Olympic–Hawke collision

Common card · No. 317626

On 20 September 1911, while travelling down the Solent, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke collided with the White Star ocean liner RMS Olympic. Olympic was, at the time, the world's largest ocean liner and was undergoing what would have been her fifth voyage. In the course of the collision, Hawke lost her inverted bow, which was replaced by a straight bow. The subsequent trial pronounced Hawke to be free from any blame. During the trial, a theory was advanced that the large amount of water displaced by Olympic had generated a suction that had drawn Hawke off course, causing the Olympic's voyage to be delayed. The White Star Line also lost on appeal. The collision had the consequence of delaying the completion and maiden voyage of Olympic's sister ship, RMS Titanic. Due to the financial blow suffered from collision, the White Star Line was eager to get Olympic back into service and diverted workers from the still-under-construction Titanic to help with the repairs.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Popular Mechanics, November, 1911, Public domain