Tom McCluskie�s book Anatomy of the Titanic (Thunder Bay Press, 1998) contains a very large number of useful illustrations of interest to those studying the famous White Star liner Titanic and/or her sister ship, Olympic. A number of people have written me since I reviewed the book on Amazon.com with questions. McCluskie surprisingly misidentifies a number of photos. What follows is a list of the photographs (not all photographs will be listed or annotated � some are self-evident) with my own identification and other comments in the hopes other Titanic aficionados will find it helpful.

Page 7 This is Titanic, on her way out to her trials

Page 8 This is Cunard�s Mauretania, but the picture is of interest as it shows her painted �cruising white.� In the latter years of her long career, she served as a cruise ship rather than a liner.

Page 14-15 Olympic arrives back at Harland & Wolff to replace a dropped propeller blade. Olympic is waiting on the left to go into drydock while tugs back Titanic out. Titanic has not yet received her closed-in promenade on A deck.

Page 16-17 This is an interesting spread of photos of the construction of the huge Arrol gantry under which Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic would be constructed, except for the photograph at the bottom right of page 17. That picture shows the huge Harland & Wolff floating crane lowering a piece of the reciprocating engines into one of the ships. It�s worth remembering that the ships were essentially hollow when launched. The basic decks were all in place, but the boiler and engine rooms were empty. The boilers would be lowered in through the spaces left for the funnel uptakes, and the engines down the engine casings. This type of construction made it easier to repair and replace engines and boilers later.

Page 18-19 The very impressive builder�s model of the Olympic class ships. Very much as built except for the ventilators between number 3 and number 4 funnels.

Page 20 Olympic launching. Unique among the three sisters she was painted white for the occasion because it was felt it showed off her size and lines better.

Page 21 Miscaptioned as Olympic moving into graving dock just after her launch, this is actually Olympic in a finished or near-finished state since her cranes and masts are obviously in place. Titanic is very near launch condition in the background.

Page 22 Titanic completing, and obviously in need of a good paint job. The A deck promenade still not closed in at the front, work is proceeding on the B deck promenade suites.

Page 23 Top picture shows a funnel on its way to the quayside for installation; bottom picture shows funnels 3 and 4 in place, but funnel 2 has probably not yet been installed judging by the spacing. Probably Olympic. Deckhouses still in natural wood color; davits installed. Tanks on top of deckhouse are water tanks.

Page 24-25 Another spread of Arrol gantry photos. After the gantry was dismantled sometime in the 1950s, this area became a parking lot and storage area.

Page 26 Olympic: plating being installed on the tank top deck. In the next slip, work is underway on Titanic�s double bottom.

Page 27, top left and right; work proceeding on Olympic�s keel girder. Left picture from the bow, right picture from the stern. Notice the keel blocks already stacked ready to accept the graceful curve of Olympic�s cast sternpiece.

Page 27, bottom; work on Olympic�s double bottom. The stacks of parts waiting for installation are interesting. Ships have not been built in this manner for some time. Modern cruise ships and many naval ships are assembled in huge sections and welded together block by block, and usually are built under cover in vast assembly halls.

Page 28, top; Framing is proceeding along the length of Olympic and decks are being installed over the tank top. Probably looking from the stern forward.

Page 28, bottom shows Olympic in frame with large numbers of hull plates in the foreground waiting for installation. Work on Titanic is visible beyond her.

Page 29, bottom; a closeup of the waiting hull plates with Olympic�s massive frame in the background.

Page 30, top The angle makes this a little hard to identify, but this is the rudderpost being swung up. Probably Olympic.

Page 31, top left. Olympic in frame; notice the rudderpost has been bolted into position waiting for frames to come back to meet it.

Page 34, top. Identified as Titanic, this is Olympic�s double bottom under construction. Keel blocks and material in place for Titanic to the right of the picture in the next slip.

Page 34, bottom. Plating probably finished on Olympic and well underway on Titanic. As far as I know, these remain the two largest ships ever built side by side!

Page 34-35 Titanic�s massive frames in place, Olympic beyond her, plating pretty much finished.

Page 36-37 Not a lot to tell about these drydock shots; the picture on page 37 shows a piece of launch apparatus still attached. The ship involved has been moved to drydock to clean and paint her bottom, at which time the remnants of her launch will be removed.

Page 39, right. This watertight bulkhead shot is from Britannic. The photo on the left is impossible to credit, but notice the little candles or flares lighting the shot!

Page 40-41 After the sinking the watertightness of Olympic was rethought and she returned to Harland & Wolff to have her double bottom run up her sides and her other watertight bulkheads raised. These photos are from that project, except page 41, lower right. This is another photo from Britannic and is correctly identified as such by McCluskie.

Page 42-43 This is either the �smoking gun� or, more likely, an example of the rethink that followed the loss of Titanic. Certainly Harland & Wolff intended for the ships to have considerably more boats than they were built with, which is why they chose the Welin type davits, which could handle up to three boats per davit. This boat deck plan shows 24 pairs of davits, 12 per side, 22 pairs with two boats, the front pair with three, for a total of 54 boats. I suspect this may show the plan for reboating Olympic after the loss of Titanic because two of the boats are called out as motor launches, and the original set of boats for the ships did not include any motor boats.

Page 44-45 Various shots of Olympic�s sternpost., except for page 45, which I believe is Titanic, and page 44 bottom left, which actually shows the upper part of Olympic�s rudder casting.

Page 46 top, Olympic�s rudderpost ready to install; notice the large webs where the rudderpost will be firmly riveted onto the ship. Bottom left and right show a wing propeller support arm being installed. These are massive steel castings; the impact of Titanic with the bottom of the Atlantic can be imagined when one realizes that these must have either snapped or been bent violently upward to bring her wing screws above the mudline.

Page 47 Again the rudderpost, probably in Olympic. The size of the propeller shafts can be gauged by the man standing next to the port wing shaft housing in the bottom picture.

Page 48 This is a shot of the rudderpost and the two wing shaft supports. The sheer size of everything is wonderful; notice the men standing below the ship.

Page 49 Two more drydock shots, very likely taken at the same time as those on pages 36-37. The top photo has been widely reproduced. The bottom shot shows some marine growth on the wing shaft fairings.

Page 50-51 One of the ships in drydock, and a good look at the rudderpost area covered during construction above. Rudder is turned slightly to starboard. The same shipyard worker is standing near the center screw in both shots, evidently asked to stay there to provide scale for the photographer. In the photo on page 51 an interesting antique (well, antique now, not then!) steam traction engine can be seen on top of the drydock wall.

Page 52 Bow shot of Olympic in drydock. McCluskie identifies this ship as Titanic, but careful examination of the picture shows OLYMPIC lettering on both sides of the bow! The opening on the centerline of the bow near the top is the hawsepipe for the center anchor. If needed, the center anchor, which was considerably heavier than the other two, would be lowered over the bow by the anchor crane, a cable or anchor chain attached through the hawsepipe, and then the anchor would be lowered. It seems like an overcomplicated solution. Usually when an anchor is needed it is needed rather quickly�.

Page 53 Top shows an impressive hitch of draft horses delivering a side anchor; bottom is Titanic almost ready to launch. Her name has obviously been touched into the photograph as an afterthought.

Page 56-57 Titanic launched; early work on Britannic underway in Olympic�s old slip. Work would stop rather abruptly less than a year later�.

Page 58-59 Various launching shots. Top picture on page 59 is identified as Titanic, but in fact is Britannic; compare the arrangement of her stern to Titanic�s stern on page 58 opposite.

Page 60 Top, a very scruffy-looking Titanic at the fitting-out quay. A deck promenade still open, work on the B deck suites underway. Bottom, only number 4 funnel in place. The glass negative of this picture was obviously damaged at some time. Probably Olympic.

Page 61 Harland & Wolff�s floating crane at work on Olympic. There are many things of interest in this photo; work continues on the deckhouses, not all of the wood decking of the boat deck is in place. Closest to the camera the outline of the ship�s wheelhouse is defined on the deck by its base.

Page 62-63. One of the ships in drydock. Funnels being painted! McCluskie identifies this as Titanic, but I suspect this is Olympic. Top of page 63, Olympic still painted in launching white in background.

Page 64-65 The boiler shop at Harland & Wolff; the picture on page 65 at top left is more famous. These cylindrical �Scotch� boilers were heavy and inefficient and were already on the way out in naval use, but their cheapness and simplicity made them popular for liners and merchant ships. Pictures not taken at the same time; the boilers in the photo on page 65 are more advanced in construction than those on page 64.

Page 66-67 Boiler uptakes being constructed, here for Olympic. Notice the boilers in the background.

Page 68-69 Olympic, still painted white, being fitted out; the enormous floating crane swings a boiler on board.

Page 70-71 McCluskie errs again! Top picture is identified as Titanic, but is actually Britannic; bottom is identified as Olympic but is probably Titanic (!). McCluskie points out correctly that the enclosed promenade deck was a way to tell Titanic and Olympic apart, but Titanic�s enclosure was added very late � only weeks before she entered service. Britannic, seen here right after her launch, was launched with this feature already in place. Notice also the enclosed well deck on Britannic and different deckhouse arrangement on the stern. The picture on page 71 bottom is correctly identified as Britannic.

Page 72-73 Various funnels being delivered; the funnel on page 72 bottom is a funnel for Olympic, the other two could be either of the first two sisters.

Page 74-75 Interesting funnel installation shots. The funnel in the picture at the bottom of page 75 is probably number 3 funnel and is certainly awaiting installation in Olympic.

Page 76-77 The largest reciprocating engines ever built; these are Titanic�s massive engines in Harland & Wolff�s shop. The engine on the left is the starboard engine, the engine behind is the port engine. Interestingly, a smaller engine for another ship is being built at the far right of the picture.

Page 78 A casting for one of Olympic�s port reciprocating engine cylinders.

Page 79 Titanic�s port engine. The shattered remains of this massive engine are still visible in her wreck today. To the left, a smaller engine for another ship being assembled.

Page 80 McCluskie misidentifies this as the turbine engine casing, but in fact this picture was taken inside Harland & Wolff�s pattern shop and this is the wooden pattern that would be used to make the casting. A pattern for a support pillar for the reciprocating engines is in the background.

Page 81 This is a rare photo of the turbine engine being installed in one of the ships.

Page 82 Again, the pattern for the turbine casing casting.

Page 84-85 Dynamos installed in one of the ships. This is the compartment where the engineers of Titanic made their last stand, and kept lights burning until her massive hull failed under the strain.

Page 88-89 Two pictures of Olympic�s rudder in drydock, and this is Olympic; in the picture on page 89 her name can be made out on her counter.

Page 90 One of Father Browne�s famous photographs, this shows Marconi Operator Harold Bride in Titanic�s radio room. The odd appearance of the photograph is due to its being an accidental double exposure.

Page 95 A watertight door ready to install aboard Britannic.

Pages 98 These illustrations have caused some controversy as being not of Titanic. McCluskie points out that they are not, but that they are from the same interior designer, and were based on the work the designer had previously done for the Olympic class ships. As such, they provide a fascinating look at the richness of the woodwork not only aboard Olympic and her sister, but even smaller and less significant ships as P&O�s Mooltan and Maloja.

� 2003, Susan J. Paxton

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