What if the HMHS Britannic had beached on Kea?

When the HMHS Britannic (sister to Olympic and Titanic) had A.hit a mine or B.was struck by a torpedo during WW1, The captain had tried to move the ship towards the island of Kea and beach her on shallow water to try and save the ship.

What if the ship had been damaged closer to Kea and Captain Bartlett successfully managed to beach the ship?

Could she have survived the rest of WW1? If she could have been repaired, could having this liner effect the allied war effort in anyway?

How would White Star be effected by having Britannic after the war?
Would they still get the RMS Majestic (ex german SS Bismarck) or would they be ok with Olympic and Britannic?

I have always wanted Britannic to survive as she looks beautiful in White star livery
images


:)

EDIT: WOOPS wrong place Sorry! could somebody move it to the after 1900 place? D:
 
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I'm not exactly an expert on naval construction. However, I'm going to have to hazard a guess that, given how she sunk within an hour OTL, and with the possible presence of additional damage caused by forcibly beaching her, Britannic is *Probably* a total constructive loss. That said, I imagine that if WSL was motivated enough, and had the resources to afford doing so, they could probably find a way to patch her up enough to tow her to a proper shipyard somewhere for real repairs.

Additionally, I seem to recall that Britannic should have survived the flooding, save for the fact that many of the portholes on her lower decks had been opened to ventilate the hospital wards. Have the crew be expecting stormy weather that day and that POD might be enough to allow her to survive.
 
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Additionally, I seem to recall that Britannic should have survived the flooding, save for the fact that many of the portholes on her lower decks had been opened to ventilate the hospital wards.


That and the continued forward motion increasing the flooding. The beaching attempt also caused casualties in the water due to the still turning screws.
 
That and the continued forward motion increasing the flooding. The beaching attempt also caused casualties in the water due to the still turning screws.

yes the increased forward motion basicly drove the bow further into the water.
This drove the stern up and the moving propellers shredded all the lifeboats that were being pulled in by suction.
Violet Jessop (the nurse that was cursed) narrowly avoided being shredded by the props.

I'm not exactly an expert on naval construction. However, I'm going to have to hazard a guess that, given how she sunk within an hour OTL, and with the possible presence of additional damage caused by forcibly beaching her, Britannic is *Probably* a total constructive loss. That said, I imagine that if WSL was motivated enough, and had the resources to afford doing so, they could probably find a way to patch her up enough to tow her to a proper shipyard somewhere for real repairs.

Additionally, I seem to recall that Britannic should have survived the flooding, save for the fact that many of the portholes on her lower decks had been opened to ventilate the hospital wards. Have the crew be expecting stormy weather that day and that POD might be enough to allow her to survive.

I think Britannic could survive a beaching in shallow water. maybe if she had been closer to shore and could have steamed there in less time, then maybe the landing on the seabed could be rather soft.

Plus Harland and wolff fixed up the Olympic after her collision with the HMS Hawke (who's bow was designed to sink ships by ramming them!) and then she later sunk a u-boat by ramming it.

Despite the many structural flaws the trio were supposed to have, i think the changes made to the Britannic (and fitted to the Olympic) could have saved her if only those dam portholes were closed XD

If White Star had gained the SS Bismarck after the war, then they could run a three ship express service and they would be in a great competitive position! Similar to what Cunard had with Mauretania,Aquitania and Berengaria. This could even butterfly away the merger with Cunard!
 
Despite the many structural flaws the trio were supposed to have, i think the changes made to the Britannic (and fitted to the Olympic) could have saved her if only those dam portholes were closed XD
I recall at least one of her bulkheads also failed to close, which could say there was structural damage that jammed it or just some really bad mechanical luck. Get that bulkhead to shut alongside the portholes (or heck, maybe with them open) and I'd say the Britannic might stand a chance. After all this was a ship designed to take more damage than her more famous sister and live.

If White Star had gained the SS Bismarck after the war, then they could run a three ship express service and they would be in a great competitive position! Similar to what Cunard had with Mauretania,Aquitania and Berengaria. This could even butterfly away the merger with Cunard!
Or it could make White Star the dominate partner if the merger still happens, and the one we still hear about today unlike OTL with Cunard/Carnival
 
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I'd like to think that if Britannic had been beached then she was salvageable.

As I recall one of White Star's problems post WWI was the time it took them to get ready for passenger service again given the loss of their ships and the time to convert the German imports. With Britannic surviving then WSL has a powerful combo with her and Olympic.

To save White Star however you will have to either/both fix the stupid financial position WSL was in during the 20's and remove/lessen the Great Despression. A way to keep the US accepting migrants might be useful too.

Britannic does look fantastic in WSL livery.
http://rhill555.deviantart.com/art/RMS-Britannic-1923-153174846
 
Even on her own, the Olympic proved to a very popular ship. Running the Olympic and the Britannic as a two ship service would have made White Star a lot money.
 
Plus Harland and wolff fixed up the Olympic after her collision with the HMS Hawke (who's bow was designed to sink ships by ramming them!) and then she later sunk a u-boat by ramming it.

There's a bit of a difference location wise, (One happened less then fifty miles from a major english port) but I'll admit you're right here. I was thinking more that refloating the Britannic off of the shallows she'd be grounded on might be rather expensive, given that you need to ship everything for the process to Greece.
 
There's a bit of a difference location wise, (One happened less then fifty miles from a major english port) but I'll admit you're right here. I was thinking more that refloating the Britannic off of the shallows she'd be grounded on might be rather expensive, given that you need to ship everything for the process to Greece.

thats true, plus if they decide to do it during WW1 then they have the added threat of the central powers "intervening", although i doubt the allies would let them near the beached liner.

The Olympic was a very popular ship and ,unlike her early days, she was extremely reliable. She was nicknamed "old reliable".

Some ships have a certain... aura about them that makes them seem special and alive. The Queen mary had this aura but the Queen Elizabeth did not.
I am absolutely positive that Olympic had this aura and i think the Britannic may have had it too. Although sadly she sank before it truly became clear if she did or not. Passengers seem to flock to ships with this "aura" and if WSL had two of them then i think they would be in a very very good position during the 20's. Who knows maybe they could even have built the RMMV Oceanic? i think RMMV is a great pre-fix for a ship!
 
I suppose you could have it detonate higher up on the side of the ship. That might be enough for the No'6 watertight door to close and at the very least it should keep the fireman's tunnel from instantly flooding, which would help keep her afloat.

Or further forward which would have a similar effect.

Perhaps switching to a torpedo would increase Britannic's chance of survival?
 
I don't think it would've had that large of an impact on the war too much.

If the bulkheads close, the port holes close, and they are closer to shore I would say it's likely that the ship not only survives, but in the post war period would be a very popular ship to travel on...it would be the ship that survived the war...the UNSINKABLE BRITANNIC! So maybe WSL survives?

Someone needs to make a timeline where WSL survives and builds Titanic 2.0 for 2012 and the ship hits an iceberg because of Global Warming and leads to the Green Party winning the 2012 elections.
 
You know much as I love WSL and the grand trio of Olympic, Titanic and Britannic I doubt Britannic surviving the war means they become the senior partner when the merger happens. Oh and I seriously doubt WSL will have the word unsinkable ever be used to describe a ship of theirs ever again after Titanic.

As for her beaching the problem lies in the fact the several of the watertight doors never got shut whether due to the watch change happening at the time or the mine causing them to jam. The doors that weren't shut meant that she had the maximum amount of compartments she could survive already flooding and she needed to stop moving to not sink. The only thing the open portholes contributed to was making he sink so fast compared to the Titanic.
 
Again remember what happened just 4 years previously. Like I said no way in hell does WSL let the ship be called unsinkable.
Why if it is legitimately true at that point? Huge marketing opportunity. Titanic was a much weaker ship and did sink, Britannic was stronger and didn't...Britannic survived the deadliest conflict in human history, it was attacked, but it survived.
 
No ship is truly unsinkable ;)

Plus white star line never actually called the Titanic "Unsinkable".
They called her "PRACTICALLY unsinkable" and a shipping magazine at the time just missed out "practically" and then everyone (except WSL) started to call Titanic unsinkable.

Plus if the Britannic still beached on Kea, then she would have technically "sunk" but only a few foot down to the shallow waters off the beach.


I wonder, if Britannic did survive ww1, how long could she have lasted?

The Cunard's Aquitania made it up to 1950! If Aquitania is anything to go by then Britannic could have ended up serving alongside the Queens in ww2!
 
Why if it is legitimately true at that point? Huge marketing opportunity. Titanic was a much weaker ship and did sink, Britannic was stronger and didn't...Britannic survived the deadliest conflict in human history, it was attacked, but it survived.

Except well its not legitimately true. They can point out that the safety features helped prevent her from sinking(which might become a moot point if it becomes public knowledge that several of the watertight doors didn't shut) but that doesn't make her unsinkable. Britannic just like every ship in history if it takes enough damage WILL sink. The best WSL can do is say "hey guess what the lessons from Titanic WORKED HELL YEAH!" and probably market her as the "Ship the Hun couldn't sink" but there is no way in hell they would ever market her as unsinkable.
 
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