Editing HMHS Britannic (section)

== Visualised as an ocean liner ==
The plan of ''Britannic'' showed that she was intended to be more luxurious than her sister ships in order to compete with {{SS|Imperator}}, {{SS|Vaterland|1913|6}} and {{RMS|Aquitania}}. Enough cabins were provided for passengers divided into three classes. The [[White Star Line]] anticipated a considerable change in its customer base. Thus, the quality of the Third Class (intended for migrants) was lowered when compared to that of her sisters, while the quality of the Second Class increased. In addition, the number of crew planned was increased from about 860 – 880 onboard ''Olympic'' and ''Titanic'' to 950 aboard ''Britannic''.<ref name=MC296>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=296}}.</ref>

The quality of the First Class was also improved. Children began to appear as part of the clientele that needed to be satisfied, and thus a playroom for them was built on the boat deck.<ref name=MC225>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=225}}.</ref> Similar to her two sister ships, the first class amenities included the [[Grand Staircase of the Titanic|Grand Staircase]], but ''Britannic''{{'}}s amenities were more sumptuous, with worked balustrades, decorative panels and a pipe organ.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090209221134/http://www.hospitalshipbritannic.com/rms_adeck.htm RMS ''Britannic'': A deck], ''Hospital Ship Britannic'' on ''The Internet Archive''. Accessed 7 April 2011.</ref> The A Deck of the ship was devoted in its entirety to the First Class, being fitted with a salon, two veranda cafes, a smoking room and a reading room.<ref name=MC226>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=226}}.</ref> The B Deck included a hair salon, post office, and redesigned deluxe Parlour Suites, dubbed Saloons in the Builder's Plans.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090209225046/http://hospitalshipbritannic.com/rms_bdeck.htm « RMS ''Britannic'': B deck »], ''Hospital Ship Britannic'' on ''The Internet Archive''. Accessed 7 April 2011.</ref> The most important addition was that of individual bathrooms in almost every First Class cabin, which would have been a first on an ocean liner. Aboard the ''Olympic'' and ''Titanic'', most passengers had to use public bathrooms.<ref name=MC227>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=227}}.</ref>

These facilities were installed but were soon removed because the ship was converted to a hospital ship and were never re-installed because the ship sank before she could enter transatlantic service, so the planned facilities were either cancelled, destroyed, reused on other vessels, like the ''Olympic'' or ''Majestic'', or just never used.<ref name=MC240 /> Of these accessories, only a large staircase and a children's playroom remained installed. Under the glass dome was a white wall above the first-class staircase instead of a clock and a large painting.
[[File:Welte organ britannic II.jpg|thumb|upright|Welte philharmonic organ on ''Britannic'' in a company catalogue of 1914]]

=== Pipe organ ===
A [[Welte-Mignon|Welte]] philharmonic organ was planned to be installed on board ''Britannic'' but because of the outbreak of war, the instrument never made its way to Belfast from Germany.<ref name=MC240 /> After the war, it was not claimed by Harland and Wolff since ''Britannic'' sank before she could have ever entered transatlantic service. It also was not installed on ''Olympic'' or ''Majestic'' since White Star Line did not want it. For a long time, it was thought that the organ was lost or destroyed.<ref name=MC240 />

In April 2007, the restorers of a Welte organ, now in the ''{{ill|Museum für Musikautomaten|de}}'' in [[Seewen, Solothurn|Seewen]], Switzerland, detected that the main parts of the instrument were signed by the German organ builders with "''Britanik''".<ref name="Seewen">Christoph E. Hänggi: Die Britannic-Orgel im Museum für Musikautomaten Seewen So. Festschrift zur Einweihung der Welte-Philharmonie-Orgel; Sammlung Heinrich Weiss-Stauffacher. Hrsg.: Museum für Musikautomaten Seewen SO. Seewen: Museum für Musikautomaten, 2007.</ref> A photograph of a drawing in a company prospectus, found in the Welte-legacy in the [[Augustiner Museum]] in [[Freiburg]], proved that this was the organ intended for ''Britannic''. It was found that Welte had first sold the organ to a private owner in Stuttgart instead. Later, in 1937 it had been transferred to a company's concert hall in Wipperfürth, where it was eventually acquired by the founder of the Swiss Museum of Music Automatons in 1969. At the time, the museum was still unaware of the organ's original history.<ref name="organ">{{cite web |url=http://www.davidrumsey.ch/Britannic_discovered.pdf |title=Sunken Ocean-Liner Britannic's pipe organ found: Rare Welte-Philharmonie Organ Scheduled to Play Again | publisher=David Rumsey: Organist, Consultant |date=23 May 2011 |access-date=2012-04-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316215050/http://www.davidrumsey.ch/Britannic_discovered.pdf |archive-date=16 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="OrganHistory">[https://www.musikautomaten.ch/mma/en/home/britannic-orgel/history-of-the-organ.html Museum of Music Automatons Seewen: ''History of the organ''] Website viewed 20 November 2023</ref> The museum maintains the organ in working condition and it is still used for fully automated and manual performances.