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Rare photograph of the Titanic and Olympic together available at Mary Evans Picture Library A rare and unusual photograph of the famous, ill-fated passenger liner, RMS Titanic, is now available through Mary Evans Picture Library, the UK's leading source for historical images. The photograph shows the RMS Titanic alongside its sister ship, RMS Olympic in the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland on the 6th March 1912, the only opportunity that ever existed for the two gigantic White Star Line ships to be photographed together. The Olympic on the right of the picture, is seen alongside a floating crane, having floated out of dry dock while Titanic, on the left had floated into dry dock - all done on one tide on 6th March 1912. The fact that there was only a one hour window in which to capture the two vessels together following construction, makes this a picture of a unique moment in the ship's story. Titanic closely resembled her older sister Olympic which the first of the White Star ships to be completed in 1911 (the third, Britannic, completed in 1914 was sunk during World War I and never entered commercial service). Although she enclosed more space and therefore had a larger gross register tonnage, the hull was the same length as Olympic's. One of the most noticeable differences was that, unlike Olympic, half of Titanic's forward promenade A-Deck (below the boat deck) was enclosed to guard against outside weather. Both ships were the last word in luxury with lavish first-class accommodation and every conceivable comfort available for passengers. 15th April 2012 will mark the centenary of the sinking of the 'unsinkable' Titanic, with the tragic loss of over 1500 lives, which makes this photograph, taken just over a month before the tragedy all the more significant. "We have a wide and eclectic range of images on the Titanic disaster, including magazine covers and illustrations, White Star Line artefacts, ephemera, brochures and even film stills," says Tom Gillmor, Head of Content at Mary Evans Picture Library. "The addition of this very special image confirms us as one of the best sources for material on this tragic but endlessly fascinating episode from history." Click here to see the image of Titanic and Olympic together, or click here to see a wider selection of images on the Titanic. For further information, or licensing queries, please contact: |
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