Titanic's Sister Ships Quiz | RMS Titanic

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Was a sister ship launched before "Titanic"? (Hint: The first ship in this series began passenger service in 1911.)

Answer: yes

The "Olympic" began passenger service in June 1911, the "Titanic" began passenger service in April 1912, and the "Britannic" was first used as a hospital ship in December 1915. The "Britannic" sank in 1916 (during World War I) and never carried paying passengers. By being the first in her class, "Olympic" gave rise to the term "Olympic-class" liner being used to describe all three ships.

2. What was the name of the shipyard that built "Titanic's" sister ships? (Hint: it also built "Titanic.")

Answer: Harland & Wolff

After Thomas Henry Ismay (father of J. Bruce Ismay) bought the White Star line in 1867, he commissioned ships from the Belfast, Ireland shipbuilder company of Harland & Wolff. The three Oympic-class liners White Star had built in the early 1900s were in response to competition from the Cunard liners "Lusitania" and "Mauritania." Although J. Bruce Ismay's behavior during the sinking of "Titanic" was less than honorable, he was officially exonerated of any blame.

3. What was the name of the British warship the first sister ship collided with in her first year of operation? (Hint: It was a small cruiser.)

Answer: HMS Hawke

The 40,000 ton "RMS Olympic" collided with the 7,350 ton cruiser "HMS Hawke" at Southampton, England in September 1911 on her fifth voyage. The impact ripped open two watertight compartments in "Olympic," which took two months to repair. According to witnesses, the two ships were about 100-300 feet apart just before the collision.

The suction from "Olympic's" propellers probably dragged in the hapless "Hawke."

4. What is thought to be the original name of the sister ship that was changed in the construction yards immediately after "Titanic" sank?

Answer: Gigantic

Most historians agree that in the aftermath of the sinking of "Titanic" much work was carried out to make future "Olympic-class" ships safer. There were many design changes, including creating a double skin around the hull, increasing the height of the bulkheads, and increasing the number of lifeboats aboard to 58, almost three times the number "Titanic" had carried.

These steps increased "Olympic's" tonnage from 40,000 to about 46,000. White Star had intended to give a name to the last of the trio of "Olympic-class" liners that would be in keeping with the other two. So to follow the names "Olympic" and "Titanic," White Star supposedly settled on the name "Gigantic," creating a natural set of awe-inspiring names.

However, following the "Titanic" disaster, White Star decided to opt for a less aggressive name and settled on the name "Britannic."

5. Both sister ships played significant roles in World War I. Which one was pressed into service as a hospital ship? (Hint: Ships of the White Star Line had names that ended with the letters "ic" and Cunard's liners had names that ended in the letters "ia.")

Answer: Britannic

The unfinished shell of "Britannic" was launched in 1914, but her outfitting was delayed because of the shortage of labor and material due to the outbreak of World War I. She was requisitioned by the British Admiralty as a hospital ship, and her interiors were hurriedly altered to accommodate a large quantity of beds, medical equipment and medical staff.

She was painted white, complete with a broad green band along her hull, punctuated by three large red crosses. Her official name was then "HMHS Britannic" (which stands for "His Majesty's Hospital Ship").

In December 1915, the partially completed "Britannic" entered service as a hospital ship.

6. Which sister ship was used for a troop transport ship during World War I?

Answer: Olympic

In 1915 the "Olympic" was requisitioned by the British Admiralty and was converted from a passenger liner to a troop transport ship. During the war she carried 150,000 troops, about 40,000 other passengers, and steamed over 180,000 miles. After the war she was refitted and used again for passenger service as "RMS Olympic." The designation "RMS" stands for "Royal Mail Steamship (also called Steamer or Ship).

7. During World War I, one of the sister ships rammed and sank a German submarine. What was the sub's designation? (Hint: In World War II, British sailors captured the first Enigma machine captured at sea from U-110.)

Answer: U-103

In May 1918, during her 22nd troop-carrying voyage, "Olympic" was attacked by the German submarine "U-103." She avoided the torpedo fired by "U-103" with evasive action and then turned on her attacker and rammed it. As "U-103" began to sink, some of her crew escaped and were picked up by a nearby American destroyer, the "USS Davis."

8. One of the sister ships sank in 1916. In what body of water did she sink? (Hint: This body of water borders Greece.)

Answer: Aegean Sea

The hospital ship "HMHS Britannic" sank near the Greek island of Kea in the Aegean Sea on November 21, 1916 in about 55 minutes. Various sources report the number of deaths as between 21 and 41, all of which occurred when two lifeboats were shredded by the still-turning propellers on the upended ship. Fortunately, no patients were aboard at the time.

The balance of the 1,125 medical staff and crew were rescued. There is divided opinion as to whether she was torpedoed or struck a mine, although most historians believe it was a mine.

9. Who was the female who survived the sinking of both the "Titanic" and one of her sister ships? She was a stewardess for first-class passengers on the "Titanic" when it sank in 1912 and she was one of 102 nurses on board the sister ship that was converted to a hospital ship when it sank in 1916.

Answer: Violet Jessop

Despite all these traumatic events during her career, Violet Jessop died in England in 1971 at age 84.

10. Which sister ship finished out her sailing career as a passenger liner, finally being taken out of service in 1935 and then scrapped in 1937? Many of her ornate wood carvings wound up in fine homes, restaurants and hotels. She had interiors that were very similar to those in "Titanic," including two grand staircases.

Answer: Olympic

The White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, England has several woodcarvings from the "Olympic." Alnwick is about 300 miles north of London (in Northumerland, between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed). The Great Depression reduced the profitability of passenger liners, but they weren't superseded by air travel till the mid-to-late 1950s.

Source: Author root17

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Titanic's Sister Ships Trivia Quiz

Titanic is the best known of the passenger ocean liners built for the White Star line in the early 1900s, but there were two sister ships to Titanic that were built about the same time. There is some interesting additional information on the answer page.

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