R.M.S.Olympic, Construction and Launch, 1908-1910 (HD/audio)

Newsreel footage of the construction and launch of R.M.S. Olympic at Harland and Wolff, Belfast. Olympic's keel was laid in December 1908 and she was launched on 20 October 1910.

Original newsreel footage has been converted into HD and audio recreated.

It was originally shot on 600 feet of silent, black and white 35mm film by the production company Kineto.

Highlights:

0:19 Main Harland and Wolff drawing office, with draughtsmen at work producing drawings and plans for the shipyard. At the rear of the room can be seen a scale builders model of an Olympic class liner.

0:27 The construction slip where the ship is to be built

0:44 The laying of the keel and the full length of the ship is revealed.

2:29 Bird's eye view of the hull and interior decks taking shape

3:12 The beginnings of Titanic - this is late 1910 as her hull is framed, next to Olympic. This is the only known footage of her hull under construction.

3:33 The huge gantry crane moving a large section of the hull exterior plating and then lowering it into place

4:08 A piece of the hull plating being guided into position on the side of the ship

4:55 Exterior plates fixed in place using electric bore and rivet machines

5:20 Two men hard at work hand riveting

5:43 A glorious reveal shot of the bow now at full height with a sign "White Star Royal Mail Steamer Olympic"

6:02 Steam cranes in action

6:46 One uncut take lasting, one minute 28 seconds of the launch. The hull was painted in a light grey colour as it made the lines of the ship clearer in the black and white photographs. After the huge hull has slipped into the water, the remaining slipway is revealed and crowds of men who had been watched begin dispersing.

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