Researched & Authored
Steve Hall

The Olympic was again to return prematurely to Belfast following the loss of a port side propeller blade. (4:26 p.m, February 24^th, 1912) After departing from New York, she was about 750 miles off the coast of Newfoundland (latitude 44º 20'N, longitude 38º 36'W) and eastbound when she allegedly passed over an underwater obstruction, and shed one of her three port side propeller blades. Some historians have reservations in regard to this fact, stating that the average depth of the Atlantic at that point is more than 9,000 ft. (obviously the obstruction was not on the sea floor). If the Olympic had passed over an obstruction, then why was there no evidence of damage done to her hull ? The alleged obstruction would have passed along the whole length (beneath) the ship before impacting with the port side propeller.

References to the Olympic "hitting a submerged wreck" in some books have created some confusion. The wrecks of which these authors speak, are "derelict" wrecks, but they never clarify this term. Derelict wrecks are wooden ships that sink to the point which their wood becomes saturated and, obtaining a level of buoyancy that permits the wreck to float just above or slightly below the water-line, like a log floating in a lake. Striking a derelict wreck was an occurence that plagued the shipping lanes back in the early part of the 20^th century, and, although such accidents were not very common, did happen.

[note] It is true that the propeller blades were designed to give first before damaging anything larger.

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The only other likely scenario would have been if the Olympic had nicked an obstruction on the outside of her port wing. Regardless of what the obstruction was, the fact remains that one of the port side propellor blades was sheared off. The effect on the ship itself was dramatic, as the now hopelessly unbalanced propeller shaft would need to be quickly disengaged.

Had the Olympic’s engine continued to drive the now-unbalanced shaft for a prolonged period, the subsequent stress on the port side drive shaft and the associated machinery would have been substantial—the resulting vibration would have literally shaken the ship apart.

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The Olympic continued her eastbound crossing, operating on only her starboard main engine, and made her customary halts at Cherbourg and Plymouth before arriving at Southampton on February 28. The following day, after the passengers had disembarked, the unnecessary crew was discharged, and the cargo and mail were unloaded, Olympic departed Southampton for Belfast. Olympic arrived on Friday, March 1; however, the ship had to be tied up at the outfitting wharf because her younger sister, Titanic, still occupied the dry dock. The fact that Titanic had not been removed prior to the Olympic’s arrival is a conundrum—after all, word of Olympic’s return would have been known many days in advance. Perhaps the availability of a spare propellor blade became an issue. Although there is no documented material that indicates anything regarding the availability of replacement propellor blades, perhaps it may have been expedient to requisition one of Titanic’s port side blades. [?] This may well have been the case, a theory that is supported by Titanic’s delayed removal from the dry dock. [?]

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The following morning (Saturday, March 2) the Titanic was unceremoniously hauled out, stern first, from the dry dock (see Figures 2, 3, and 4). To allow the keels of the Olympic-class ships to clear the sill at the entrance end of the dry dock, the operation had to be performed at high tide, and even then the ship’s keel would clear the sill by a mere 0.5 m. The high tide at Belfast on that day was at 10:03 a.m. (3:49 m) and, because the ships required a high tide to clear the sill (and because the high water remained for a few hours) these photographs can be positively timed to have been taken on or about 10:00 a.m.

Titanic would have then been maneuvered back beyond the stern of the Olympic, and the tugs would than have hauled Olympic clear of the outfitting wharf and into the dry dock. Titanic would have then been moved forward and secured to the outfitting wharf. This is what one sees in Figures 6 and 7. This operation would have been completed by early afternoon.

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By March 3, the work on replacing Olympic’s port side propeller had started in earnest. One can reasonably assume that by late afternoon the work was successfully completed. That evening the dry dock was reflooded. Olympic now needed the high tide of the following morning (11:37 a.m., at 3.77 m) to be removed. The Figures 8 and 9, both photographs of Olympic, reveal first the missing port side blade and second the ship tied up in the reflooded dry dock.

The following morning dawned windy and cold. To allow room for the Olympic to be turned, the Titanic would have been either placed back in the dry dock (following Olympic's removal) or tied up at the west twin wharf.

After Olympic was hauled out clear of the dry dock, she was then turned 180º in preparation for her departure back to Southampton. During this operation, disaster struck again. While being turned, her port side bow was grounded.

There has been numerous speculation regarding the prolonged period required to replace the Olympic’s propellor blade. As mentioned earlier, while in the process of turning in the Victoria Channel, Olympic had struck bottom near the West Twin Island and therefore to be put back in dry dock for examination [ref Belfast Telegraph].

In short, the incident in the Victoria Channel was a reason Olympic’s departure from Belfast was delayed, not for any conspiracy-related reason, such as switching the Olympic with the Titanic.
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Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to the New York Times
London, March 5th,- Following the announcement that the White Star liner Olympic would not sail until next Thursday, having to go into dry dock at Belfast to have a new propeller blade fitted, word comes today that her sailing has again been postponed; this time until Wednesday, March 13, the big liner was unable to leave Belfast owing to stress of weather.
This will inconvenience a large number of passengers who counted on sailing next Thursday. Fortunately the Lusitiania is due to sail next Saturday so those whom it is imperative to be in New York on an early date will be enabled to transfer the passages to the Cunarder.

As one can see, the Belfast Telegraph revealed the true cause of Olympic’s delay. The inclement weather on March 4 did, without a doubt, make safe turning of the ship (swinging the bow 180º) slightly more difficult and likely contributed to the grounding of the port bow; however, it was not the cause of the delay.

The hapless Olympic was again forced back to the dry dock. The dock was again pumped dry, an operation that allegedly took some 4 hours. If you look at Figure 9 you can see a section of the pumphouse building. The following day (Tuesday, March 5) an inspection of the hull was performed. Thankfully for all concerned (especially the channel pilot), there was no significant hull damage.

As a consequence of the incident, White Star was forced to cancel the Olympic's next scheduled departure from Southampton. As we can see, The New York Times’s published reason for the cancellation was not a direct lie: The weather did contribute to the actual situation. After all, White Star could hardly admit, without losing face, that the ship had been grounded.

The following morning (Wednesday, March 6), with the dry dock having been reflooded the previous afternoon, Olympic was hauled out (stern first) on the 1:00 p.m. (3.70 m) high tide. Hauled well clear of the Titanic's stern, she was briefly secured. The tugs than attached ropes to the younger sister and carefully maneuvered her clear of the outfitting wharf.

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Less than an hour later, with Titanic secured to bollards in the dry dock, the Olympic moved forward and was berthed at the outfitting wharf (see Figure 1). With the knowledge that her scheduled departure from Southampton to New York had already been canceled, the Olympic's delay in departing Belfast would have been of little concern. (Also, if she departed Belfast that afternoon, there would not have been a berth for her at Southampton.)

The following morning (Thursday, March 7) Olympic was successfully turned in preparation for departure. Shortly afterward, she departed Belfast, arriving at Southampton the following day.

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Photographic Acknowledgments

fig 1

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Sunrise / Sunset & Tides  for Belfast compliment of,
Flinders University Of South Australia
Thanks to Geoff Louton