RMS Olympic - A Forgotten Hero of WW1

Hello and welcome to my latest share - so I actually wasn't planning to do another ship for the battleship contest due to a number of factors mainly that the other two took an awful lot of time to complete, but then I remembered the history of RMS Olympic, the full sister ship to the ill-fated Titanic and I felt compelled to create some work in her honour. 

If you don't know her story I've detailed her journey below and I'm sure once you read it you too will see why she should be remembered, more so than both of her sisters Titanic and Britannic! Fun fact is that most of the original photos (unless of the wreck) in books/online etc of “Titanic” are actually that of Olympic as she was built and completed first, and as both ships where identical inside and out to save time and money they reused the photos and just labelled them Titanic. Yes I'm a bit of a Titanic buff lol. 

Olympic will still look beautiful if you print her in a solid colour as throughout the test prints I used solid colours and she was still glorious! All you will need to do to print in a solo colour scheme is remove all but one filament from the prepare screen.      

I will be sharing a model of her Sister Titanic and Britannic Soon so if you would like to print her too then do follow us so you know when she is released, she will not be going into the contest as she was a luxury liner for civilian use and not a battleship!

The print profile shared is the same as shown in the photos and there are genuine print photos included in this main page.

If you change the layer height you will get a better finish and the print time will obviously increase, however I was running short of time and so I did print in a high layer height and this is the same as shown in the pictures. 

You will need the use of the supports and will defiantly need to use fine needle nose plyers the kind for jewellery making to remove them and take your time. 

I've also created a Hueforge in her honour in her wartime dazzle camouflage which I feel really captures her spirit, so if like this then do check it out. 

I really hope you love  “Old Reliable” as much as we do and as always Happy Printing. 

RMS Olympic — The True Story Of “Old Reliable”

Birth of a Giant

In 1910, from the slips of Harland & Wolff in Belfast, the great Olympic emerged — the first of the White Star Line’s legendary Olympic-class liners. Commissioned under the leadership of J. Bruce Ismay, designed by chief naval architect Thomas Andrews, and built alongside her sister Titanic, she was the largest moving object ever created at that time. Stretching 882 feet with four iconic funnels, she carried the prestigious prefix RMS — Royal Mail Steamer — as an official carrier of the British Royal Mail.

Launched in June 1911, she embodied Edwardian elegance: sweeping staircases, ornate dining saloons, smoking rooms, and lounges that rivalled the grandest hotels of London and Paris. Unlike her younger sisters, she would live a long and storied life, proving herself the most successful of the class.

Into the Great War

With the outbreak of World War I, Olympics' peaceful service was set aside. In 1916, her speed and vast capacity saw her transformed  — into a troopship. Dressed in bold dazzle camouflage, her hull was painted with jagged black, white, and grey patterns designed to confuse German U-boats. As a troopship, she ferried over 200,000 soldiers across the Atlantic, more than any other liner of her day.

In May 1918, she famously rammed and sank U-103, becoming one of the few civilian ships to destroy an enemy submarine. Her record of faithful service earned her the affectionate nickname “Old Reliable.”

A Return to Peace

After the Armistice, Olympic returned to civilian life, her interiors restored to their Edwardian splendour. She carried thousands of passengers throughout the roaring 1920s, ferrying emigrants, businessmen, and tourists across the Atlantic. As Titanic and Britannic lay beneath the sea, Olympic stood as the last survivor of her class — a reminder of White Star's ambition and resilience.

The End of an Era

By the 1930s, newer and faster liners made Olympic look dated, and the economic depression made her costly to run. In 1935, after twenty-four years of service, she was retired and sent for scrapping at Jarrow and later Inverkeithing.

Yet Olympic did not vanish entirely. Much of her interior was auctioned off and survives today. The magnificent first-class dining room panelling was installed at the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, where visitors can still dine amid the ship’s woodwork. Other fittings found homes in private residences, clubs, and even aboard other ships.

Legacy of “Old Reliable”

Though her sisters met tragic ends — Titanic on her maiden voyage and Britannic in the Aegean — Olympic endured. She carried civilians in luxury, soldiers to war, and the wounded back to safety. She sank a submarine, ferried more men than any other liner of her day, and earned her place in history not as a ship of tragedy, but as a ship of triumph and survival.

Today, fragments of her still shine in hotels, clubs, and collections, and her story endures as a symbol of resilience. She was, and remains, the White Star Line’s “Old Reliable.”

We really hope you love this model as much as we have designing and creating it and as always Happy Printing.