Hi MGY Friend,

Quote:

While it's true that it has been claimed that Olympic was less popular, if we look at her passenger lists (on average) and the total number of passengers carried each year, a different picture emerges.

Throughout the 1920s, Olympic had a clear edge over Mauretania and her average passenger lists were higher. To my mind this is an important comparison, in that Mauretania was -- shall we say -- her closest rival when Olympic was being designed (albeit on the Liverpool route rather than Southampton-NY).

As for Aquitania she had an edge on Olympic, as in the late 1920s Aquitania was averaging 900-1,000 passengers per crossing compared to Olympic's 800-900 passengers. This was to be expected as she was newer and Cunard had designed her to be an improvement, as well as spending more money on modernisation than White Star had spent on Olympic. However, Olympic's first class carryings stand up well in comparison to Aquitania's first class passenger carryings.

You may wish to read my Olympic retirement article at www.markchirnside.co.uk

Best wishes,

Mark.