The HMHS Britannic
Wikimedia CommonsHis Majesty’s Hospital Ship, the Britannic, at sea during World War I in 1917.
While the Titanic is a world-renowned shipwreck, the disaster of its younger sister ship has been largely forgotten. The HMHS Britannic was actually built by the same company as the Titanic – the White Star Line — and constructed after the “unsinkable” ship met its unexpected end.
Naturally, some changes had to be made in order to make the Britannic regain the trust of customers, so the company added a few extra lifeboats and a reinforced hull around the boiler and engine rooms as well as to other regions vulnerable to icebergs.
Unfortunately, the admirable attempt ultimately proved futile.
Wikimedia CommonsA funnel being transported to the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast during the ship’s assembly.
When it was finished, the Britannic was even larger than the Titanic and could have made for an excellent cruise ship, were it not for one fairly important issue: World War I had just begun. The Britannic was consequently requisitioned by the government for use as a hospital ship.
The Britannic lasted for a year before it was sunk by a German mine. Luckily, most of its passengers made it out of the wreck alive. Of the 1,000 people on board, only 30 or so died.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Britannic rests in the channel between Kea (left) and Makronisos (right).
Jacques Cousteau discovered the sunken ship in 1976, 400 feet below the surface of the Aegean Sea. He was rather surprised to find it in such remarkable condition, resting on its side.
Across the 1990s and 2000s, multiple expeditions have descended upon the sunken ship. The latest one occurred in 2012 when divers installed equipment to monitor bacteria growth on the ship in order to compare it to the Titanic.
