"OCEAN LINERS OF THE PAST—The White Star Triple-Screw Atlantic Liners Olympic and Titanic" is almost entirely a facsimile reprint, produced by arrangement with Benn Brothers (Marine Publications) Limited, the present publishers of "The Shipbuilder," from a Souvenir Number of that journal originally published in the summer of 1911. This special number was published to commemorate the building of these two mammoth White Star liners which were intended to put the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company in the forefront of the prestigious transatlantic passenger trade. These two great ships represent for many the zenith of British shipbuilding achievement, at a period when Britain almost literally "ruled the waves" in every sense, with the largest merchant and naval fleets in the world.
The commercial importance of Olympic and Titanic is reflected in the fact that this Souvenir Edition was then the most lavish and largest produced in that publication's history. Because of the highly detailed coverage it gave to the ships themselves, their fittings, design and building, the original edition has long been a much sought-after book among shipping enthusiasts. This facsimile edition reproduces all the editorial pages exactly as they first appeared, plus a selection from the contemporary advertisements used in the original publication.
Apart from the original Souvenir Number, however, this present book also includes three important extracts from later editions of "The Shipbuilder" which are particularly relevant. The first covers the alterations and modifications to the original design, mostly made from the experience gained with the Olympic. The second concerns the sinking of the Titanic, while the third contains summaries of the report on the Titanic enquiry, the report of the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee and the Board of Trade's new rules for life-saving appliances. Lastly, there is an Epilogue written specially for the book giving details of Olympic's subsequent career until she was scrapped in 1937, and which includes many additional illustrations.
This book, therefore, makes a unique and complete record for ship lovers and ship modellers, of the story of two of Britain's greatest and best-known ocean liners.
