Revision 5/04/2011 1:45 PM
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Olympic II
 San Diego, CA
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Max Depth: 91-100ft/28-30m
Average Viz: 26-30ft/8-9m
Entry Type: Boat
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Despite the weather, the residents of Belfast, Ireland turned out in large numbers to see the launching of Harland &Wolff’s new vessel, the Star of France. Shortly after 10 of the morning of November 21, 1877, Miss Corry christened the ship, and it rode down its ways into the harbor.
The France was the 12th Star to join the sailing fleet of J.P. Corry & Co. Established back in 1814, J.P. Corry & Co. engaged in the North Atlantic timber trade. They later expanded their trade to India for jute, and Australia for wool. But their growing trade required more ships. So in 1860, Corry ordered his first iron ship, the Jane Porter. Two years later he ordered the first "star," the Star of Erin. During the next 17 years, the Corrys ordered 11 more iron shipsall with the prefix "Star of-, followed by the name of a country, thus the feet earned the nickname "Corry’s Irish Stars."
The year 1877 saw the delivery of two more ships to the Corry fleet, the Star of Italy and the Star of France. These ships were not the largest of the fleet, but the fastest. Measuring 258’ in length, 38’ in beam, and 1522 tons, the two sister ships were identical in every detail, except for the figurehead. Like all of the Corry fleet, the figureheads were of maidens dressed in the costume of the country from which the ship was named. The Italy had a figurehead dressed in an Italian costume, and the France had one dressed in a French costume. However, while the figurehead of the France had its right arm raised, and on the Italy, the left arm was raised.
Both the Star of Italy and Star ofFrance were "clipper-built," essentially meaning that they were designed for speed. Though the hulls were much larger and not as sleek as the extreme clippers of the 1850’s and 60’s, the two sisters were designed to optimize the balance between size and speed. Their tall iron masts were only doubled once for strength and heavily raked back to provide greater windward sailing ability. Turnbuckles (stronger and more easily adjusted than deadeyes) were used to tighten the shroud lines. Such qualities and a good master and crew earned the Star of Italy the all-time record for the fastest run from London to Calcutta. Her record off 77 days beat that of the Cutty Sark by two days.
Click here to read full description at http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/Olympic.htm