Olympic & Titanic: Triumph and Disaster – Chapter 5

Olympic & Titanic: Triumph and Disaster – Chapter 5

Chapter 5 takes its title from a comment that Philip Franklin, IMM vice president, made in 1908: ‘The Passengers Have Never Been More Comfortable’. 

It focuses on the design and development of the passenger accommodation, looking at the interior designs of Robert Norman Shaw, who had worked on Oceanic‘s first class public rooms several years earlier.  The Holland America Line’s work with Mutters & Zoon provides another interesting link between the Dutch company and the White Star Line’s ships.  We also see Cunard’s approach with Lusitania and Mauretania.  James Miller, who designed Lusitania‘s key public spaces, pitched for work on White Star’s new ships but was evidently unsuccessful.

Aldam Heaton & Co.’s work on Olympic and Titanic‘s first class public areas included the first class smoke room.  We see a rare, probably previously unpublished, design concept sketch dating from February 1910, which demonstrates how the final decor differed from earlier proposals. Another little known detail is that Harland & Wolff had to extend their polishing shop at the Belfast shipyard, because of the sheer amount of interior fittings and decorative work being undertaken for the two new liners.  

The development of the passenger accommodation, comparing the Design ‘D’ concept approved in July 1908 to the finished ships, is explored at length.  We also learn of some of Lusitania‘s deficiencies, including inconvenient placement of electric light switches in first class staterooms.  Public expectations were rising and the trend for greater privacy and comfort, including single berth staterooms and more private accommodation, is covered.  These discussions are informed by the experience of Cunard pursers, stewards and commanders who recorded passengers’ feedback, then relayed their findings to Cunard’s management.  Undoubtedly White Star’s management received similar feedback.  We see how leading shipping lines such as Norddeutscher Lloyd, Holland America and White Star responded to public demand.

Improvements in third class accommodation over the preceding decades help us understand the context in which these ships were built.  The United States authorities implemented new regulations to safeguard the wellbeing of these passengers, which had to be complied with, but the shipping lines were ‘anxious’ to stress the competitive nature of their industry and how their economic livelihood depended on it.  Our knowledge of the primitive conditions experienced by third class passengers on older ships demonstrates just how comfortable they were on Olympic and Titanic, in comparison.

It is not widely appreciated that the greater size of White Star’s new ships was used to increase the number of first and second class passengers, not third class.  They had ample third class accommodation but maximising third class passenger carryings was not their primary goal.  We see how the design evolved and how the combined number of first and second class passengers was increased and third class reduced, both in absolute terms and proportionally.

First class passengers who complained about the lack of a restaurant (in addition to the main dining saloon) on Cunard’s ships prompted an exasperated comment from the company’s chairman, William Watson, that the travelling public would fight for a discount on their accommodation and then spend £5 on their wine bill.  The rising expectation for the best cuisine lead to the White Star Line’s decision to include an extra tariff restaurant on their new ships – the first on a British passenger liner. 

Together, we see how all these factors lead to the development of what were essentially floating hotels.