HMHS Britannic
Olympic-class ocean liner. Sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic
HMHS Britannic () was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of ocean liners and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the younger sister of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea in November 1916. At the time Britannic was the largest hospital ship in the world, and the largest vessel built in Ireland.
Britannic was launched on 26 February 1914, months before the start of the First World War. The ship was designed to be the safest of the three ships with design changes made during construction due to lessons learned from the sinking of the Titanic. Britannic was laid up at her builders, Harland & Wolff, in Belfast, for many months before being requisitioned by the British government to be operated as a hospital ship. In 1915 and 1916 she operated between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles.
On the morning of 21 November 1916, Britannic struck an Imperial German naval mine near the Greek island of Kea and sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 of 1,066 people on board; the 1,036 survivors were later rescued from the water and from lifeboats. Britannic was the largest ship lost in the First World War.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “HMHS Britannic” as olympic-class ocean liner. Sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as olympic-class ocean liner. Sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q215692. VIAF identifies the subject as 126652721. The Library of Congress control number is n79002859. Authority coordinates are 37.701, 24.284. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915, 1916 and 1914.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “HMHS Britannic”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow HMHS Britannic primary sources, HMHS Britannic archive and HMHS research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “HMHS Britannic”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “HMHS Britannic” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.