Olympic-class ocean liner a dining room. "Britannic" provided third-class passengers more comfort than its two sister ships. First of the "Olympic"-class liners, "Olympic" was launched on 20 October 1910 and commissioned on 14 June 1911. She made her maiden voyage on 14 June 1911, under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith to great fanfare and acclaim. On 20 September of the same year, while under the command of a harbour pilot she was involved in a collision with the cruiser in the port of Southampton, leading to her repair back at Harland and Wolff and delaying the launch of her sister "Titanic".
RMS Olympic September 1911, when she collided with the British cruiser . The collision took place as "Olympic" and "Hawke" were running parallel to each other through the Solent. As "Olympic" turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of "Hawke" by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action. "Hawke"s bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with "Olympic"s starboard side near the stern, tearing two large holes in "Olympic"s hull, above and below the waterline, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller