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The RMS ''Lusitania'' was an Ocean Liner of the British Cunard Steamship Lines . Built by John Brown And Company of Clydebank , Scotland , and launched on June 6 1906 , she was the sister ship of RMS ''Mauretania'' , and both were built to compete with the fast German liners of the time. As such, ''Lusitania'' held the Blue Riband a number of times, notably in 1907 .
The ship was Torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7 , 1915 , on her 202nd crossing of the Atlantic Ocean . The incident played a role in the United States ' entry into World War I on April 17 1917 . President Of The United States Woodrow Wilson officially promised to keep the US out of the war, but the sinking of the ship provided some justification for the escalation of U.S. involvement. If the ship had been carrying Munitions , as the Germans claimed, his claim that the ''Lusitania'' was a wrongful victim in the attack would have been false. Specifications
Comparison with the ''Olympic'' class The ''Lusitania'', and its sister ship, the ''Mauretania'', were smaller than the White Star Line vessels RMS ''Titanic'' , RMS ''Olympic'' and HMHS ''Britannic'' . Though less luxurious, they were significantly faster. Despite their greater speed, they were not quite fast enough for Cunard to provide a weekly transatlantic departure schedule using just two vessels. The slower White Star Line vessels required three sister ships in order to maintain a weekly departure schedule, and so would Cunard. Due to the high operating costs of the Cunard sisters, and the fact that passenger comfort had been a secondary consideration to speed, the third liner ''Aquitania'' would be more like the White Star trio. Larger, more stable, slower and fantastically luxurious. Another way the classes of ships differed was in the how they were divided by water-tight Bulkhead s. The ''Titanic'' and her sister ships were divided solely by bulkheads that were perpendicular to their Keel s. In contrast, the ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' also included a longitudinal bulkhead that ran from Bow (front) to Stern (rear). The British commission that looked into the loss of life from the ''Titanic'' disaster concluded that the death toll would have been smaller if the ''Titanic'' had incorporated such a longitudinal bulkhead. But in this case, the ''Lusitania'''s longitudinal bulkhead contributed to the loss of life. The ''Lusitania'' was long and narrow, and having a hole on one side led to the vessel rapidly listing to that side. Its Lifeboat s were approximately 20 metres above the sea. Furthermore, a small list considerably complicated launching the lifeboats — the lifeboats on the low side of the ship swung out too far to conveniently step aboard. While it was still possible to board the lifeboats on the high side of the ship, lowering them presented a difficult problem. Typically for this period of time, the hull plates of the ''Lusitania'' were fastened with large rivets. As the lifeboats were lowered, they dragged on these rivets, which threatened to rip them apart. CAREER The ''Lusitania'' made her maiden voyage from Liverpool , England to New York City , NY on September 7, 1907. At the time she was the largest ocean liner in service. In October 1907, the ''Lusitania'' took the Blue Riband from the ''Kaiser Wilhelm II'' of the North German Lloyd , ending Germany's 10 year dominance of the Atlantic. The ''Lusitania'' averaged 23.99 knots westbound and 23.61 knots eastbound. With the introduction of the ''Mauretania'' in November 1907, the ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' continued to hand off the Blue Riband to each other. The ''Lusitania'' made her fastest westbound crossing in 1909, averaging 25.85 knots. In September of that same year, the ''Lusitania'' lost the Blue Riband permanently to the ''Mauretania''. The ''Mauretania'' held the record as fastest ship on the Atlantic for the next 20 years, until she lost the title to the North German Lloyd liner ''Bremen'' . At the onset of World War I , the British Admiralty considered the ''Lusitania'' for requisition as an auxiliary cruiser; however, her size and fuel consumption deemed her inappropriate for this role, thus she remained on the North Atlantic passenger service. For economic reasons, however, the ''Lusitania'''s transatlantic crossings were reduced to once a month and boiler room #4 was shut down. Maximum speed was reduced to 21 knots. LAST VOYAGE AND SINKING on the wreck of ''Lusitania''. Note that there is still some rope around them]] On May 7 , 1915 , six days after departing from New York and already within sight of the coast of Southern Ireland , the ''Lusitania'' was discovered by the German submarine '' U-20 '', commanded by Captain Walther Schwieger . Before the voyage, a secret warning, given to the ship's wealthiest passengers, reported that U-boat activity was to be expected and advised not to travel. There was also a public warning given by the German Embassy in the U.S. and embassy officials handed out this leaflet on the dockside: :
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 travelers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY, The ''Lusitania'', like a number of liners of the era, was part of a subsidy scheme meant to convert ships into Armed Merchant Cruiser s (AMC) if requisitioned by the government. This involved structural provisions for mounting deck guns. The British government never used the largest liners, such as the ''Lusitania'', in this role for it was decided that such large vessels used too much coal, presented too large a target and put at risk large crews. Smaller liners were used as AMCs, and the blockade by Germany was enforced on such vessels. The large liners were either not requisitioned, or were used for troop transport or as Hospital Ship s. The ''Mauretania'' had been requisitioned by the British government, though, while its sister ship ''Lusitania'' continued in its roles as a luxury liner built to convey people and property between England and the United States . The s of Coal fuel. The Germans claimed that it was caused by munitions being secretly carried on board. The ''Lusitania'' sank 10 miles off the coast of Old Head Of Kinsale , Ireland in just 20 minutes Another possibility was that the sudden force of cold sea water pouring onto the hot Steam Boilers caused a massive explosion. This was widely believed to be a danger at the time. In the ''Titanic'' Part of the .303 Rifle Cartridge s, 1250 cases of Shrapnel shells and eighteen cases of Fuse s. Nevertheless, the physical size of the cargo would have been quite small. By international law, the presence of military cargo made the ''Lusitania'' a legitimate target. The Allies denied the ship was carrying munitions, though British documents later showed it was, and claimed sinking as yet another example of the "barbarity" of the German war machine, particularly in the context of Germany's actions in occupied France and Belgium . Infamously, Munich metalworker Karl Goetz struck commemorative medallions, apparently celebrating the sinking as a triumph of the German navy over the British. The German government launched an inquiry after learning of the medals through the British press. Goetz defended 69 of his medals as satire, but the government had their distribution halted. British Propagandist s pre-commissioned Selfridges of London to make several thousand copies of the medal, which then were sold to benefit the British Red Cross . CARGO The ''Lusitania'' is reported to have carried, under the guise of bales of fur and cheese boxes, 3 inch (76mm) shells and millions of rounds of rifle Ammunition . The ship also carried 46 tons of aluminum powder and scrap headed for the Woolwich Arsenal . These materials comprised "a contraband and explosive cargo which was forbidden by American law and… should never have been placed on a passenger liner." At the time of the incident, the Germans claimed that the second explosion was caused by the illegal contraband onboard the liner, yet the materials carried on the ship were not explosive in nature. Also, according to the study of the ship by Robert Ballard, the first torpedo struck the ship too far back to have hit the contraband cargo. Other theories as to the source of the second explosion have been a coal dust explosion, boiler explosion, steam line fracture, or even a second torpedo. The Germans themselves conducted tests to determine the cause of the second explosion, but results were inconclusive. They denied the last of these options, but the subsequent doctoring of the submarine journal casts suspicion on the one-torpedo claim. In 1960 , an American named John Light led a series of dives on the wreck. He claimed to have found a gaping hole in her side and professed that the ''Lusitania''’s Contraband cargo had exploded, thus causing the tragedy. Light conducted over 80 dives but, due to the primitive technology of the time, was unable to stay on the wreck for more than a few minutes a dive and could only glimpse fragments of the enormous hull. In the 1990s , famed explorer Robert Ballard , the man who found ''Titanic'', used a submarine to explore the wreckage more intently. Many pointed out that Light had seen the wreck when it was still in relatively good condition, while Ballard did not. By the 1990s, the funnels of the ship had completely rusted away, and the hull had collapsed to half its original size. Ballard said he could not find the hole Light spoke of, and he advanced the coal dust explosion theory. Since the ship was nearing the end of its voyage, all that was left in the storage bunkers was coal dust. The powder may have been thrown into the air by the torpedo impact and, as it settled, reached the critical explosion point, triggering the second explosion which usually has been considered fatal to the ship. The remaining two theories of a steam line explosion or a boiler explosion were created based on computer models created in the late 1990s. These theories hold that the torpedo ripped open the side of the ship, which let in cold ocean water. This water may have made contact with the hot machinery of the ship, which in turn created steam. The steam could have built up to the point where the pressure caused the second explosion. PASSENGERS AND CREW The ''Lusitania'''s master, Captain William Turner, was equally impatient with Scholar s and Millionaire s, but listened to the protestations of one passenger, who had approached him expressing his concerns for their safety and lamenting the lack of a passenger drill. Professor Ian S. Holbourn, the Laird of Foula ( Shetland Isle, Scotland ), had insisted that the Captain order lifeboat drills and that more such precautions be taken. His efforts to stimulate safety awareness (during a time of war) were nothing if not vindicated by the widespread panic that was to be observed when the ship's lights went out during the torpedo strike and explosions. Holbourn guided some panic stricken passengers to his cabin where he fitted them with life belts, even offering up his own, then steered them through the dark, tilting passageways to the decks above and the safety of a lifeboat. Avis Dolphin, the youngest in this party, was escorted by her Nursemaid s Hilda Ellis and Sarah Smith. Having found a lifeboat for the child and her nurses, Holbourn dove into the freezing ocean to find himself surrounded by a mass of bodies and wreckage. His hope of reaching the nearest boat was interrupted when he was compelled to aid a man who was floating helplessly nearby. By the time Holbourn found his way to a boat, the man he had pulled along with him was dead. Transferred from the ''Wanderer of Peel'' to the ''Stormcock'', Holbourn, along with many other wet and injured survivors, was amongst the first of the 774 rescued to arrive at Queenstown that night. With his recent insights into the largely hushed up events surrounding the RMS ''Oceanic'' off Foula, Professor Holbourn was aware of the imminent dangers presented by transatlantic crossings during the early months of The Great War and as such was prepared to face the worst. Some well-known people who perished on the Lusitania included:
On March 1 , 1916 , a full ten months after the event, Cunard Steamship Company announced the official death toll of 1,195. The bodies of many of the 1,195 drowned in the sinking are buried at either the Lusitania plot in Cobh or at the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale. 128 American citizens were killed and their deaths brought the United States closer into entering the war. CONSPIRACY THEORY Immediately after the sinking, Germany accused Britain of deliberately conspiring to have ''Lusitania'' sunk to draw the United States in World War I on the side of the Allies. This view has been popularised by Colin Simpson in his book ''The Lusitania'' and bolstered by Patrick Beesly's ''Room 40.'' If there ever were such a conspiracy, it would have had to be orchestrated by the British Admiralty, then led by Winston Churchill . Churchill always denied this claim. Critics of this theory argue that the Allies in early 1915 were not desperate for more troops; to the contrary, they preferred the US to stay neutral. A neutral US would provide more arms to the Allies that would have been cut off had the US been mobilizing for war. Some conspiracy theorists ask why the Lusitania maintained a route to the West of Ireland remaining in the Atlantic Ocean instead of making for the safety of the St George's Channel . THE FUTURE In June 2005 the owner of the wreck of the Lusitania, Gregg Bemis won his high court challenge with the Irish State and is now in a position to legally inspect the liner. Mr Bemis wants to send divers to the wreck to prove his theory that the second explosion was caused by munitions being carried on the boat. Bemis also hopes to salvage components from the wreck for display in museums. Any fine art recovered, such as the Rubens rumoured to be on board, will remain in the ownership of the Irish Government. SEE ALSO NOTES |
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