 The White Star Line knew that their Big Four, a quartet of ships built for size and luxury were no match for the Cunard's new liners in terms of speed.In 1907, J. Bruce Ismay, president of White Star and William J. Pirrie, director of the shipyard Harland & Wolff decided to build three vessels.And so, the "Olympic"-class ships were built to surpass rival Cunard's largest ships, "Lusitania" and "Mauretania", in size and luxury.