Sunken Sister Ship of Titanic to be Underwater Seabed Museum
Welcome back!
Sitting on its side at the bottom of the Aegean Sea, Titanic’s lesser-known sister ship is set to become a spectacular underwater seabed museum more than 90 years after the gigantic and luxurious Olympic-class ocean liner met her demise when she sank in 1916.
The Britannic lies on its starboard side in the Aegean Sea. Photo Ken Marschall
The ship was launched in February 1914 at Belfast, and put to use as a wartime hospital ship for the first time the following year. It sank off the Greek island of Kea near Athens on November 21 1916 when an explosion gouged a hole in its hull, while on its way to collect soldiers wounded in the Balkan campaign of the First World War.
Much mystery remains with so little known about her. Up to now the ship has only been glimpsed by a handful of divers, but the ocean liner will soon be open to tourists next summer.
The wreck of Britannic lies at a depth of 400 feet (122 meters), so visitors to the museum will reach the ship in small submersibles.
Covered in barnacles, the fireman’s staircase can be clearly seen on the Britannic wreck.
Photo ITV / Rex Features / Antonello Paone
“Our plan is to start off with 3- or 4-seater submersibles.” said Simon Mills, a British marine historian who bought the shipwreck from the UK government in 1996.
“The Titanic lies in the cold waters of the north Atlantic and is rapidly disintegrating because of iron-eating bacteria. In a couple of hundred years there will be very little that is recognizable.”
“But the Britannic is completely different. She lies in warm waters, is very well preserved and wonderfully intact. For so long she has been eclipsed by her older sister but she also has her own story to tell.”
“There is the possibility here to create a unique project that can only help all parties. It is a wonderful thing that can happen to Greece if we can complete this project.”
“This project is not just about tourism but also about education, conservation and marine archaeology.”
He concluded that special care would be taken to preserve the integrity of the wreck, out of respect for those who died in its sinking.
A diver swims around the propeller of Britannic. Photo Simon Mills / Antonello Paone
There has been much debate on just what sank the Britannic and why she sank so quickly. Some say the ship struck a mine while others insist that a German U-boat torpedoed the hospital ship.
The biggest vessel in the world, built to be even larger and safer than the “unsinkable” Titanic, her ill-fated sister, was originally going to be named the Gigantic. The luxurious vessel was redesigned to correct the defects that had played such a crucial role in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
She was to sail the Southampton-New York route carrying thousands of immigrants destined for the ‘new world.’ But the First World War intervened and, requisitioned by the British navy, she began ferrying the wounded from the Gallipoli campaign and other fronts in the Middle East.
Britannic was on her 6th outward voyage when disaster struck that fatal day in 1916.
Sonar scan studies conducted as recently as 2003 reinforced the belief that the liner was brought down by a mine laid by a German U-boat.
Thus, the Britannic which had been modified to correct the defects that had contributed to the speed with which the Titanic went down sank in 55 minutes, as opposed to the 2 1/2 hours it took the Titanic to sink.
Photo National Maritime Museum
Only 30 people were killed on the HMHS Britannic, but these passengers met horrific deaths.
After the explosion holed the ship, 2 lifeboats that had been lowered without the captain’s knowledge were sucked into the ship’s still churning propellers. Both lifeboats along with their occupants were torn to pieces.
The captain managed to have the engine stopped to avoid a third lifeboat meeting the same fate.
Few have first-hand knowledge of the final moments other than the people of Kea, who raced out in fishing boats to rescue the 1,036 doctors, nurses and crew.
“When the ship went down there was a very loud sound and locals rushed to the highest point of the island to see what was happening.” said the island’s vice-mayor, Giorgos Euyenikos.
“My father was a boy when it happened and he remembers his father recalling the howls of people crying out in sheer agony as they met their deaths.”
The incident — described by Violet Jessop, who had incredibly also survived the sinking of the Titanic — traumatized those who witnessed it.
“Not a word, nor a shot was heard, just hundreds of men fleeing into the sea as if from an enemy in pursuit.” Jessop wrote in her memoirs, which were published in 1997.
“I turned round to see the reason for this exodus, and to my horror saw Britannic’s huge propellers churning and mincing up everything near them — men, boats and everything were just one ghastly whirl.”
Only 5 of the victims were ever found.
Photo ITV / Rex Features
The 883-foot (269-meter) “wonder ship” lay starboard side down on the seabed off the coast of Kea untouched and forgotten, until it was finally discovered by the famous explorer Jacques Cousteau in 1975.
Now, the mystery and controversy that has shrouded this vessel could soon be lifted.
Mills hopes to debunk some of the myths of the Britannic, including the assertion of conspiracy theorists that in addition to transporting casualties, the ship was also carrying military supplies to Allied armies in the Middle East and only dressed up as a hospital ship.
“A lot of wartime propaganda endures to this day, not least the German allegation that the Britannic was being misused as a troop transporter when she went down.” said Mills. “There is absolutely no evidence to prove this was the case, and we hope that soon these myths will also be laid to rest.”
HMHS Britannic – Forgotten Sister of the Titanic
RMS Olympic, Titanic and HMHS Britannic
Sources: Telegraph, Mail on Sunday, and Guardian
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Thanks Deborah,
An amazing and little known story. Hopefully the ship will remain intact and not vandalised as the Titanic has been.
Thank you – you sure dig up some amazing stuff!
Robin
Very interesting post ! but I don’t think I would go down that deep to visit the ship !
Great video and soundtrack. Its not often you find people with such a passion for old stories like that. Its a shame the story was another one of mankinds inhumanity to their fellow man…
(no criticism of yourself in that – great job).
This is the first I’ve heard of this ship—you have the most fascinating, informative website.
Thank you so much for sharing the history behind this ship. I had never heard of the Britannic before. It’s exciting to think that this mysterious ship will be soon turned into a museum. I plan to do more reading about the Britannic, since your post piqued my curiosity. Thanks again!
amazing, i’d love to board the submersible and see the britannic up close…
marvellous post Deborah…
I have never heard of this sister ship!!
I hope they make this into a movie with Leo di Caprio as the star
Well as long as Simon Mills maintains his stance to preserve the integrity of Britannica, hopefully things will remain intact, Robin. I should hope that there are security measures to prevent others from accessing it by any means other than what he develops. Glad you enjoyed it
Aside from not being a diver myself, Gattina, I think I’d actually enjoy using a submersible to view her
Thanks Ben, I’m glad you enjoyed this
Thanks so much Kuanyin
You’re obviously not alone Rebecca
Since Britannic was the sister ship to Titanic and met such a horrid fate, it’s rather odd that she has never really received very much notice.
Well you may very well be able to do so by next summer, Kirk
Thanks Kim
That would seem like deja vu to have him star in a film about her 
That’s a really interesting but terribly sad story. I heard about the Britannic growing up, but never heard about the people and lifeboats being torn up by the propellers. Really good video.
A thought …. This depth is within reach of Trimix divers though bottom time would be seriously limited. The Trimix divers who discovered the coelacanths off the northern KwaZulu (Natal) coast back in 2000 dived to these depths but had only a bottom time of 12+ minutes and had to then undergo a decompression ascent of 2 HOURS!!!!! Still, wrecks at this depth are technically vulnerable to deep divers – and thereby hangs a tale?
Robin
I’ve always love Titanic and have watched the movie for like 20 times already. I’ve been reading facts online regarding it and this post is amazing!
Its amazing news. Thanks for posting
My son is a ship enthusiast, he was just over my shoulder, very excited about this. I’m sending it to him right now and will have him read it and write a few sentences about it. (He’s 9 and we homeschool.) What an interesting story! You always find the best stuff, Deborah!!!!
Jennifer, that’s great that you’re able to home school your boy, and I applaud you for it
And thanks, I’m glad that you find it interesting for him. I think it’s wonderful for children to learn interesting parts of our history such as this
how dare yall do you know how an sisters of mine were on that ship its so bad that one of there shoes were found. *_* yall make me sick
its really sad that these things happened to us in our that we have to compile such sad experiences in our historic moments but hey that’s life; its not tangible enough for us to control.
me best regards to all those who were involved.
I love the Titanic movie. It so romantic and beautiful. I believe it is the best movie I have ever seen. I don’t know if there will be another producer to make such a good one. But I am still hoping!
movie and entertainment is part of life
has anyone ever thought of serching for the titanics missing funnles n take this in to fact look at the britannic wreck the blast zone seem’s to go outward i think possible sabotage and mabey titanic n olympic where swapped mabey i am super stitous but it seem’s to make gos sense
“An amazing and little known story. Hopefully the ship will remain intact and not vandalised as the Titanic has been”
The titanic hasn’t been vandalized.
So there are so many sinked ships are there around the World. The Govts are making their efforts to resuce the ships to make them a visiting place for many.
I’m a Titanic enthusiast and would like to make a few comments. In reply to Philip Smiths comments. The Titanic’s funnels were swept away by the current. They are well away from both wreck sites (the bow wreck and the stern wreck). Consiracy theorists have always insisted that Olympic and Titanic were swapped in an insurance scam by White Star. Not true, but it does make good reading.
Titanic is technically being vandalised. Especially when idiotic people get married down on the wreck (mentioning no names!). Vandalism doesn’t always mean physical vandalism. It’s a graveyard for over 1500 people. It’s crumbling away and it won’t be there forever. Obviously these are just my opinions.
Hi i just want to relly know if the titanic’s sister is gonna b a museaum is that right or is it just me,