Britannic

HMHS Britannic was the final vessel built of the White Star Line's Olympic class of steamships, she was the fleet mate of both the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic and was intended to eventually enter service as the transatlantic passenger liner. Britannic was launched just before the start of the First World War. She was designed to be the safest and most luxurious of the three ships, drawing lessons from the sinking of the Titanic. She was laid up at her builders, Harland and Wolff, in Belfast for many months before being put to use as a hospital ship in 1915. From 1915 to 1916, she served between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles. She was shaken by an explosion, caused by a naval mine, off the Greek island of Kea on the morning of 21 November 1916, and sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 people. There were 1,065 people on board; the 1,035 survivors were rescued from the water and lifeboats. Britannic was the largest ship lost in the First World War. After the war, the loss of the ship was compensated by the awarding of the Majestic to White Star Line as war reparation. The wreck was located and explored by Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1975. The vessel is also currently the largest passenger ship on the sea floor, followed by the Titanic. The wreck of HMHS Britannic is at 37°42′05″N 24°17′02″E in about 400 feet (122 m) of water. It was discovered on 3 December 1975 by Jacques Cousteau, who explored it. In filming the expedition, Cousteau also held conference on camera with several surviving personnel from the ship including survivor of the sinking, Sheila MacBeth Mitchell. In 1976, Cousteau entered the wreck with his divers for the first time. He expressed the opinion that the ship had been sunk by a single torpedo, basing this opinion on the damage to her plates. The ship lies on her starboard side hiding the zone of impact with the mine. There is a huge hole just beneath the forward well deck. The bow is heavily deformed and attached to the rest of the hull only by some pieces of C-deck. This is the result of the massive explosion that destroyed the entire part of the keel between bulkheads two and three and, due to sinking in only 400 feet (120 m) of water, the bow hit the seabed before the entire length of the 882 ft 9 in (269 m) liner was completely submerged. Despite this, the crew's quarters in the forecastle were found to be in good shape with many details still visible. The holds were found empty. Source: Wikipedia. The ship sunk in the channel between Kea and Makronisos; closer to Kea. Diving the wreck is not authorized without the government authorization. Britannic is also known as HMHS Britannic.