Olympic-class ocean liner so, the "Olympic"-class ships were built to surpass rival Cunard's largest ships, "Lusitania" and "Mauretania", in size and luxury. "Olympic", along with "Titanic" and the soon to be built "Britannic", were intended to be the largest and most luxurious ships to operate on the North Atlantic, but not the fastest, as the White Star Line had already switched from high speed to size and luxury. The three vessels were designed by Thomas Andrews and Alexander Carlisle. Construction of "Olympic" started in December 1908 and "Titanic" in March 1909. The two ships were built side by side. The construction of "Britannic"
Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships Brig "Mercury" Attacked by Two Turkish Ships (Russian: Бриг "Меркурий", атакованный двумя турецкими кораблями) is an 1892 oil on canvas painting by Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900). Aivazovsky painted over 6,000 works, more than half of which are seascapes. It depicts three ships in close combat on a rough sea; as the name suggests, the battle occurs between two Turkish warships, and another ship referred to in the painting's title as the . While Aivazovsky painted many seascapes, often involving ships and boats of various descriptions, and many showing ships that were damaged