| The Sting of the Hawke Collision in the Solent By Samuel Halpern and Mark Chirnside |
AVAILABLE SOON
For the first time, the circumstances leading up to the collision that took place on 20 September
1911 in the Solent between RMS Olympic and HMS Hawke is objectively analyzed and
presented. Like most collision cases, there are two different, and mutually exclusive versions as to
what had happened in the minutes before the two vessels involved came into contact with each
other. To those on Olympic, it appeared that Hawke deliberately turned toward the massive ocean
liner in a failed attempt to go under her stern. To those on Hawke, their protected cruiser was
mysteriously drawn into Olympic as the pride of the White Star Line was accelerating past them in
the restricted waters of the Solent.
This project had its beginnings in early 2010 after work was completed on an analysis of the collision
that took place in July 1956 between the Italian liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish liner
Stockholm. Available to us for this project was a wealth of primary source materials, including
access to transcripts of the Naval inquiry that took place just two days after the collision, and the
subsequent court trial that followed in November, as well as subsequent appeals and other related
materials that dealt with the specifics of the case. In this book, we examine all aspects leading up to
the collision, and critically analyze the claims made by both sides as to what happened. We also
look at the role of adverse hydrodynamic interaction between two vessels in restricted waterways,
and look at the contributory circumstances leading up to a situation that caught both sides by
surprise. Based on all the evidence presented, we present a detailed scenario of what most likely
happened in the Solent that September day showing the minute-by-minute movements of each vessel
before and after the collision. Finally, we address the question of could the collision have been
prevented and what was learned, if anything, from a collision that seemingly should not have
happened.
1911 in the Solent between RMS Olympic and HMS Hawke is objectively analyzed and
presented. Like most collision cases, there are two different, and mutually exclusive versions as to
what had happened in the minutes before the two vessels involved came into contact with each
other. To those on Olympic, it appeared that Hawke deliberately turned toward the massive ocean
liner in a failed attempt to go under her stern. To those on Hawke, their protected cruiser was
mysteriously drawn into Olympic as the pride of the White Star Line was accelerating past them in
the restricted waters of the Solent.
This project had its beginnings in early 2010 after work was completed on an analysis of the collision
that took place in July 1956 between the Italian liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish liner
Stockholm. Available to us for this project was a wealth of primary source materials, including
access to transcripts of the Naval inquiry that took place just two days after the collision, and the
subsequent court trial that followed in November, as well as subsequent appeals and other related
materials that dealt with the specifics of the case. In this book, we examine all aspects leading up to
the collision, and critically analyze the claims made by both sides as to what happened. We also
look at the role of adverse hydrodynamic interaction between two vessels in restricted waterways,
and look at the contributory circumstances leading up to a situation that caught both sides by
surprise. Based on all the evidence presented, we present a detailed scenario of what most likely
happened in the Solent that September day showing the minute-by-minute movements of each vessel
before and after the collision. Finally, we address the question of could the collision have been
prevented and what was learned, if anything, from a collision that seemingly should not have
happened.