I first heard of the Lusitania on an episode of The Twilight Zone. Long before I knew the details of her story, I knew the name. That’s probably true for a lot of people. Along with the Titanic and the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Lusitania has become one of the few ships recognized far beyond maritime history. The sinking of this ship changed the world. It wasn’t the reason America got into WWI, but it helped by changing attitudes at the time. This ship was known for its speed and comfort. This was the Cunard Line’s flagship, just as the Olympic was the White Star Line’s. I think of some of these ships as works of art. I hate that she gets remembered for sinking. She was a glorious ship and probably the most famous of her day. She and her sister, RMS Mauretania were household names.
I wanted to post this ship’s story much earlier, but it’s so complex that I ended up reading a book for more information: Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age by Penny Wilson and Greg King (I would highly recommend). I’m going to have a companion page with this post and others. I wanted a place where I could list some very interesting stories and not make this post a novel. So you, the readers, could have a choice if you wanted to read more or not.
The RMS Lusitania was one of the great ocean liners of the early 1900s and of all time. She entered service in 1907 and quickly became famous for her speed and luxury. At the time, she was one of the fastest ships in the world. Wealthy passengers loved her grand dining rooms and first-class accommodations, but she also carried immigrants and regular travelers crossing the Atlantic. When World War I began in 1914, Britain started using large passenger liners to help the war effort.
She was a tough ship. In January 1910, Lusitania showed just how tough she was. While crossing the Atlantic in a violent storm, an enormous wave struck the ship head-on and swept over her bow. The water reached the bridge, smashing windows and damaging the wheelhouse and other parts of the ship. For passengers watching the bow disappear beneath the sea, it must have been terrifying. Lusitania came back up, however, and after temporary repairs she continued to New York at reduced speed. Five years before her sinking, the Atlantic had already given the ship one enormous test, and she survived it.
Germany warned that ships sailing into British waters could be attacked because Britain was blockading Germany with its navy. On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania left New York for Liverpool with nearly 2,000 passengers and crew aboard. Many Americans were nervous because Germany had printed warnings in many newspapers that British ships could be targeted by submarines. Still, most passengers believed a civilian liner would never be attacked. On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, near the southern coast of Ireland, the German submarine U-20 (companion page with info on the U-20) fired a torpedo into the Lusitania. A second explosion followed inside the ship, still debated by historians today. The liner began to list heavily and sank in only about 18 minutes. Lifeboats were difficult to launch because of the sharp angle of the deck. 1198 people died, and only 762 survived. Only 289 bodies were ever recovered from the sea, and a large portion of them were never identified. It has been reported that the British government carried approximately 4.2 million rounds of rifle ammunition, 5,000 cases of shrapnel artillery shells, and non-explosive military fuses in the Lusitania’s cargo hold. While officially registered as a passenger liner, the ship was also legally classified as an armed auxiliary cruiser and received government construction subsidies
The notice in the newspapers.
The sinking shocked the world. Newspapers were filled with stories about families lost at sea and survivors struggling in the freezing water. Germany argued that the Lusitania was carrying war supplies, which later investigations showed was partly true because rifle cartridges and other military materials were aboard. Still, much of the public viewed the attack as the destruction of a civilian passenger ship filled with innocent people. The sinking created enormous anger in the United States. At first, America did not enter the war, but anti-German feeling grew stronger after the disaster. The Lusitania quickly became a symbol on posters and in newspapers to encourage support for the Allied side.
The ramifications of the sinking lasted for years. Germany temporarily reduced unrestricted submarine warfare because of worldwide outrage. But by 1917, Germany resumed attacking ships without warning, helping push America into World War I. Many historians believe the sinking of the Lusitania changed American public opinion and slowly moved the country closer to entering the war.
In her 8-year career, she traveled around 650,000 to 700,000 miles. She completed 101 round-trip Atlantic crossings. One tragic, interesting story involved Canadian Frances Stephens (Companion Page). Please read this brief story if you can. The year before, the U-boat would have stopped the ship, inspected the cargo, let people off the ship, and then sunk her. It was called “prize rules” or “cruiser rules.” On a dive this century, the divers found Remington .303 caliber bullets. As many as 2.4 million rounds were on the ship’s manifest.
Now I want to recognize some of the people who were, in my eyes, heroes.
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt: A wealthy American businessman who gave his life jacket to a mother with an infant and helped others into lifeboats. Alfred could not swim and died in the icy water, and his body was never recovered. Leslie Noel Morton & Joseph Parry: Two young British seamen showed immense bravery. They jumped into the ocean to reach a drifting lifeboat, ripped off its cover to rescue dozens, and went on to save around 50 people from the water. Both survived and were awarded the Silver Board of Trade Medal for Gallantry. Ian Holbourn: A Scottish author who took a young passenger, Avis Dolphin, under his wing when the ship was struck. He guided her to safety, giving up his own life belt for her. Ian and Avis survived and remained lifelong friends. Lindon Bates, Jr.: An American passenger who selflessly gave his life jacket to a frightened female passenger and stayed on the sinking deck to search for lost children before going down with the ship. Thomas Woods: A brave Manx fisherman from the Isle of Man who was fishing nearby on his small boat. Seeing the disaster unfold, he and his crew were the first to arrive on the scene and successfully pulled about 150 survivors from the water.
Every great ship is a product of the knowledge available when she was built. Engineers don’t know what future disasters will be. Almost every major maritime tragedy has taught the next generation of designers something new.
The sinking of the Lusitania inspired writers and musicians for decades. One of the most interesting was Woody Guthrie, who later sang ‘When That Great Ship Went Down,’ telling the story through the eyes of those aboard. If you’re interested in the song, I’ve written about it on Power Pop.
When you REALLY have time…it’s worth a watch!