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 Oceanic (1899) "Nothing but the very finest", was Ismay’s policy toward this new venture, and she was constructed at Harland and Wolff’s Queen's Island yard at Belfast, as was the tradition with White Star Line ships. "Oceanic" was built to accommodate slightly over 1,700 passengers, with 349 crew. In his autobiography, "Titanic and Other Ships", Charles Lightoller gives an account of what it was like to be an officer on this vessel. As White Star typically ordered ships in pairs, a sister ship for "Oceanic" to be named "Olympic" was proposed. However following the death of Thomas Ismay in November 1899 the