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Olympic Titanic's big sister is often
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described as the only civilian ship to
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sink a submarine in the First World War.
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It's a brilliant story. It's dramatic.
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but it quietly erases at least three
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other ships and a submarine wreck that
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I've dived myself. In this video, we're
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going to dig into Admiral T files,
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German yubot records, and modern wreck
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evidence, and rebuild the real list of
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civilian ships that sunk submarines in
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World War I. By the end, you'll see why
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Olympic was unique, but absolutely not
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To understand where the myth comes from,
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we need the big picture.
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In World War I, German hubot were deadly
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and sank vast numbers of ships. They
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also took heavy losses, but usually not
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to merchant vessels. Most that never
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came home were lost to mines, depth
1:11
charges, and purpose-built naval
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vessels, destroyers, sloops, patrol
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craft, even sometimes vessels disguised
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as merchants that carried concealed
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Civilian and merchant ships weren't
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designed as yubot hunters. They were
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cargo carriers, collers, ocean liners,
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coastal steamers. often unarmed or
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lightly armed with obsolete weapons and
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usually they were on the receiving end
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of an attack. So when a civilian ship
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does defeat a submarine, it really
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stands out. And when that ship is RMS
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Olympic, sister to Titanic, the story
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takes on a life all of its own.
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Somewhere along the way, only ocean
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liner turned into only civilian ship.
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What we're going to do is reconstruct a
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few of these encounters. We're going to
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crosscheck British claims with German
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records and when we can bring in the
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Once we do that, the only civilian ship
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version simply doesn't survive. Our
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first forgotten new boat killer isn't
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glamorous at all. The SS British
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Transport was a hardworking British
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steamer of just over 4,000 tons.
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On the other side of this story is U49,
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commanded by Captain Lieutenant Richard
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Harmon, a very successful yubot captain,
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credited with 39 ships and over 86,000
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The submarine sailed with another one on
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By the morning of 11th September, it's
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on station in the Bay of Bisque and
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doing exactly what it's supposed to be
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doing. It torpedoes and sinks the
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British steamer Vienna. And the master
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is taken prisoner and brought aboard
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Several hours later, U49 comes across
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another steamer, another ordinary
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vessel, the British transport under
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Master Alfred Pope. At about 1,600
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hours, the submarine surfaces a mere 50
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yards from the steamer. That's point
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British transport was armed and the gun
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crew scrambled to their 4.7 in gun, but
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U49 dived just before they could get a
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A few minutes later, U49 surfaces
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several miles away. Now, both ships open
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fire, but the gunfire is ineffective on
4:09
At some point during this engagement,
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the British transport loses visual
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contact with the Ubot. U49 hasn't gone
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away. It wants another victim. 4 hours
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later, just before 2100 hours, two
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torpedoes streak past British transport
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That tells us U49 has been tracking her,
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trying to get into a killing position.
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Then comes the moment described in the
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Admiral T's reported destruction of
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submarines report. At about 9:20, the
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crew of British Transport see a luminous
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patch of disturbed water on the port
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The ship is turned towards it. As they
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close, the shape of a submarine becomes
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visible under the surface.
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The collision is brutal.
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Everyone on board feels the heavy slam
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as the bow impacts into the yubot,
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followed by some horrendous grinding
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noises that last a couple of seconds.
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The ship's speed drops perceptibly under
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As British transport passes over,
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officers on the deck see the submarine's
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bow briefly clear of the port bow of the
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British transport. It lifts out of the
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water and a hatch between the foremost
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gun and the conning tower is seen to
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open and me men begin to emerge.
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They hear shouting from the submarine.
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The British transport doesn't know for
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certain, doesn't know what's happening.
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So, the crew fire two rounds at very
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close range. The second round is
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believed to be a hit. They see flame and
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and then nothing else.
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When the British transport finally
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reaches port, examination of the side of
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the hull reveals scratches and scoring
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on the plating consistent with striking
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a hard metal object. That's not the sort
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of marks you get from your own anchor or
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From the British side, this looks and
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feels like a kill. From the German side,
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U49 never makes another report after
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sinking Vienna. She doesn't sink any
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There's nothing else heard from her
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within a patrol area, and no other
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plausible cause presents itself.
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her assigned patrol line, the time of
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Vienna's loss, the long pursuit of
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British transport, the torpedo attack,
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and the ramming at 9:20 p.m. Those line
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Modern analysts rate this as a very
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probable loss. The history books record
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that U49 was rammed and sunk by the
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steamer SS British transport on the 11th
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With that collision, Germany loses one
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of its most experienced Yumboat
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commanders. Hartman and his entire
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veteran crew go down with the boat. And
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the British have a solid case of a
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civilian steamer taking a fight to a
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yubot and winning. British transports
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master Alfred Pope is awarded the DSO,
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the Distinguished Service Order. His
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chief and second officers and the Chief
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Engineer receive the DSC, the
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Distinguished Service Cross.
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Months before Olympic meets U 103, a
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completely ordinary merchant steamer has
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already hunted down. Well, maybe not
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hunted down, certainly rammed a Yubot
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after surviving a torpedo ambush. A
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civilian ship with a largely civilian
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crew scoring a very real kill.
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Already the only civilian ship claimed
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for Olympic doesn't hold up. Now to the
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famous one, RMS Olympic, the first of
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the Olympic class liners, sister to
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Titanic and Britannic. In peace time,
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she's the epitome of luxury. Panled
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lounges, grand staircases,
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silver service in the dining saloon.
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War strips that all away.
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She's requisitioned as a troop ship.
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The fine woodwork is covered over or
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removed. The carpets go. Cabins are
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converted into troop dormitories. And
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her white hull turned into a dazzle
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painted gunarmed giant.
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She receives several 6-in guns and
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And later in the war, she even carries
9:20
Underneath all of that, she's still an
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ocean liner built for speed and comfort.
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She's not a warship. By 1918, though,
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she's a veteran. She's made dozens of
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Atlantic crossings, carrying thousands
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of Allied troops, dodging mines and
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Ubot, occasionally sighting periscopes,
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and getting the odd torpedo scare. On
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12th of May 1918, she's in the English
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Channel heading east with American
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troops on board. A prime high value
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target. She's part of a wider system of
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escorted convoys. She's zigzagging to
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make life harder for you.
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Lurking ahead though is U 103,
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a German submarine on patrol looking for
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exactly this kind of prize. The captain
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of U 103 lines up for a torpedo attack
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from a favorable angle.
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Things don't go to plan. The accounts
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differ slightly on the exact sequence,
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but the core is generally consistent.
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The lookouts on Olympics bridge and up
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in the crow's nest spot the submarine.
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They either see the periscope, the hull
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just a wash, or the track of a failed
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torpedo. But in that moment, the captain
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and his officers make the same
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instinctive choice as the British
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They go for the attack. Olympic guns
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open up. Shell splashes bracket the
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yubot, forcing her captain into an
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Does he dive and break off or press the
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The ideal textbook firing position is
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gone. Then comes the turn. A ship over
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turns to swing towards the Ubot.
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It's impossible to imagine what it must
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be have been like on U 103's bridge or
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in the conning tower at this moment.
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What have been a giant silhouette, a
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distant target is now a rapidly growing
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wall of steel. The bow wave is foaming.
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The gun's firing. The collision happens
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at around seven or eight knots. Not full
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speed, but with the kind of mass that
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Olympic has, it doesn't need to be. The
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port side of Olympic strikes a
11:57
submarine. Her huge propellers and the
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curve of a hull tear into the pressure
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The German boat is fatally hauled.
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She sinks and the surviving crew abandon
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ship. U 103 never returns from the
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patrol. German records accept the loss
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and the timing and location match
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Allied destroyers later pick up
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survivors. So this isn't a disputed fog
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of war. Maybe it's a confirmed kill.
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Olympic though isn't unscathed. Her hull
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plates are dented. Parts of the bow
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structure are twisted. She needs repairs
12:43
in dock before she can resume service.
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But she has just done something no other
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ocean liner has ever done or ever will
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do. She has deliberately rammed and sunk
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The story spreads quickly.
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I mean, there are cheering troops on the
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deck. There's press coverage. And later
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on there's even a commemorative plaque.
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The captain is decorated and Olympics
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wartime image shifts from this luxury
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ship turned workhorse to yubot killer.
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And that is where the myth begins over
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time. only ocean liner to sink a yubot,
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which is true, mutates into only
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civilian ship to sink a yubot, which
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you've already seen is false. British
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transport gets lost from the story.
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Maybe it doesn't have the glamour.
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It doesn't have the Titanic connection.
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It doesn't have the big ship drama. So
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part of what we're doing here is simply
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putting Olympic back into her proper
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context. She's absolutely unique as an
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ocean liner that sank a submarine, but
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she's one of only several civilian or
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merchant vessels that achieve the same
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feat. Once you recognize that, the whole
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narrative of helpless merchants versus
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all powerful hubot becomes a little bit
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more complicated. British transport
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wasn't even the first. Months earlier,
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another civilian vessel had already
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claimed a yubot. On the 21st of May
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the French steamer Molier was sailing in
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convoy a few miles north of us.
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That's the western gateway to the
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English Channel. It's a busy, dangerous
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choke point and a favorite hunting
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ground for submarines. A submarine had
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already torpedoed one ship from the
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convoy in which the Molè was traveling
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and was trying to cross between the two
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columns to fire again, likely using a
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stern torpedo. Molier was slightly out
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of line and cighted a periscope just
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ahead. It altered course and rammed.
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There was a heavy shock. A torpedo was
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seen running harmlessly past another
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steamer in the convoy. A rush of bubbles
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broke the surface and then nothing else.
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Molier limped back to breast with a
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large hole and several dents in her bow.
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For years, modern sources credited her
15:39
But when you dig into patrol orders,
15:41
positions, and the sequence of sinkings,
15:44
that doesn't add up. UB36 was lost, but
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it should have been home by then.
15:51
Instead, the pattern of ships sunk and
15:54
the way the attack unfolded point to a
15:57
different boat and a different type of
16:01
UC 36 was a UC2 mine layer with a stern
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torpedo. Exactly the sort of maneuver
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described in the Mllair reports.
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There are no unexplained sinkings in
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UC36 patrol area after this ramming. Put
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simply, Molier, a French civilian
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steamer in a convoy almost certainly
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finished her. So, we've already heard of
16:27
two rammings before Olympic, but there
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was another. The fourth confirmed case
16:33
is SS Queen Alexandra and the German
16:40
This was another type UC2 mine laying
16:43
submarine. It sailed from Ostend at 4:40
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a.m. on the 2nd of May, 1918
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with orders to lay mines off Bologna and
16:54
New Haven and then operate against
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shipping in the eastern and central
17:00
English Channel. We know she reached her
17:02
patrol area. The French found a fresh
17:05
minefield off Bologna on the 4th of May
17:09
and the Royal Navy swept up seven mines
17:12
off New Haven on the 8th of May. After
17:15
that, she disappears.
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In the early hours of 9th of May, 1918,
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three days before Olympics encounter
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with U 103, the SS Queen Alexandra is at
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sea in the channel under Captain Angus
17:30
Keith, escorted by the patrol vessel
17:35
At 12:45 a.m. British time, lookout spot
17:39
a submarine close under the bow. The
17:42
Queen Alexandra goes for it, ramming at
17:45
full speed. P33 also sightes the
17:49
submarine and hears the collision.
17:52
It searches briefly, drops a boy to mark
17:55
the spot, and returns at 4:30 a.m. By
17:59
then, there's a large patch of oil and
18:02
acid stretching for about 7 miles down
18:05
tide. Classic signs of a submarine
18:08
broken open. The ramming position sits
18:11
squarely inside UC78's assigned patrol
18:15
area. Now, the Royal Navy initially
18:17
believed the victim was UB78,
18:20
but that boat had already been mined off
18:23
Folkston in April. Once you fix that
18:26
error, UC78 is the only candidate. From
18:30
the German side, UC78 never reports back
18:36
All 29 crew are listed as lost.
18:39
Once again, you put together the
18:41
evidence, the patrol orders, the
18:44
minefields off Bologna and New Haven,
18:47
the time and place of the collision, and
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UB78's earlier loss.
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Modern analysts rate it as very probable
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that Queen Alexandra rammed and sank
18:58
UC78 in the early hours of 9th of May
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So even before Olympic drives her bow
19:07
into U 103, another civilian steamer has
19:11
already destroyed a Yubot in the channel
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using the only real weapon she had, her
19:21
the confirmed record looks like this. SS
19:25
Molier rammed and sunk UC 36 in May
19:31
SS British Transport Ramden sank U49 in
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September 1917 and Queen Alexandra 3
19:40
days before Olympic almost certainly did
19:46
Olympic rams and sinks at U 103 in May
19:51
Four different civilian or merchant
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ships, four Ubot destroyed. Yet, the
19:57
popular story only remembers the famous
20:00
liner. Things get even more interesting
20:03
when we look at some of the claims and
20:06
look at Rex themselves.
20:08
One long-standing one is that the
20:11
merchant ship SS Brainil rammed a
20:14
submarine off the Lizard Peninsula in
20:18
The Admiral T was skeptical at the time.
20:21
Brail didn't get official credit. Her
20:23
crew didn't get the prize money. But
20:26
you're looking at the wreck of that
20:28
submarine now. This is U95.
20:32
The Gasperados team dived to 75 m,
20:36
scrubbed the props, and confirmed the
20:41
Other members of the team filmed
20:43
significant damage to the pressure hull
20:45
forward of the conning tower that seems
20:48
to match Bray Neil's account of the
20:50
collision. The dramatic story of Bri
20:53
Neil ramming a Ubot suddenly looks a lot
20:57
more plausible when you line up the log
20:59
books with the steel on the seabed. It's
21:03
a great example of how research, wreck
21:07
diving, and a bit of rust forensics can
21:10
help solve a 100-year-old mystery.
21:13
Brainail isn't the only encounter that
21:15
needs a second look. There was also a
21:17
famous report by SS Thais that it rammed
21:21
U6 in 1915. It was a great headline and
21:25
an important one at that particular
21:27
point in the war, except that U6
21:29
survived that year and was lost
21:32
somewhere else entirely. Stories lit
21:34
like this show how easy it was in
21:36
wartime to overclaim submarine kills.
21:39
Unless you can match German records,
21:42
wreck evidence, log books, patrol areas,
21:48
some of these kills quietly dissolve
21:50
under scrutiny. What's actually true?
21:53
Well, we can say with confidence that
21:56
four ships were definitely sunk by
21:59
civilian or merchant vessels and almost
22:02
certainly a fifth. Olympic
22:05
was the only ocean liner though. But she
22:09
wasn't the only civilian ship. And out
22:11
on the seabed, wrecks like U95
22:15
remind us that every claim has to
22:17
survive a number of tests. The documents
22:21
and the steel war creates situations
22:25
that would sound implausible in peace
22:27
time. Passenger liners used as rams.
22:32
Cargo steamers turning it into impromptu
22:35
submarine hunters and fleeting decisions
22:39
on a dark bridge deciding the fate of
22:41
dozens of men below and above the
22:45
surface. These incidents sit right on
22:47
the edge between chaos and intent.
22:51
Ordinary ships crewed by mostly ordinary
22:54
people stumbling into extraordinary
22:58
moments that history has almost
23:01
forgotten. If this story of rammings and
23:05
chance encounters has grabbed you,
23:08
there's another collision worth your
23:12
a British submarine lost in a peacetime
23:15
accident that should never have
23:16
happened. And if you want to keep going
23:18
down the periscope rabbit hole, there's
23:21
a whole playlist of submarine videos on
23:24
this channel. From yubot wrecks to
23:27
experimental designs waiting for you to
23:30
dive in next. For those with an interest
23:32
in Titanic or Olympic, then I think
23:35
you're going to love the interviews I've
23:37
done with famous American diver
23:40
where he shared exclusive video from
23:43
inside the wreck of Britannic
23:46
120 m down in the AGNC.
23:50
It's absolutely amazing and this is just
23:52
a taste of what he's given me. I hope
23:55
you've enjoyed this video. I'm Dom
23:57
Robinson, deep wreck diver, and I look
24:00
forward to seeing you on my next video.
