RMS Lusitania was an
ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line and built by John Brown and
Company
of Clydebank
, Scotland
. She was torpedoed by a German
U-boat on 7 May 1915 and sank in 18 minutes, eight
miles (15 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale
, Ireland
, killing
1,198 of the 1,959 people
aboard. The sinking turned
public opinion in many countries against Germany, and was
instrumental in bringing the United States
into World War
I. It is considered the
second most famous civilian passenger liner disaster, after the
sinking of the RMS
Titanic.
The sinking of the Lusitania caused great controversy,
which persists to this day. In the aftermath of the sinking, the
German government tried to justify it by claiming in an official
statement that she had been armed with guns, and had "large
quantities of war material" in her cargo. They also stated that
since she was classed as an auxiliary cruiser, Germany had had a
right to destroy her regardless of any passengers aboard, and that
the warnings issued by the German Embassy before her sailing plus
the 18 February note declaring the existence of "war zones",
relieved Germany of any responsibility for the deaths of American
citizens aboard. While it was true that the Lusitania had
been fitted with gun mounts as part of government loan requirements
during her construction, to enable rapid conversion into an
Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) in
the event of war, the guns themselves were never fitted. However,
she was still listed officially as an AMC. Her cargo had included
an estimated 4,200,000 rounds of rifle cartridges, 1,250 empty
shell cases, and 18 cases of non-explosive fuses, all of which were
listed in her manifest, but the cartridges were not officially
classed as ammunition by the Cunard Line. Various theories have
been put forward over the years that she had also carried
undeclared high explosives that were detonated by the torpedo and
helped to sink her, but this has never been proven.
Design, construction, and trials
The Lusitania was designed by Cunard's naval architect, Leonard
Peskett. Peskett built a large model of the proposed ship in 1902
showing a three-funnel design. A fourth funnel was implemented into
the design in 1904 as it was necessary to vent the exhaust from
additional boilers fitted after Parson's then-revolutionary single
reduction steam turbines had been settled on as the powerplant.
Before installing the turbine powerplant in the ships, Cunard
installed a smaller version of the turbine in its
soon-to-be-launched
Carmania,
1905, so as to obtain a performance report on the new technology's
operation.
Lusitania s keel was laid at John Brown & Clydebank as
Yard no. 367 on 16 June 1904. She was launched and christened by
Mary, Lady Inverclyde on 7 June 1906.
Lord Inverclyde (1861-1905) had died before
this occasion.
Much of the trim on
Lusitania was designed and constructed
by the
Bromsgrove Guild.
Starting on 27 July 1907,
Lusitania underwent preliminary
and formal acceptance trials. The shipbuilder's engineers and
Cunard officials discovered that high speeds caused severe
vibrations in the stern, and this led to the fitting of stronger
internal bracing. After these modifications, the ship was finally
delivered to Cunard later in the year on 26 August.
Interiors
At the time of her launch the
Lusitania (and her sister
ship the
Mauretania) possessed
the most luxurious interiors afloat. In common with all major
liners of the period, the
Lusitania’s interiors were
decorated with a mélange of historical styles. The first-class
dining saloon was the grandest of the ship’s public rooms; arranged
over two decks with an open circular well at its centre and crowned
by an elaborate dome, it was elegantly realised in the style of
Louis Seize. All other first-class
public rooms were situated on the boat deck and comprised a reading
and writing room, lounge, smoking room and verandah café. The last
was an innovation on a
Cunard liner and, in
warm weather, one side of the café could be opened up to give the
impression of sitting outdoors. However, as Maxtone-Graham notes,
this would have been a rarely-used feature given the often
inclement weather of the north Atlantic. The second-class public
rooms were situated within an isolated section of the
superstructure aft of the first-class passenger quarters. Although
smaller and plainer than those in first-class, the rooms were
nevertheless handsomely appointed. The dining saloon in particular
echoed that of first-class with its two-level arrangement and open
well supported by Corinthian columns. Third-class accommodation was
plainer still, but, in comparison to other ships of the period,
surprisingly comfortable and spacious.
Comparison with the Olympic class
The
Lusitania and the
Mauretania were smaller than the
White Star Line's
Olympic-class vessels. Both vessels had been launched and
had been in service for several years before the
Olympic-class ships were ready for the North Atlantic.
Although significantly faster than the
Olympic-class would
be, the speed of Cunard's vessels was not sufficient to allow the
line to run a weekly transatlantic service from each side of the
Atlantic. A third ship was needed for a weekly service, and in
response to White Star's announced plan to build the three
Olympic-class ships, Cunard ordered a third ship: . Like
White Star Line's Olympic, Cunard's
Aquitania had a slower
service speed, but was a larger and more luxurious vessel.
The vessels of the
Olympic-class also differed from
Cunard's
Lusitania and
Mauretania in the way in
which they were compartmentalised below the waterline. The White
Star vessels were divided by transverse watertight
bulkheads. While Cunard's
Lusitania also had transverse bulkheads, it additionally
had longitudinal bulkheads running along the ship on each side,
between the boiler and engine rooms and the coal bunkers on the
outside of the vessel. The British commission that had investigated
the
Titanic disaster in 1912 heard testimony on the
flooding of coal bunkers lying outside longitudinal bulkheads.
Being of considerable length, when flooded, these could increase
the ship's list and "make the lowering of the boats on the other
side impracticable".
Career
Image:Lusitania arriving in New York.jpgImage:Lusitania arriving in
New York 2.jpgImage:Lusitania arriving in New York
3.jpgImage:Lusitania arriving in New York 4.jpgImage:Lusitania
arriving in New York 5.jpg

The
Lusitania being escorted
by tug boats
Lusitania departed Liverpool
for her maiden voyage
on 7 September 1907 under the command of Commodore James Watt and
the ship arrived in New York
City
on 13 September. At the time she was the
largest ocean liner in service and would continue to be until the
introduction of the
Mauretania in November that year.
During her eight-year service, she made a total of 202 crossings on
the Cunard Line's Liverpool-New York Route.
In October 1907
Lusitania took the
Blue Riband for eastbound crossing from of the
North German Lloyd, ending
Germany's ten-year dominance of the Atlantic.
Lusitania
averaged westbound and eastbound.
With the introduction of
Mauretania in November 1907,
Lusitania and
Mauretania continued to swap the
Blue Riband.
Lusitania made her fastest westbound crossing
in 1909, averaging . In September of that same year, she lost it
permanently to
Mauretania.
Hudson Fulton Celebration

Photo of
Lusitania arriving
at Pier 54 in New York City in 1908

Lusitania with steam up on
builder's trial
Lusitania and other ships participated in the
Hudson-Fulton Celebration in New
York City from the end of September to early October 1909. This was
in celebration of the 300th anniversary of
Henry Hudson's trip up the
river that bears his name and the 100th
anniversary of
Robert Fulton's
steamboat,
Clermont. The celebration also was a display of
the different modes of transportation then in existence,
Lusitania representing the newest advancement in steamship
technology. A newer mode of travel was the
aeroplane.
Wilbur Wright had
brought a Flyer to Governors
Island
and proceeded to make demonstration flights before
millions of New Yorkers who had never seen an airplane. Some
of Wright's trips were directly over
Lusitania; several
photographs of
Lusitania from that week still exist.
War

The Lusitania in a 1907 painting,
described as an "Auxiliary Cruiser in Warfare".

The official warning issued by the
Imperial German Embassy about travelling on the
Lusitania.
When the
Lusitania was built, her construction and
operating expenses were subsidised by the British government, with
the proviso that she could be converted to an
Armed Merchant Cruiser if need be. At the
outbreak of
World War I, the British
Admiralty considered her for requisition
as an armed merchant cruiser, and she was put on the official list
of AMCs. The Admiralty then cancelled their earlier decision and
decided not to use her as an AMC after all; large liners such as
Lusitania consumed large quantities of coal and became a
serious drain on the Admiralty's fuel reserves, so express liners
were therefore deemed inappropriate for the role. They were also
very distinctive; smaller liners were used as transports, instead.
Lusitania remained on the official AMC list and was listed as an
auxiliary cruiser in the 1914 edition of
Jane's All the World's
Fighting Ships, along with the
Mauretania.
Many of the large liners were used for troop transport or as
hospital ships.
Mauretania
became a troop transport while
Lusitania continued in her
Cunard service as a luxury liner ferrying people between Great
Britain and the United States. The newer
Aquitania was
pressed into service as a hospital ship while White Star's
Olympic joined the Mauretania trooping to the
Mediterranean. Cunard however was kept on notice from the Admiralty
that Lusitania could be taken at any time if hostilities increased
and before the year 1915 was out. To reduce operating costs
Lusitania s transatlantic crossings were reduced to
monthly voyages, and boiler room Number 4 was shut down. Maximum
speed was now reduced to , but even then,
Lusitania was
the fastest passenger liner on the North Atlantic in commercial
service and faster than submarines. However, the
Lusitania
underwent many changes:
- The Lusitania's name was painted out. # The compass
platform was added at the top of the bridge. # The ''Lusitania'''s
funnels were painted all black instead of her Cunard colours. #
Another compass platform was added between first and second
funnels. # A pair of luggage cranes were added on the aft
deckhouse. # The last change on the ''Lusitania'' was that she flew
no flags during her last voyage. On 4 February 1915 Germany
declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone: from 18
February Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning.
This was not wholly [[unrestricted submarine warfare]] since
efforts would be taken to avoid sinking neutral ships.Germany's
second submarine campaign against the Allies during World War One
was unrestricted in scope, as was submarine warfare during the
Second World War. [[Image:David Dow.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Captain
Daniel Dow. Lusitania's penultimate captain]] ''Lusitania'' was
scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on 6 March 1915. The Admiralty
issued her specific instructions on how to avoid submarines.
Despite a severe shortage of [[destroyers]], Admiral [[Henry
Oliver]] ordered HMS {{HMS|Louis|3=2}} and {{HMS|Laverock|3=2}} to
escort ''Lusitania'', and took the further precaution of sending
the [[Q ship]] {{HMS|Lyons|3=2}} to patrol Liverpool Bay {{Citation
needed|date=May 2008}}. Captain Dow of ''Lusitania'', not knowing
whether ''Laverock'' and ''Louis'' were actual Admiralty escorts or
a trap by the German navy, evaded the escorts and arrived in
Liverpool without incident. Patrick Beesly, ''Room 40: British
Naval Intelligence 1914–1918'' (1982) p.95; Preston (2002), pp76–77
On 17 April 1915 ''Lusitania'' left Liverpool on her 201st
transatlantic voyage, arriving in New York on 24 April. A group of
German–Americans, hoping to avoid controversy if ''Lusitania'' were
attacked by a U-boat, discussed their concerns with a
representative of the German embassy. The embassy decided to warn
passengers before her next crossing not to sail aboard
''Lusitania''. The Imperial German embassy placed a warning
advertisement in 50 American newspapers, including those in New
York. ==Last voyage and sinking== ===Departure=== ''Lusitania''
departed [[Pier 54]] in New York on 1 May 1915. The German Embassy
in Washington had issued this warning on 22
April.http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci1/notice.jpg :
'''''NOTICE!'''''
:''TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are
reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies
and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the
waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with
formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels
flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable
to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the
war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their
own risk.'' :
'''''IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY,'''
[[Washington, D.C.]] 22nd April 1915''
This warning was printed right next to an advertisement for
''Lusitania''{{'}}s return voyage. The warning led to some
agitation in the press and worried the ship's passengers and crew.
Captain William Thomas Turner, known as "Bowler Bill", had returned
to his old command of Lusitania. He was commodore of the Cunard
Line and a highly experienced master mariner, and had relieved
Daniel Dow, the ship's regular captain. Dow had been instructed by
his chairman, Alfred Booth, to take some leave, due to the stress
of captaining the ship in U Boat infested sea lanes and for his
protestations that the ship should not become an armed merchant
cruiser, making it a prime target for German forces.{{cite
web|url=http://www.dowfamilyhistory.co.uk/body_lusitania.html
|title=Daniel Dow=2 |publisher=Dowfamilyhistory.co.uk |date=
|accessdate=2009-02-25}}{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}.
Captain Turner tried to calm the passengers by explaining that the
ship's speed made her safe from attack by submarine. ''Lusitania''
steamed out of New York at noon that day, two hours behind schedule
due to a transfer of passengers and crew from the recently
requisitioned [[SS Cameronia (1911)|''Cameronia'']]. Shortly after
departure, three blind passengers (evidently stowaways) were found
on board and detained below decks. {{Panorama|image = Image:The
Lusitania at end of record voyage 1907 LC-USZ62-64956.jpg
|fullwidth = 1615 |fullheight = 420 |caption = ''The ''Lusitania''
at end of the first leg of her maiden voyage, New York City,
September 1907.'' (*photo taken with a [[panoramic
photography|panoramic]] camera.) |height = 280}} ===Passengers===
''Lusitania'' carried 1,959 people on her last voyage, with 1,257
passengers and 702 crew aboard. Those aboard included a large
number of illustrious and renowned people such as: * [[Theodate
Pope Riddle]], American architect and philanthropist (survived) *
Canadian businessman Sir [[Frederick Orr Lewis]], 1st Baronet
(survived) * William R. G. Holt, son and heir of Canadian banker
Sir [[Herbert Samuel Holt]] (survived) * Montreal socialite Frances
McIntosh Stephens, wife of politician [[George Washington Stephens
(senior)|George Washington Stephens]] (died) * Mary Crowther
Ryerson of Toronto, wife of [[George Sterling Ansel Ryerson|George
Sterling Ryerson]], founder of the [[Canadian Red Cross]] (died) *
Lindon W. Bates, Jr., New York engineer, economist and political
figure (died) * British former MP [[David Alfred Thomas]]
(survived) * His daughter [[Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess
Rhondda|Margaret, Lady Mackworth]], British [[suffragist]]
(survived) * Edwin W. Friend, professor of philosophy at [[Harvard
University]] and co-founder of the American Society for Psychical
Research (ASPR) (died) (left a wife five months pregnant behind) *
Oxford professor and writer [[Ian Holbourn (writer)|Ian Holbourn]]
(survived) * [[H. Montagu Allan]]'s wife Marguerite (survived) and
daughters Anna (died) and Gwendolyn (died) * Actresses [[Rita
Jolivet]] (survived), Josephine Brandell (survived) and Amelia
Herbert (died) * Belgian diplomat Marie Depage (died), wife of
surgeon [[Antoine Depage]] * New York fashion designer [[Carrie
Kennedy]] (died) and her sister, Kathryn Hickson (died) * American
building contractor and hotel proprietor Albert Bilicke (died) *
Renowned chemist Anne Justice Shymer, president of the [[United
States Chemical Company]] (died) * Playwright [[Charles Klein]]
(died) * American writer [[Justus Miles Forman]] (died) * American
theatre impresario [[Charles Frohman]] (died) * American
philosopher, writer and [[Roycroft]] founder [[Elbert Hubbard]]
(died) * His wife [[Alice Moore Hubbard]], author and woman's
rights activist (died) * Wine merchant and philanthropist George
Kessler (survived) * American pianist [[Charles Knight
(pianist)|Charles Knight]] (died) and sister, Elaine Knight (died)
* Renowned Irish art collector and founder of the [[Hugh Lane
Municipal Gallery]] in Dublin Sir [[Hugh Lane]] (died) * American
socialite [[Beatrice Witherbee]] (survived), wife of Alfred S.
Witherbee, president of the Mexican Petroleum Solid Fuel Company *
Her son Alfred Scott Witherbee, Jr. (died) and her mother, Mary
Cummings Brown (died) * American engineer and entrepreneur
[[Frederick Stark Pearson]] (died) and his wife Mabel (died) *
Genealogist [[Lothrop Withington]] (died) * Sportsman, millionaire,
member of the [[Vanderbilt family]], [[Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt]]
(died) — last seen fastening a life vest onto a woman holding a
baby. * [[Scenic designer]] [[Oliver P. Bernard]] (survived), whose
sketches of the sinking were published in the ''[[Illustrated
London News]]'' * Politician and future [[United States]]'
[[ambassador]] to [[Spain]], Ogden Haggerty Hammond of
[[Louisville, Kentucky]] (survived) and his first wife, Mary Picton
Stevens of [[Hoboken, New Jersey]] (died), a descendant of John
Stevens and [[Robert Livingston Stevens]] (parents of former [[New
Jersey]] [[Congresswoman]] [[Millicent Fenwick]]) * Dr. Howard L.
Fisher, brother of [[Walter L. Fisher]], former [[United States
Secretary of the Interior]] (survived) * Herbert S. Stone, New York
newspaper editor and publisher, creator of magazines ''The Chap
Book'' and ''The House Beautiful'', son of [[Melville Elijah
Stone]] (died) * Rev. Dr. [[Basil W. Maturin]], British theologist,
author and rector of St. Clement's Church in [[Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania]] (died) * Debutant Miss Phyllis Hutchinson,
20-year-old niece of businessman Robert A. Franks of [[West Orange,
New Jersey]], financial agent for [[Andrew Carnegie]] (died) *
Irish composer and conductor T. O'Brien Butler (died) * Arthur H.
Adams, president of the [[United States Rubber Company]] (died) *
James A. Dunsmuir, of Toronto, Canadian soldier, younger son of
[[James Dunsmuir]] (died) * [[Charles T. Jeffery]], automobile
manufacturer who became head of the [[Thomas B. Jeffery Company]]
after his father's death (survived) * Paul Crompton, director of
[[Alfred Booth and Company|Booth Steamship Company Ltd.]] (died),
and his wife Gladys (died), six children (died), and nanny (died) *
Elisabeth Antill Lassetter, wife of Major General Harry B.
Lassetter and sister of Major General [[John M. Antill]] (survived)
* Josephine Eaton Burnside, daughter of Canadian department store
founder [[Timothy Eaton]] (survived), and her daughter Iris
Burnside (died) * Albert L. Hopkins, president of [[Newport News
Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]] (died) * Mr William Colbert of
New York and his wife Helena both died * William Sterling Hodges,
wife Sarah and two sons, William (8 years) and Dean (4 years) All
died * William Broderick Cloete, mining entrepreneur who was
returning to London from Mexico. His body was not found.
===Eastbound=== [[Image:Waterloo-lusitania.jpg|thumb|right|The
Lusitania entering the [[River Mersey]], bound for [[Liverpool]] -
her intended destination. Postcard photo taken from Waterloo, near
Liverpool in 1908.]] ''Lusitania''{{'}}s landfall on the return leg
of her transatlantic circuit was [[Fastnet Rock]], off the southern
tip of Ireland. As the liner steamed across the ocean, the British
Admiralty, through wireless intercepts, tracked movements of [[SM
U-20|''U-20'']], commanded by ''[[Kapitänleutnant]]'' [[Walther
Schwieger]] and operating along the west coast of Ireland and
moving south. On 5 and 6 May ''U-20'' sank three vessels, ''The
Candidate'', ''The Centurion'' and ''Miss Morris'', a merchant
schooner, in the area of Fastnet Rock, and the Royal Navy sent a
warning to all British ships: "Submarines active off the south
coast of Ireland".{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Captain Turner
of ''Lusitania'' was given the message twice on the evening of 6
May, and took what he felt were prudent precautions. He closed
watertight doors, posted double lookouts, ordered a black-out, and
had the lifeboats swung out on their davits so that they could be
launched quickly if necessary.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}
That evening a Seamen's Charities fund concert took place in the
second class lounge.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} At about
11:00 on 7 May, the Admiralty radioed another warning, and Turner
adjusted his heading northeast, apparently thinking submarines
would be more likely to keep to the open sea, so that ''Lusitania''
would be safer close to land.Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic
Tragedy. New York: Walker & Company, 2002. 184. ''U-20'' was
low on fuel and only had one torpedo left, and Schwieger had
decided to head for home.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} The
submarine was moving at top speed on the surface at 13:00 when one
of the crew members spotted a vessel on the horizon not more than
800 metres away. Schweiger ordered
''U-20'' to dive and to take battle stations. The previous week,
''U-20'' had encountered a small cargo vessel and allowed the crew
to escape in the boats before sinking it;{{Citation needed|date=May
2009}} Schweiger could have allowed the crew and passengers of the
''Lusitania'' to take to the boats, but he considered the danger of
being [[Ramming|rammed]] or fired upon by deck guns too
great.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} The ''Lusitania's'' captain
had, in fact, been ordered to ram any U-boat that surfaced; a cash
bonus had been offered for successful ramming.{{Citation
needed|date=May 2009}} ===Sinking=== ''Lusitania'' was
approximately {{convert|30|mi|km}} from [[Cape Clear Island]] when
she encountered [[fog]] and reduced speed to 18 [[knot
(speed)|knots]].[http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/index2.html
Lusitania (1907-1915)], The Great Ocean Liners. She was making for
the port of Queenstown (now [[Cobh]]), Ireland,
{{convert|70|km|mi|abbr=off|lk=off}} from the Old Head of Kinsale
when the liner crossed in front of ''U-20'' at 14:10. One story
states that when Kapitänleutnant Schwieger of the ''U-20'' gave the
order to fire, his quartermaster, Charles Voegele, would not take
part in an attack on women and children, and refused to pass on the
order to the torpedo room — a decision for which he was
[[court-martial]]ed and served three years in prison at
[[Kiel]].Des Hickey and Gus Smith, ''Seven Days to Disaster: The
Sinking of the Lusitania'', 1981, William Collins, ISBN
0-00-216882-0 However, the story may be apocryphal; Diana Preston
writes in ''Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy'' that Voegele was an
electrician on board ''U-20'' and not a quartermaster. From roughly
750 yards, a single torpedo was fired at 2:10 p.m. Leslie Morton,
an 18-year-old lookout on the bow, spotted thin lines of foam
racing toward the ship. "Torpedoes coming on the starboard side!"
he shouted through a megaphone, thinking the bubbles came from two
projectiles. The torpedo struck ''Lusitania'' under the bridge,
sending a plume of debris, steel plating and water upward and
knocking Lifeboat #5 off its davits. It sounded like a "million-ton
hammer hitting a steam boiler a hundred feet high," one passenger
said. A second, more powerful explosion followed, sending a geyser
of water, coal, and debris high above the deck. Schwieger's log
entries attest that he only launched one torpedo, but some doubt
the validity of this claim, contending that the German government
subsequently doctored Schwieger's log,Preston, pp. 416-419. but
accounts from other ''U-20'' crew members corroborate it. In
Schweiger's own words, recorded in the log of ''U-20'':
{{quote|''Torpedo hits starboard side right behind the bridge. An
unusually heavy explosion takes place with a very strong explosive
cloud. The explosion of the torpedo must have been followed by a
second one [boiler or coal or powder?]... The ship stops
immediately and heels over to starboard very quickly, immersing
simultaneously at the bow... the name Lusitania becomes visible in
golden letters.''{{cite book | last = Schmidt | first = Donald E. |
authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Folly Of War: American
Foreign Policy, 1898-2004 | publisher = Algora Publishing| date =
2005 | location = | nopp = | page = 70 | url = | isbn =
0875863833}}}} ''Lusitania''{{'}}s wireless operator sent out an
immediate [[SOS]] and Captain Turner gave the order to abandon
ship. Water had flooded the ship's starboard longitudinal
compartments, causing a 15-degree list to starboard. Captain Turner
tried turning the ship toward the Irish coast in the hope of
beaching her, but the helm would not respond as the torpedo had
knocked out the steam lines to the steering motor. Meanwhile, the
ship's propellers continued to drive the ship at
{{convert|18|kn|km/h}}, forcing more water into her hull. The
U-20's torpedo officer, [[Raimund Weisbach]], also viewed the
destruction through the vessel's periscope and felt the explosion
was unusually severe. Within six minutes, ''Lusitania''{{'}}s
[[forecastle]] began to submerge. ''Lusitania''{{'}}s severe
starboard list complicated the launch of her lifeboats. 10 minutes
after the torpedoing, when she had slowed enough to start putting
boats in the water the lifeboats on the starboard side swung out
too far to step aboard
safely.[http://www.titanicinquiry.org/Lusitania/Report/BOTInqRepTorpboats.html
Report]. While it was still possible to board the lifeboats on the
port side, lowering them presented a different problem. As was
typical for the period, the hull plates of the ''Lusitania'' were
[[riveting|riveted]], and as the lifeboats were lowered they
dragged on the rivets, which threatened to seriously damage the
boats before they landed in the water. Many lifeboats overturned
while loading or lowering, spilling passengers into the sea; others
were overturned by the ship's motion when they hit the water. It
has been claimed{{cite book | last = Linnihan | first = Ellen |
authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Stranded at Sea | publisher =
Saddleback Educational Publications | date = 2005 | location = |
page = 32 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1562548301}} that some
boats, due to the negligence of some officers, crashed down onto
the deck, crushing other passengers, and sliding down towards the
bridge. This has been refuted in various articles and by passenger
and crew testimony.{{cite book | last = Schapiro | first = Amy |
authorlink = | coauthors = Thomas H. Kean | title = Millicent
Fenwick | publisher = Rutgers University Press | date = 2003 |
location = | pages = 21–22 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn =
0813532310}} Crewmen would lose their grip on the falls—ropes used
to lower the lifeboats—while trying to lower the boats into the
ocean, and this caused the passengers from the boat to "spill into
the sea like rag dolls."{{Citequote|date=March 2009}} Others would
tip on launch as some panicking people jumped into the boat.
''Lusitania'' had 48 lifeboats, more than enough for all the crew
and passengers, but only six were successfully lowered, all from
the starboard side. A few of her collapsible lifeboats washed off
her decks as she sank and provided refuge for many of those in the
water. Despite Turner's efforts to beach the liner and reduce her
speed, ''Lusitania'' no longer answered the helm. There was panic
and disorder on the decks. Schwieger had been observing this
through ''U-20'''s periscope, and by 14:25, he dropped the
[[periscope]] and headed out to sea.[[The Sinking of the Lusitania:
Terror at Sea]] or ("Lusitania: Murder on the Atlantic") puts this
at 14:30, two minutes after ''Lusitania'' sank. logbook and
chart with him. He managed to escape
the rapidly sinking Lusitania and find a
chair floating in the water which he clung to. He was pulled
unconscious from the water, and survived despite having spent 3
hours in the water. Lusitania s bow slammed into the
bottom about below at a shallow angle due to her forward momentum
as she sank. Along the way, some boilers
exploded, including one that caused the third funnel to collapse;
the remaining funnels collapsed soon after. Turner's last
navigational fix had been only two minutes before the torpedoing,
and he was able to remember the ship's speed
and bearing at the moment of
sinking. This was accurate enough to locate the wreck after the
war. The ship travelled about two miles (3 km) from the time
of the torpedoing to her final resting place, leaving a trail of
debris and people behind. After her bow sank completely, the
Lusitania s stern rose out of the water, enough for her
propellers to be seen, and went down.
Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, off the Old Head of Kinsale.
1,198 people died with her, including almost a hundred children.
Afterwards, the Cunard line offered local fishermen and sea
merchants a cash reward for the bodies floating all throughout the
Irish Sea, some floating as far away as the Welsh coast. In all,
only 289 bodies were recovered, 65 of which were never identified.
The Cunard Steamship Company announced the official death toll of
1,195 on 1 March 1916. The bodies of many of the victims were
buried at either Lusitania s destination, Queenstown, or
the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale, but the bodies of the
remaining 885 victims were never recovered.
Aftermath
German reaction

Illustration of
Lusitania s
life boats in the slip in Queenstown
On 8 May Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, the former German Colonial
Secretary, made a statement in Cleveland, Ohio, in which he
attempted to justify the sinking of the Lusitania. At the
time Dernburg was recognized as the official US spokesman of the
Imperial German government. Dernburg said that because the
Lusitania "carried contraband of war" and also because "she was
classed as an auxiliary cruiser" Germany had had a right to destroy
her regardless of any passengers aboard. Dernburg further said that
the warnings given by the German Embassy before her sailing plus
the 18 February note declaring the existence of "war zones"
relieved Germany of any responsibility for the deaths of the
American citizens aboard. He referred to the ammunition and
military goods declared on the Lusitania's manifest and
said that "vessels of that kind" could be seized and destroyed
under the Hague rules without any respect to a war zone.
The following day the German government issued an official
communication regarding the sinking in which it said that the
Cunard liner Lusitania "was yesterday torpedoed by a
German submarine and sank", that the Lusitania "was
naturally armed with guns, as were recently most of the English
mercantile steamers" and that "as is well known here, she had large
quantities of war material in her cargo".
Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the Port of New York, issued an
official denial to the German charges, saying that the
Lusitania had been inspected before her departure and no
guns were found, mounted or unmounted. Malone stated that no
merchant ship would have been allowed to arm itself in the Port and
leave the harbor. Assistant Manager of the Cunard Line, Herman
Winter, denied the charge that she carried munitions:
The fact that the Lusitania had been carrying shells and
cartridges was not made known to the British public at the
time.
The German public was shocked by the news of the sinking, and only
a minority believed that it was a proper action. When it was
revealed that passengers had been warned not to travel on the ship,
this information removed any doubt that the Lusitania had
been singled out for attack, and caused a loss of confidence in the
German government.
The sinking was severely criticized by Germany's allies, Austria
and Hungary, and met with disapproval in Turkey, while in the
German press, the sinking was deplored by Vorwärts, the daily newspaper of the
Social Democratic
Party of Germany, and also by Captain Persius, an outspoken
naval critic who wrote for the Berliner Tageblatt.
British and American actions
Schwieger was condemned in the Allied press as a war criminal.
Of the 139 US citizens aboard the Lusitania, 128 lost
their lives, and there was massive outrage in Britain and America,
The Nation calling it "a deed
for which a Hun would blush, a Turk be ashamed, and a Barbary
pirate apologise" and the British felt that the Americans had to
declare war on Germany. However, US President Woodrow Wilson refused to over-react. He said
at Philadelphia on 10 May 1915:
The massive loss of life caused by the sinking of
Lusitania required a definitive response from the US. When
Germany began its submarine campaign against Britain, Wilson had
warned that the US would hold the German government strictly
accountable for any violations of American rights.
During the weeks after the sinking, the issue was hotly debated
within the administration. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan urged
compromise and restraint. The US, he believed, should try to
persuade the British to abandon their interdiction of foodstuffs
and limit their mine-laying operations at the same time as the
Germans were persuaded to curtail their submarine campaign. He also
suggested that the US government issue an explicit warning against
US citizens travelling on any belligerent ships. Despite being
sympathetic to Bryan's antiwar feelings, Wilson insisted that the
German government must apologise for the sinking, compensate US
victims, and promise to avoid any similar occurrence in the
future.
Wilson notes
Backed by State Department second-in-command Robert Lansing, Wilson made his position
clear in three notes to the German government issued on 13 May, 9
June, and 21 July.
The first note affirmed the right of Americans to travel as
passengers on merchant ships and called for the Germans to abandon
submarine warfare against commercial vessels, whatever flag they
sailed under.
In the second note Wilson rejected the German arguments that the
British blockade was illegal, and was a cruel and deadly attack on
innocent civilians, and their charge that the Lusitania
had been carrying munitions. William Jennings Bryan considered
Wilson's second note too provocative and resigned in protest after
failing to moderate it, to be replaced by Robert Lansing who later said in his memoirs
that following the tragedy he always had the "conviction that we
would ultimately become the ally of Britain".
The third note, of 21 July, issued an ultimatum, to the effect that
the US would regard any subsequent sinkings as "deliberately
unfriendly".
While the American public and leadership were not ready for war,
the path to an eventual declaration of war had been set as a result
of the sinking of the Lusitania. On 19 August U-24 sank the White Star liner , with the
loss of 44 passengers and crew, three of whom were American. The
German government, while insisting on the legitimacy of its
campaign against Allied shipping, disavowed the sinking of the
Arabic; it offered an indemnity and pledged to order
submarine commanders to abandon unannounced attacks on merchant and
passenger vessels.
The British public, press, and government in general were upset at
Wilson's actions—not realizing it reflected general US opinion at
the moment. They sneered "too proud or too scared". Shells that did
not explode at the front were called "Wilsons".
German policy reversal
German Chancellor Theobald
von Bethmann-Hollweg persuaded the Kaiser to forbid action
against ships flying neutral flags and the U-boat war was postponed
once again on 27 August, as it was realised that British ships
could easily fly neutral flags.
There was disagreement over this move between the navy's admirals
(headed by Alfred von Tirpitz)
and Bethman-Hollweg. The Kaiser decided in favour of the
Chancellor, backed by Army Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn, and Tirpitz and
the head of the admiralty backed down. The German restriction order
of 9 September 1915 stated that attacks were only allowed on ships
that were definitely British, while neutral ships were to be
treated under the Prize Law rules, and
no attacks on passenger liners were to be permitted at all. The war
situation demanded that there could be no possibility of orders
being misinterpreted, and on 18 September Henning von Holtzendorff, the new
head of the German Admiralty, issued a secret order: all U-boats
operating in the English Channel and off the west coast of the
United Kingdom were recalled, and the U-boat war would continue
only in the North sea, where it would be conducted under the Prize
Law rules.
British propaganda
It was in the interests of the British to keep US passions
inflamed, and a fabricated story was circulated that in some
regions of Germany, schoolchildren were given a holiday to
celebrate the sinking of the Lusitania. This story was so
effective that James W. Gerard, the US ambassador to Germany,
recounted it in his memoir of his time in Germany, Face to Face
with Kaiserism (1918), though without substantiating its
validity.
Goetz medal
In August
1915, Munich
medalist and sculptor Karl X. Goetz
(1875-1950), who had produced a series of propagandist and
satirical medals as a running commentary on the war, privately
struck a small run of medals as a limited-circulation satirical
attack (fewer than 500 were struck) on the Cunard Line for trying
to continue business as usual during wartime. Goetz blamed both the
British government and the Cunard Line for allowing the
Lusitania to sail despite the German embassy's
warnings.
One side of the medal showed the Lusitania sinking laden
with guns (incorrectly depicted sinking stern first) with the motto
"KEINE BANNWARE!" ("NO CONTRABAND!"), while the reverse
showed a skeleton selling Cunard
tickets with the motto "Geschäft Über Alles" ("Business
Above All").
Goetz had put an incorrect date for the sinking on the medal, an
error he later blamed on a mistake in a newspaper story about the
sinking: instead of 7 May, he had put 5 May, two days before the
actual sinking. Not realizing his error, Goetz made copies of the
medal and sold them in Munich and also to some numismatic dealers
with whom he conducted business.
The British Foreign Office obtained a copy of the medal,
photographed it, and sent copies to the United States where it was
published in the New York Times on 5 May 1916. Many
popular magazines ran photographs of the medal, and it was falsely
claimed that it had been awarded to the crew of the U-boat.
British replica of Goetz medal

Replica of Goetz
Lusitania
medal
The Goetz medal attracted so much attention that Lord Newton, who was in charge
of Propaganda at the Foreign Office in 1916, decided to exploit the
anti-German feelings aroused by it for propaganda purposes and
asked department store entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge to reproduce
the medal. The replica medals were produced in an attractive case
claiming to be an exact copy of the German medal, and were sold for
a shilling apiece. On the cases it was stated that the medals had
been distributed in Germany "to commemorate the sinking of the
Lusitania" and they came with a propaganda leaflet which
strongly denounced the Germans and used the medal's incorrect date
to claim that the sinking of the Lusitania was
premeditated. The head of the Lusitania Souvenir Medal Committee
later estimated that 250,000 were sold, proceeds being given to the
Red Cross and St. Dunstan's Blinded Soldiers and Sailors Hostel.
Unlike the original Goetz medals which were stamped from bronze, the British copies were of diecast iron and
were of poorer quality.
Belatedly realizing his mistake, Goetz issued a corrected medal
with the date of 7 May. The Bavarian government suppressed the
medal and ordered their confiscation in April 1917. The original
German medals can easily be distinguished from the English copies
because the date is in German; the English version was altered to
read 'May' rather than 'Mai'. After the war Goetz expressed his
regret that his work had been the cause of increasing anti-German
feelings, but it remains a celebrated propaganda act.
Board of Trade investigation
The formal Board of Trade investigation into the sinking was
presided over by Wreck Commissioner Lord Mersey, an expert on
maritime law, and took place in the Wreck Commissioners Court in
London from 15 June to 1 July 1915. A total of 36 witnesses were
called. Some of its sessions were public, while others were held
in camera, two of the hearings taking
place behind closed doors. The full report has never been made
available to the public, and it is thought that the only surviving
copy is in Lord Mersey's private papers.
It was during the closed hearings that the Admiralty tried to lay
the blame on Captain Turner, their intended line being that Turner
had been negligent. When "prosecuting" barrister, F. E. Smith, began by reading
from Admiralty memoranda that had not been submitted to the court,
Lord Mersey halted the proceedings and summoned all the lawyers to
the bench, where he demanded an explanation of the memoranda from
the Solicitor
General for England and Wales, who was at a loss to explain.
Lord Mersey and Smith immediately realised that the evidence had
been falsified by the Admiralty and refused to proceed. The inquiry
was adjourned, and Lord Mersey asked all the assessors to give him
their separate opinions in sealed envelopes, only Admiral Sir
Frederick Inglefield returning a guilty verdict against Captain
Turner. Inglefield had previously been briefed by the Board of the
Admiralty and instructed to find Turner guilty of "treasonable
behaviour".
Captain Turner, the Cunard Company, and the Royal Navy were
absolved of any negligence, and all blame was placed on the German
government. Lord Mersey found that Turner "exercised his judgement
for the best" and that the blame for the disaster "must rest solely
with those who plotted and with those who committed the
crime".
Two days after he closed the inquiry, Lord Mersey waived his fees
for the case and formally resigned. His last words on the subject
were: "The Lusitania case was a damned, dirty business!"
The rifle cartridges carried by the Lusitania were
mentioned during the case, Lord Mersey stating that "the 5,000
cases of ammunition on board were 50 yards away from where the
torpedo struck the ship"
Engineering consequences
One of the major causes of death to passengers after the ship was
hit by the torpedo was that the captain had no way to slow or stop
the ship, and consequently the lifeboats were battered on the sides
of the fast-moving ship and the lifeboats overturned when they
touched the ocean at high speed. The torpedo strike had either
killed the ship's engineers or cut off contact with them, and there
was no means for anyone else to shut down the engines.
In December 1918, Popular Science
Monthly reported that this problem had occurred so many times to
other ships after the sinking of the Lusitania, that the British
Board of Trade suggested that every passenger-carrying ship be
provided with some means of stopping the engines from the deck or
skylight hatchway. The magazine illustrated several such possible
remote valve control methods to cut off engine steam from multiple
locations.
Last living survivor
Audrey Lawson-Johnston (born 1915) is
the last living survivor of the RMS Lusitania sinking, she
currently resides in Bedfordshire,
England. She became the last living survivor following the
death of Barbara McDermott on 12
April 2008 and Ida Cantley on 31 December 2006.
Cultural influence
Charles Ives's Orchestral Set
No. 2 concludes with a movement entitled, From
Hanover Square North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the
People Again Arose. It recounts Ives's experience waiting for an
elevated train in New York City
as the news of the sinking of the
Lusitania came through. The passengers assembled on
the platform began singing "In
The Sweet By and By" in time to a barrel organ which was playing the tune. Echoes
of their voices can be heard at the start of the music, and the
hymn tune itself appears at the end.
Controversies
Contraband and second explosion
The "Prize rules" or "Cruiser rules",
laid down by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and
1907, governed the seizure of vessels at sea during wartime,
although changes in technology such as radio and the submarine
eventually made them redundant. Merchant ships were to be warned by
warships, and their passengers and crew allowed to abandon ship
before they were sunk, unless the ship resisted or tried to escape,
or was in a convoy protected by warships. Limited armament on a
merchant ship, such as one or two guns, did not necessarily affect
the ship's immunity to attack without warning, and neither did a
cargo of munitions or war materiel.
In November 1914 the British announced that the entire North Sea
was now a War Zone, and issued orders restricting the passage of
neutral shipping into and through the North Sea to special channels
where supervision would be possible (the other approaches having
been mined). It was in response to this, and to the British
Admiralty's order of 31 January 1915 that British merchant ships
should fly neutral colours as a ruse
de guerre, that Admiral Hugo von
Pohl, commander of the German High Seas Fleet, published a
warning in the Deutscher Reichsanzeiger (Imperial German
Gazette) on 4 February 1915:
In response, the Admiralty issued orders on 10 February 1915 which
directed merchant ships to escape from hostile U-boats when
possible, but "if a submarine comes up suddenly close ahead of you
with obvious hostile intention, steer straight for her at your
utmost speed..." Further instructions ten days later advised armed
steamers to open fire on a submarine even if it had not yet fired.
Given the extreme vulnerability of a submarine to ramming or even
small-caliber shellfire, a U-boat that surfaced and gave warning
against a merchantman which had been given such instructions was
putting itself in great danger. The Germans knew of these orders,
even though they were intended to be secret, copies having been
obtained from captured ships and from wireless intercepts; Bailey
and Ryan in their "The Lusitania Disaster", put much emphasis on
these Admiralty orders to merchantmen, arguing it was unreasonable
to expect a submarine to surface and give warning under such
circumstances. In their opinion this, rather than the munitions,
the nonexistent armament, or any other suggested reason, is the
best rationale for the Germans' actions in the sinking.
Included in the Lusitania's cargo were 4,200,000 rounds of
Remington 0.303 rifle cartridges, 1250 cases of empty fragmentation shell cases, and eighteen cases
of non-explosive fuses, all of which were listed on the ship's
two-page manifest, filed with U.S. Customs after she departed New
York on 1 May. However, these munitions were classed as small-arms
ammunition, were non-explosive in bulk, and were clearly marked as
such. It was perfectly legal under American shipping regulations
for her to carry these; experts agreed they were not to blame for
the second explosion. Allegations the ship was carrying more
controversial cargo, such as fine aluminium powder, concealed as
cheese on her cargo manifests, have never been proven. Recent
expeditions to the wreck have shown her holds are intact and show
no evidence of internal explosion.
In 1993, Dr Robert Ballard, the
famous explorer who discovered Titanic, conducted an
in-depth exploration of the wreck of Lusitania. Ballard
found Light had been mistaken in his identification of a gaping
hole in the ship's side. To explain the second explosion, Ballard
advanced the theory of a coal-dust explosion. He believed dust in
the bunkers would have been thrown into the air by the vibration
from the explosion; the resulting cloud would have been ignited by
a spark, causing the second explosion. In the years since he first
advanced this theory, it has been argued that this is nearly
impossible. Critics of the theory say coal
dust would have been too damp to have been stirred into the air
by the torpedo impact in explosive concentrations; additionally,
the coal bunker where the torpedo struck would have been flooded
almost immediately by seawater flowing through the damaged hull
plates.
More recently, marine forensic investigators have become convinced
an explosion in the ship's steam-generating plant is a far more
plausible explanation for the second explosion. There were very few
survivors from the forward two boiler rooms, but they did report
the ship's boilers did not explode; they were also under extreme
duress in those moments after the torpedo's impact, however.
Leading Fireman Albert Martin later testified he thought the
torpedo actually entered the boiler room and exploded between a
group of boilers, which was a physical impossibility. It is also
known the forward boiler room filled with steam, and steam pressure
feeding the turbines dropped dramatically following the second
explosion. These point toward a failure, of one sort or another, in
the ship's steam-generating plant. It is possible the failure came,
not directly from one of the boilers in boiler room no. 1, but
rather in the high-pressure steam lines to the turbines. Most
researchers and historians agree that a steam explosion is a far
more likely cause than clandestine high explosives for the second
explosion.
The original torpedo damage alone, striking the ship on the
starboard coal bunker of boiler room no. 1, would probably have
sunk the ship without a second explosion. This first blast was
enough to cause, on its own, serious off-centre flooding, although
the sinking would possibly have been slower. The deficiencies of
the ship's original watertight bulkhead design exacerbated the
situation, as did the many portholes which had been left open for
ventilation.
Recent developments
In 1967 the wreck of the Lusitania was sold by the
Liverpool & London War Risks Insurance Association to former US
Navy diver John Light for £1,000. Gregg Bemis became a co-owner of
the wreck in 1968, and by 1982 had bought out his partners to
become sole owner. He subsequently went to court in England in
1986, the US in 1995, and Ireland in 1996 to ensure that his
ownership was legally in force.
None of the jurisdictions involved objected to his ownership of the
vessel but in 1995 the Irish Government declared it a heritage site
under the National Monuments
Act, which prohibited him from in any way interfering with it
or its contents. After a protracted legal wrangle, the Supreme
Court in Dublin overturned the Arts and Heritage Ministry's
previous refusal to issue Bemis with a five year exploration
licence in 2007, ruling that the then minister for Arts and
Heritage had misconstrued the law when he refused Bemis's 2001
application. Bemis planned to dive and recover and analyse whatever
artifacts and evidence could help piece together the story of what
happened to the ship. He said that any items found would be given
to museums following analysis. Any fine art recovered, such as the
paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt and Monet among
other artists believed to have been in the possession of Sir
Hugh Lane, who was believed to be carrying
them in lead tubes, would remain in the ownership of the Irish
Government.
In late July 2008 Gregg Bemis was granted an "imaging" license by
the Department of the Environment, which allowed him to photograph
and film the entire wreck, and was to allow him to produce the
first high-resolution pictures of it. Bemis planned to use the data
gathered to assess the wreck's deterioration and to plan a strategy
for a forensic examination of the ship, which he estimated would
cost $5m. Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME) were
contracted by Bemis to conduct the survey. The Department of the
Environment's Underwater Archaeology Unit was to join the survey
team to ensure that research would be carried out in a non-invasive
manner, and a film crew from the Discovery Channel was also to be
on hand.
A dive team from Cork Sub Aqua
Club, diving under license, discovered 15,000 rounds of the
.303 (7.7×56mmR) caliber rifle
ammunition transported on the Lusitania in boxes in the
bow section of the ship. The find was photographed but left
in situ under the terms of the
license. In December 2008, Gregg Bemis discovered a further four
million rounds of .303 ammunition and announced plans to commission
further dives in 2009 for a full-scale forensic examination of the
wreck.
The joint American-German production, "The Sinking of the
Lusitania: Terror at Sea" premiered on the Discovery Channel on
13 May 2007, and on BBC One in the UK on 27
May 2007.
1950s damage from depth charges
Dublin-based technical diver Des Quiqley, who dove on the wreck in
the 1990s with Bemis' permission, has reported that the wreck is
"like Swiss cheese" and the seabed around her "is littered with
unexploded hedgehog mines". Royal
Navy officials have claimed they had merely been "practicing" on
the wreck, but others have suggested that in fact the Navy was
deliberately trying to destroy evidence. Professor William
Kingston of Trinity College, Dublin
has said, "There's no doubt at all about it that
the Royal Navy and the British government have taken very
considerable steps over the years to try to prevent whatever can be
found out about the Lusitania".
In February 2009, the Discovery
Channel TV series Treasure Quest
aired an episode titled "Lusitania Revealed", in which Gregg Bemis
and a team of shipwreck experts explore the wreck via remote
control unmanned submersible. At one point in the show it is
mentioned that Cobh locals have believed for years that in the
1950s during a two week period, the Royal Navy dropped depth
charges on the wreck, greatly worsening its condition. It was
stated that numerous Cobh residents on shore heard the blasting and
saw navy ships hovering over the area of the wreck. At one point in
the show an unexploded depth charge was found in the wreckage, in
plain sight, clearly seen by the remote control submersible's video
camera. Gregg Bemis, as well as other people on the team, believe
the British Royal Navy deliberately bombed the Lusitania site to
"make the wreck as unattractive as possible, to prevent further
salvage" and to "prevent divers from going in and finding that
there was contraband cargo". No government has ever admitted to the
depth charging. The narrator says the depth charges probably
crushed the upper decks of the ship, and further scattered the
debris field.
1984 British legal action
In 1982
various items were recovered from the wreck and brought ashore in
the United
Kingdom
from the cargo of the Lusitania.
Complex litigation ensued, with all parties settling their
differences apart from the salvors and the British Government who
asserted "droits of admiralty" over the
recovered items. The Sheen J eventually ruled in The
Lusitania [1986] QB 384 that the Crown has no rights over
wrecks outside of British territorial
waters, even if the recovered items are subsequently brought
into the United Kingdom. The case remains the leading authority on
this point of law today.
References
- Lusitania, Atlantic Liner.
- Lost Liners.
- The Bromsgrove Society
- Dr Robert D Ballard, Exploring the Lusitania (London,
1995) p. 45
- John Maxtone-Graham, The Only Way to Cross (Barnes and
Noble, 1997) p. 33
- “Testimony of Edward Wilding, Recalled,”
British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry. (Retrieved
2009-05-10.)
- Ballard, Robert D., & Dunmore, Spencer: Robert
Ballard's Lusitania, page 163-165. Chartwell Books, Inc.,
2007
- Robert Ballard, Exploring the Lusitania. This number
is cited, probably to include the German spies detained below
decks.
- (Original propaganda leaflet)
- (quoted by Schreiner, p. 314)
- The Problem of Stopping a Torpedoed Ship,
Popular
Science monthly, December 1918, page 23, Scanned by Google Books
- Kirkpatrick, John (1973). Charles E. Ives: Memos. London:
Calder & Boyars. ISBN 0714509531
- Layton, J. Kent (2007). Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship
of Splendor. pp.194
- Secret of the Lusitania: Arms find challenges
Allied claims it was solely a passenger ship Daily Mail December 20,
2008
- Section 518 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894
had originally applied to wreck found to taken possession of within
UK territorial limits, but section 72 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1906
extended that provision to wrecks later brought into those limits;
the court held that as there was no duty on the salvors to bring
the wreck into UK waters, the Crown had no rights to wreck, or
under the ancient Royal Prerogative
relating to "wreck of the sea throughout the realm, whales and
great sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm"
(Statute of 17 Edw II, c. 11).
- Palmer & McKendrick, Interests in Goods, 2nd ed.,
page 379
Further reading
- Bailey, Thomas A. "The Sinking of the Lusitania," The
American Historical Review, Vol. 41, No. 1 (October 1935),
pp. 54–73 in JSTOR
- Bailey, Thomas A. "German Documents Relating to the
'Lusitania'", The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 8, No. 3
(Sep., 1936), pp. 320–37 in JSTOR
- Bailey, Thomas A. and Paul B. Ryan. The Lusitania Disaster:
An Episode in Modern Warfare and Diplomacy (1975)
- Ballard, Robert D., & Dunmore, Spencer. (1995).
Exploring the Lusitania. New York: Warner Books.
- Hoehling, A.A. and Mary Hoehling. (1956). The Last Voyage
of the Lusitania. Maryland: Madison Books.
- Layton, J. Kent (2007). Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship
of Splendor.
- Layton, J. Kent (2005). Atlantic Liners: A Trio of Trios. CafePress
Publishing.
- Ljungström, Henrik. Lusitania. The Great Ocean Liners.
- O'Sullivan, Patrick. (2000). The Lusitania: Unravelling the
Mysteries. New York: Sheridan House.
- Preston, Diana. (2002). Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy.
Waterville: Thorndike Press. Preston (2002 p 384)
- Simpson, Colin. LIFE (1972 p 58). The Lusitania Sinking.
- The Sunday Times, (2008) "Is The Riddle of The Lusitania About to be
Solved?"
- Linda and Gary Cargill "Those Who Dream By Day"
- Timeline, The Lusitania Resource.
- Facts and Figures, The Lusitania Resource.
External links