Olympic, the first of the three Olympic-class ships, and the only one not to sink.
Construction for Olympic began on December 16, 1908 when her keel was laid down at Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast, Ireland. On October 20, 1910, the Olympic was at last ready to be launched into the River Lagan.
The Olympic set sail with great fanfare and publicity on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on June 14, 1911. She carried 1,316 passengers and 850 crew members aboard. Her captain was Edward John (E.J.) Smith, one of the most respected commanders of his day. He had served as skipper of White Star's Majestic for nine years. It was Smith's honor to take the command of many of White Star's liners on their maiden voyages.
The Olympic was acclaimed as "the achievement of the age," the largest and finest product "of stupendous skill of the first maritime nation of the world." She was so big that to accommodate her size the White Star Line persuaded the harbor authorities to lengthen New York's Pier 59 by 90 feet into the Hudson River. Her arrival in New York, attended by twelve tugboats, on June 21, 1911, was greeted with enthusiasm and astonishment. People were astonished by her enormous size. One New York reporter said that "she looked to be a genuine sea monster." Her size and recreational attractions provoked good-natured jabs. A New York Times cartoon depicted a well-dressed passenger asking directions to the Olympic's fictitious onboard racetrack(the Olympic did not have a racetrack).
The Olympic's maiden voyage was a success. Some passengers however confessed to having worried about crossing the treacherous North Atlantic on an untested liner. But those fears proved to be totally unfounded. The Olympic was safe, secure, and had completed her maiden voyage to New York successfully.
Source: Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner
By Susan Wells/ Foreword by William F. Buckley, Jr.