The repair work for the Olympic was beyond the capabilities of the limited resources of the Harland & Wolff maintenance facility at Southampton. She required a layup, and the only facility available for the dry docking of a ship of the Olympic's size was at Belfast. To allow the Olympic to safely return to Ireland, the workforce at the maintenance facility attached steel plates to the breached hull plating below the waterline and timber above the waterline. Although the patches were believed to stop the stern compartments from flooding, on the voyage back to Belfast they were only marginally successful, for on her arrival at Belfast it was revealed that the stern compartments were again flooded. It would appear there may well have been other unknown breaches in the hull, and only a full inspection in dry dock would locate the suspect areas.

The temporary repairs at Southampton required about 2 weeks to complete. Some theorists believe that the damage may have been more extensive than what was disclosed at the time; however, the Olympic was required to empty all her cargo, surplus coal (she was carrying sufficient coal for a SouthamptonNew York passage) perishable food stores, etc., from the canceled voyage, as well as to have all the necessary repairs completed. Therefore, 2 weeks would not have been a totally unexpected period of time to complete the temporary repairs. Harland & Wolff would have undoubtedly required a little lead time to make the necessary arrangements for her arrival.

On Wednesday, October 4, the crippled Olympic departed Southampton for the 570-mile run to Belfast. Because the starboard engine, shaft, and propellers had been rendered unserviceable, she steamed the distance to Belfast on only her port engine. With her speed reduced to 810 knots, Olympic arrived at Belfast just before midday on the Friday, October 6.

To clarify the number of hull plates that had been either damaged or replaced after the Hawke collision, the authors obtained a drawing of the Olympic from Harland & Wolff's technical services department. The schematic indicated the areas where plating either had been removed to expedite internal repairs or had been replaced because of collision damage. The schematic was divided into two sections.

Knowing that the damage was concentrated about 86 ft from the ship's stern post, and in light of the fact that the Hawke's bow had allegedly reached only as far forward as the Olympic's bridge, the damaged area revealed on the schematic held no real surprises. The drawing indicated that hull plating had been replaced in five of the aft compartments. The two aft stern compartments indicated where the damaged hull plating had been replaced after being directly breached by the bow of the Hawke. The forward three compartments indicated where plating had been obviously removed as the single plates could range anywhere in the area of 30 ft in length. Some of the damaged areas indicated on the drawing may also be the result of frame, or internal ironwork damage. However, a bow schematic sent from Harland & Wolff revealed that the Olympic had sustained hull damage in the area of the waterline as far forward as the ship's second watertight compartment from the bow. It indicated that hull plating between watertight compartments 2, 3, and 4 had possibly been either damaged or breached. If this occurred in the Hawke collision, why is it not mentioned in any of the reference materials available? On the basis of this new information, revealed for the first time in nearly a decade, we must ask if the Olympic was more extensively damaged than had ever been known outside Harland & Wolff and the White Star Line. This new information would seem to indicate that the Hawke first collided with the Olympic 100 ft forward of the bridge, causing damage to about 115 ft of the Olympic's hull plating below, or in the area of, the waterline. If this were the case, then the casual observer would not have seen any visual damage to the Olympic beside the breached hull plating on her stern. These damaged plates would have been visible only when the ship had been placed in dry dock. It would appear that the White Star Line managers were going to receive a few costly surprises when the dry dock was drained. Were they aware of this fact all along?

Although the hull plating may well not have been damaged to the point that the ship was taking on water in the affected areas, 115 ft of the ship's hull plating had been sufficiently damaged to require replacement or repair. If the plating had been damaged, there would be a possibility that the 10-in. steel channel rib frames supporting the affected hull plating had also been damaged and required replacement. Her structural integrity must have been compromised over this area of the hull. Even with the hull plating repaired, the damaged area would never be as structurally sound as it originally was unless all the damaged 10-in. steel channel ribs were fully replaced. These ribs extended over multiple decks; therefore, replacement would require the removal of all the attached hull plating. Replacement of the rib frames would have been extremely expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming.

The White Star Line management no doubt wanted their flagship repaired and returned to service as quickly as possible. The longer Olympic stayed at Belfastdiverting the workers who were normally engaged in the construction of the Titanicthe longer it would take to complete the Titanic. Therefore, the Olympic's hull plating may have been simply replaced and the channel steel rib frames bent back into place and reinforced. This was not a dangerous comprise, considering the ship could remain afloat even with the first four compartments opened to the sea. However, if this had been the case, Olympic now had an Achilles heel on her starboard side, below the waterline between watertight compartments 24.