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"
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