Laid down and constructed for the German Hamburg Amerika Line, Majestic was ceded to Britain’s White Star line to replace the Britannic, a sister ship of Titanic sunk during the war. At 56,000 tons she was the world’s largest ship until the Normandie was built. With sumptuous interiors, luxurious restaurants and public rooms, she plied her trade until 1936 when she was destined to be sold for scrap. Rescued and converted into a training ship for naval cadets, she sailed for Rosyth as HMS Caledonia. Here she survived in a static role until 1940 when she was burned out. She spent most of her life on the Southampton-New York run but cruised to Canada and on short cruises from Southampton too. Mark Chirnside’s previous two works, on the Olympic-Class ships, have become the definitive works on these white star vessels and have earned him two ‘Books of the Month’ from Ships Monthly.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, competition between the North Atlantic shipping lines was fierce. While Britain responded to the commercial threat posed by the growing German merchant marine, there was also rivalry between the great Cunard Line and its chief competitor, the White Star Line. Against this backdrop Olympic, Titanic and Britannic were conceived. Designed for passenger comfort, they were intended to provide luxurious surroundings and safe, reliable service rather than record-breaking speed. Ironically, fate decreed that only Olympic would ever complete a single commercial voyage and she went on to serve for a quarter of a century in peace and war. Titanic's name would become infamous after she sank on her maiden voyage. The third sister, Britannic, saw a brief and commendable career as a hospital ship during the First World War, sinking in the Aegean Sea in 1916.

Oceanic was the largest ship in the world when she was launched in 1899. The White Star Line's 'Ship of the Century', she was their last express liner before the Olympic and Titanic and her lavish first-class accommodation became renowned among Atlantic travellers. Serving on the company's express service for fifteen years, she earned a reputation for running like clockwork. Days after the outbreak of war, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy and converted into an armed merchant cruiser. However, her new-found status was not to last - she grounded on the rocks off Foula, in the Shetlands, within weeks and became a total loss. When she was wrecked, she had on board Charles Lightoller, Titanic's senior surviving officer. Oceanic: White Star's 'Ship of the Century' is the first book that looks at the entire career of this one-of-a-kind flagship. With human anecdotes, hitherto unpublished material and rare illustrations, Mark Chirnside's book is a beautiful tribute to a unique ocean liner.

The Titanic is one of the most famous maritime disasters of all time, but did the Titanic really sink on the morning of 15 April 1912? Titanic's older sister, the nearly identical Olympic, was involved in a serious accident in September 1911 - an accident that may have made her a liability to her owners the White Star Line. Since 1912 rumours of a conspiracy to switch the two sisters in an elaborate insurance scam has always loomed behind the tragic story of the Titanic. Could the White Star Line have really switched the Olympic with her near identical sister in a ruse to intentionally sink their mortally damaged flagship in April 1912, in order to cash in on the insurance policy? Laying bare the famous conspiracy theory, world-respected Titanic researchers investigate claims that the sister ships were switched in an insurance scam and provide definitive proof for whether it could - or could not - have happened.

Report into the Loss of the SS Titanic is a complete re-evaluation of the loss of Titanic based on evidence that has come to light since the discovery of the wreck in 1985. This collective undertaking is compiled by eleven of the world's foremost Titanic researchers - experts who have spent many years examining the wealth of information that has arisen since 1912. Following the basic layout of the 1912 Wreck Commission Report, this modern report provides fascinating insights into the ship itself, the American and British inquiries, the passengers and crew, the fateful journey and ice warnings received, the damage and sinking, rescue of survivors, the circumstances in connection with the SS Californian and SS Mount Temple, and the aftermath and ramifications that followed the disaster. The book seeks to answer controversial questions, such as whether steerage passengers were detained behind gates, and also reveals the names and aliases of all passengers and crew who sailed on Titanic's maiden voyage. Containing the most extensively referenced chronology of the voyage ever assembled and featuring a wealth of explanatory charts and diagrams, as well as archive photographs, this comprehensive volume is the definitive 'go-to' reference book for this ill-fated ship.

Launched as the pride of British shipbuilding and the largest vessel in the world, Olympic was more than 40 per cent larger than her nearest rivals: almost 900ft long and the first ship to exceed 40,000 tons. She was built for comfort rather than speed and equipped with an array of facilities, including Turkish and electric baths (one of the first ships to have them), a swimming pool, gymnasium, squash court, a la carte restaurant, large first-class staterooms and plush public rooms. Surviving from 1911 until 1935, she was a firm favourite with the travelling public - carrying hundreds of thousands of fare-paying passengers - and retained a style and opulence even into her twilight years. During the First World War, she carried more troops than any other comparable steamship and was the only passenger liner ever to sink an enemy submarine by ramming it. Overshadowed frequently by her sister ships Titanic and Britannic, Olympic's history deserves more attention than it has received. She was evolutionary in design rather than revolutionary, but marked an ambition for the White Star Line to dominate the North Atlantic express route. Rivals immediately began trying to match her in size and luxury. The optimism that led to her conception was rewarded, whereas her doomed sisters never fulfilled their creators' dreams. This revised and expanded edition of the critically acclaimed RMS Olympic: Titanic's Sister uses new images and further original research to tell the story of this remarkable ship 80 years after her career ended.

The intensifying competition on the North Atlantic in the early years of the twentieth century led the White Star Line to order three huge liners. While their British rival, the Cunard Line, focused on speed, White Star concentrated on size and luxury. Orders were placed for Olympic and Titanic to be built at Harland & Wolff 's yard in Belfast, while the third sister ship, Britannic, would follow at a later date. Each ship was subtly different. Lessons learned from the service of Olympic were put into practice for Titanic, as other shipping lines immediately began to plan their response. Following Titanic's loss on her maiden voyage, radical improvements were made to the third sister ship, improving the watertight subdivision. These changes, however, did not prevent Britannic sinking in less than an hour in the Aegean in 1916, while serving as a hospital ship for the war effort. Illustrated with many rare images of all three ships, including a brand new colour section, this revised and expanded edition brings the story up to date, providing a comprehensive history in one volume.