Old Reliable's Revenge: The Day Titanic's Sister Ship Rammed a U-Boat

Long before her sister ship, the Titanic, became a legend for the wrong reasons, the RMS Olympic was carving out her own remarkable story. A titan of the seas in her own right, the Olympic served a long and distinguished career, earning the affectionate nickname "Old Reliable." But her most dramatic chapter was written not on the luxury passenger lanes, but in the treacherous, U-boat-infested waters of World War I.

The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

On the morning of May 12, 1918, HMT Olympic was slicing through the English Channel, her decks crowded with American soldiers bound for the trenches of France. Under the command of the experienced Captain Bertram Fox Hayes, the massive liner was zigzagging, a standard evasive maneuver to foil submarine attacks. Suddenly, a lookout spotted it: the sleek, deadly shape of a German U-boat, U-103, surfacing just 500 meters ahead. The submarine crew scrambled, preparing to fire the torpedo that would send the troopship and her thousands of passengers to the bottom.

A Split-Second Decision

For most ships, this would be a death sentence. But Captain Hayes was not commanding most ships, and he was not an ordinary captain. Instead of attempting a desperate escape, he made a split-second decision that defied all convention. He ordered the unthinkable: turn *towards* the submarine. As the Olympic’s own gunners opened fire, the 46,000-ton liner became a weapon, its bow aimed directly at the U-boat. The hunter was now the hunted.

The Unthinkable Collision

The crew of U-103, stunned by the liner's aggressive move, tried desperately to dive, but it was too late. The colossal prow of the Olympic slammed into the submarine just behind its conning tower. One of the Olympic’s lookouts, Frederick H. O. C. Brown, later described the moment:

There was a nasty, grinding crash. We looked over the side and saw the submarine turning over, on its side. Then it was gone.

The impact breached U-103's pressure hull. With their vessel crippled, the German crew scuttled the submarine to prevent its capture before abandoning ship. The Olympic, its bow plates twisted but its hull intact, powered on. It had won.

The Hardest Choice: Why Olympic Didn't Stop

The Olympic continued on its course, leaving the German survivors in the water. To a modern observer, this might seem cruel, but in the brutal context of 1918, it was the only logical choice. Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare meant any ship, including unarmed passenger liners and hospital ships, could be sunk without warning. U-boats often hunted in packs, and for Captain Hayes to stop his vessel—laden with thousands of Allied troops—would have turned "Old Reliable" into a stationary target. His primary duty was to his ship and the soldiers she carried. The risk of another submarine lurking nearby was too great. The 35 survivors from U-103 were not abandoned to their fate, however; they were later rescued by the American destroyer USS Davis.

For his decisive action, Captain Hayes was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The RMS Olympic not only survived the war but went on to serve for nearly two more decades, a testament to her robust construction and the bravery of her crew. Her story remains a stunning example of a passenger liner that, when called upon, turned and fought back.

Sources

• Wikipedia: RMS Olympic
• History.com: The Titanic’s ‘Sister Ship’ Sank a German U-Boat—By Ramming It
• The London Gazette: Supplement for Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for Captain Hayes