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 made her operation increasingly unprofitable. "Olympic" was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1911–13, interrupted only by the brief tenure of the slightly larger (which had the same dimensions but higher gross tonnage owing to revised interior configurations), before she was then surpassed by . "Olympic" also retained the title of the largest British-built liner until was launched in 1934, interrupted only by the short careers of her slightly larger sister ships. The "Olympic" was withdrawn from service and sold for scrap in 1935; demolition was completed in 1937. Decorative elements of "Olympic" were removed