Today – 16 June 2024 – is the 113th anniversary of one of the greatest ocean liners of all time, RMS Olympic, owned by the Liverpool-based White Star Line and registered in the city, as proclaimed on her stern. On completion she was the largest manmade moving object in the world but lost that title to her younger sister RMS Titanic a year later. Although Olympic was hailed as the ‘Wonder Ship’ of her age, and Titanic merely an almost identical copy, the elder sister’s global fame has been totally eclipsed by the Titanic tragedy. In contrast, Olympic was a hugely successful ship and when she was broken up her First Class a la carte dining room panelling was bought by the Lady Mayoress of Southport to decorate her ballroom. The panelling was sold again to Celebrity Cruises’ MS Celebrity Millennium for its restaurant and so once again went to sea.
