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"
Blackfriars Ships bronze arm of a pair of shears, two larger lead weights, and an iron grapnel. As with the other Blackfriars ships, these two appear to have been used to carry and transport building supplies. The Blackfriars III ship is the most complete medieval sailing ship to be discovered in Britain. It was a sailing ship built around 1400 and was approximately long, wide and high. Marsden believed the ship to resemble a river vessel known as a "shout". The Blackfriars IV was a clinker-built vessel, built around the 15th century. The vessel was estimated to be very small, only wide.