SS BELGENLAND: L'Olympique Belge | The Belgian Olympic (1923)

L'OLYMPIQUE BELGE | DE BELGISCHE OLYMPISCHE | THE BELGIAN OLYMPIC

In a 1926 advertisement the Red Star Line mentions that their flagship is often called, "a second Olympic." It's a surprising thing to read years after the loss of TITANIC and BRITANNIC -- the ships you would expect to be described that way. Yet after spending some time familiarizing myself with her I can say it is an accurate way to describe the BELGENLAND. Harland and Wolff yard number 391 was a triple-screw liner with combination reciprocating/turbine propulsion (like the Olympic-class). On her upper decks a domed staircase gave access to a wood paneled lounge and crisp white drawing room. It then led down to a large reception room that featured a beautiful glass screen. That large room led into an even larger dining room that contained chairs almost exactly like those on OLYMPIC and TITANIC. Although there was an interesting addition -- a dome in the center of the room. The most significant change was the adoption of a cruiser stern instead of the traditional counter-stern normally associated with the Olympic-class. She was initially completed in 1917 as the two-funneled troop transport BELGIC and operated by the White Star Line during the Great War. In 1923 she was delivered to the Red Star Line as the 27,000 ton BELGENLAND. This made her the largest and most luxurious vessel on the Antwerp - Southampton - New York route. In addition to her transatlantic service she was well known for world cruises. During those she was home to the stewardess Violet Jessop -- famed for serving aboard all three Olympic-class liners. It's only natural that she would find her way to this "second Olympic." After a successful decade of service she found herself laid up much like the actual White Star liner. She saw brief service in America as the COLUMBIA before finally succumbing to the scrapyard in 1936.