboats for everyone on board!
In Great Britain, however, this was not entirely voluntary - for reasons of cost! It was only when the US closed all its ports to ships with too few boats on board that the British followed suit ...
On the night of April 14th to 15th, 1912, the British luxury liner "Olympic" of the "White Star Line" shipping company is at sea.
The giant ship comes from New York and is on its way back to Europe when the long-range radio station receives an emergency call from the sister ship "Titanic" shortly before midnight, which ran in the opposite direction onto an iceberg, was badly damaged and is now sinking ...:
Although Captain Herbert James Haddock ...
... immediately changes course and drives to the scene of the accident at maximum speed, the "Olympic" is too far away to be able to intervene in any way.
Actually, "Olympic" and "Titanic" were absolutely identical ...
... but because first class passengers on the "Olympic", which was first put into service, complained about too much train on the promenade deck, part of this deck of the "Titanic" was glazed, which gave it a little more water displacement and made it the largest Ship made of her time.
The additional glazing of the "Titanic" can be seen on the next photo (compared to the picture of the "Olympic" above) ...:
When the "Olympic" found out over the radio on that fateful night that the "Cunard" liner "Carpathia" had taken all the survivors of the "Titanic" on board (at the time it was not known how desperately few there were!)...
... Captian Haddock breaks off the aid mission and sets course for Europe again.
Before the ship arrives - via the transatlantic cable - the latest news about the "Titanic" disaster in Great Britain ...:
Two of these messages cause considerable unrest among the stokers of the "Olympic":
First, the fact that the "Titanic" had too few lifeboats to provide a place for everyone on board - which also applies to the sister ship "Olympic".
Second: The stokers had by far the highest death rate among all groups on board! This is due to the fact that the boiler in the liner had to be filled with coal almost to the very end in order to provide electricity on board - and thus light! - to have during the night evacuation work and to be able to radio help!
When the stokers ...
... were finally able to save themselves, many could not make it out of the deep belly of the ship into the open ...
... and for those who made it, there were no more lifeboats!
Another message causes outrage:
It is known that the "White Star Line" has not paid any surviving employees of the "Titanic" any more wages since the night of the sinking, for their jobs no longer exist.
When the "Olympic" is being equipped for the next voyage to the USA (the "White Star Line" wants to demonstrate "Business as Usual"!), the ship's heating staff went on strike on April 24, 1912!
The men refuse to bunker coal for the journey and threaten to render the boilers unusable if, for example, the shipping company uses strike breakers.
They demand: The ship should be equipped with additional lifeboats before leaving port, which anyone can take on board.
The demands of the strikers - so shortly after the "Titanic" disaster - met with great sympathy and approval from the population!
After a short strike, the shipping company agrees - the Olympic will get additional boats that are among the existing ...
... be installed ...:
Because the space on the boat deck is limited, these are so-called "Berthons", collapsible auxiliary lifeboats ...:
But they serve their purpose ...:
The next picture suggests that the "Olympic" got "real" additional lifeboats ...:
But that's one of the many - false - legends that surround the two famous ships! The picture above was taken in Southhampton in 1912 and in the background you can actually see the "Olympic"!
The boats in the foreground are the lifeboats of the sunken "Titanic", which the "Carpathia" took on board during their rescue operation and which were then brought back to England.
The following picture shows the same "Titanic" boats on the foredeck of the "Carpathia" ...:
A little later it becomes law in Great Britain that all ships must have sufficient lifeboats for everyone on board!
In Great Britain, however, this was not entirely voluntary - for reasons of cost! It was only when the US closed all its ports to ships with too few boats on board that the British followed suit ...
