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Construction and trialsLusitania was owned by the Cunard Steamship Company, built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on Thursday, June 7 1906. She was named after the ancient Roman province of Lusitania (present day Portugal south of the Douro river and Spanish Extremadura). Lusitania sailed on her maiden voyage to New York City on September 7, 1907 arriving on September 13, 1907, thus taking back the Blue Riband. Lusitania and her sister,, were built during the time of a passenger liner race between shipping lines based in Germany and Great Britain, and were the fastest liners of their day. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the fastest Atlantic liners were German, and the British sought to win back the title. Simultaneously, American financier J.P. Morgan was planning to buy up all the North Atlantic shipping lines, including Britain's own White Star Line. In 1903, Cunard chairman Lord Inverclyde took these threats to his advantage and lobbied the Balfour administration for a loan of £2.6 million to construct Lusitania and Mauretania, providing they met Admiralty specifications and Cunard remained a wholly British company. The British Government also agreed to pay Cunard an annual subsidy of £150,000 for maintaining both ships in a state of war readiness, plus an additional £68,000 to carry Royal Mail. Lusitania's keel was laid at John Brown & Clydebank as Yard no. 367 on June 16, 1904. She was launched and christened by Mary, Lady Inverclyde , on Thursday, 7 June 1906. Lord Inverclyde(1861-1905) had died before this momentous occasion.Much of the trim on Lusitania was designed and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild. Starting on July 27, 1907, Lusitania underwent preliminary and formal acceptance trials. It was then she smashed all speed records ever set in the history of the shipping industry. Engineers discovered high speed caused violent vibrations in the stern, forcing the fitting of stronger bracing parts. After these physical alterations, she was finally delivered to Cunard on August 26. Comparison with the Olympic classLusitania and Mauretania were smaller than White Star Line's vessels,,, and Britannic but also the two Cunarders entered service five years earlier than the White Star ships. Although significantly faster than the Olympics, they were not fast enough to allow Cunard to provide a weekly transatlantic departure schedule with just two vessels. Consequently Cunard would require a third ship to maintain a weekly service, and after White Star announced plans to build the Olympics, Cunard ordered a third ship, . Like the White Star trio, Aquitania would be slower but larger and more luxurious than Lusitania and Mauretania. Olympics differed from Lusitania and Mauretania in the subdivision of underwater compartments. The Olympics were divided by transverse watertight bulkheads. Lusitania also had transverse bulkheads, but in addition she'd longitudinal bulkheads on each side, between the boiler and engine rooms and the coal bunkers on the outside of the vessel. The British commission that investigated the Titanic disaster heard testimony stating that the flooding of bunkers outside of longitudinal bulkheads over a considerable length could increase the ship's list and "make the lowering of the boats on the other side impracticable" — exactly what happened with Lusitania.CareerLusitania departed Liverpool for her maiden voyage on September 7, 1907 under the command of commodore James Watt of the Cunard Line and arrived in New York City on September 13. At the time she was the largest ocean liner in service and would continue to be until the introduction of her sister 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 from of the North German Lloyd, ending Germany's 10-year dominance of the Atlantic. Lusitania averaged 23.99 knots (44.4 km/h) westbound and 23.61 knots (43.7 km/h) 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 25.85 knots (47.9 km/h). In September of that same year, she lost it permanently to Mauretania. Hudson Fulton celebrationLusitania 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 and passengers on the liner marveled up at the newer technology of the airplane which in 40 years time would supersede the ocean liner as the primary mode of Trans-Atlantic passenger travel. A few interesting photographs of Lusitania still exist from that week.WarLusitania, like a number of liners of the era, was part of a subsidy scheme meant to convert ships into armed merchant cruisers if requisitioned by the government. This involved structural provisions for mounting deck guns.At the onset of World War I, the British Admiralty considered Lusitania for requisition as an armed merchant cruiser; however, large liners such as Lusitania consumed too much coal, presented too large a target, and put at risk large crews and were therefore deemed inappropriate for the role. They were also very distinctive. Smaller liners were used as transports, instead. The large liners were either not requisitioned, or were used for troop transport or as hospital ships. Mauretania became a troop transport while Lusitania continued in her role as a luxury liner built to convey people between Great Britain and the United States. For economic reasons, Lusitania's transatlantic crossings were reduced to once a month and boiler room Number 4 was shut down. Maximum speed was reduced to 21 knots (39 km/h), but even then, Lusitania was the fastest passenger liner on the North Atlantic in commercial service, and 10 knots (18.5 km/h) faster than submarines. On February 4, 1915, Germany declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone. Effective as of February 18, Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning. This wasn't wholly unrestricted submarine warfare, since efforts would be taken to avoid sinking neutral ships. Lusitania was scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on March 6, 1915. The Admiralty issued her specific instructions on how to avoid submarines. Despite a severe shortage of destroyers, Admiral Henry Oliver ordered HMS ships and to escort Lusitania, and took the further precaution of sending the Q ship to patrol Liverpool Bay. 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. On April 17, 1915, Lusitania left Liverpool on her 201st transatlantic voyage, arriving in New York on April 24. 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 not to sail aboard Lusitania before her next crossing. The Imperial German embassy placed a warning advertisement in American newspapers, including those in New York. Last voyage and sinkingLast departureLusitania departed Pier 54 in New York on 1 May 1915. The German Embassy in Washington had issued this warning on 22 April. »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. » Washington, D.C. April 22, 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. The captain, an experienced 58-year old sailor and master named William "Bowler Bill" Turner, tried to calm the passengers by explaining that the ship's speed made it 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 Cameronia. Shortly after departure, three German spies were found on board, arrested, and detained below decks. PassengersLusitania carried 1,959 passengers on her last voyage. Those aboard included:
EastboundLusitania'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, by means of wireless intercepts, was tracking the movements of U-20, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger and operating along the west coast of Ireland and moving south.On 5 May and 6 May, U-20 sank three vessels 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". Captain Turner of Lusitania was given the message twice on the evening of the 6th, 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 they could be quickly put into the water if need be. That same evening, a Seamen's Charities fund concert took place in the first class lounge. At about 11:00, on Friday, May 7, the Admiralty radioed another warning, and Turner adjusted his heading northeast, apparently thinking submarines would be more likely to keep to the open sea and so Lusitania would be safer close to land. U-20 was low on fuel and only had three torpedoes left, and Schwieger had decided to head for home. She was moving at top speed on the surface at 13:00 when Schwieger spotted a vessel on the horizon. He ordered U-20 to dive and to take battle stations. SinkingLusitania was at approximately from Cape Clear Island when she encountered fog, and reduced speed to 18 knots. She was making for the port of Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) from the Old Head of Kinsale when the liner crossed in front of U-20 at 14:10.One story states that when Schwieger gave the order to fire, his quartermaster, Charles Voegele, wouldn't 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-martialed and served three years in prison at Kiel, although this story may be apocryphal. The torpedo hit under the bridge, and was followed by a much larger secondary explosion in the starboard bow. Schwieger's own log entries attest he only fired one torpedo. Some doubt the validity of this claim, contending the German government subsequently doctored Schwieger's log, but accounts from other U-20 crew members confirm it. The torpedo struck just forward of the bridge, sending a plume of debris, steel plating and water upward and knocking Lifeboat #5 off its davits. Lusitania's wireless operator sent out an immediate SOS and Captain Turner gave the order to abandon ship. Water flooded the ship's starboard longitudinal compartments, causing an immediate 15 degrees starboard list. Captain Turner tried turning the ship toward the Irish coast in the hope of beaching her, but the helm wouldn't respond. The torpedo had knocked out the steam lines to the rudder, rendering the controls useless. The ship's propellers continued to drive the ship at, forcing water into her hull. Lusitania's severe starboard list complicated the launch of her lifeboats — those to starboard swung out too far to conveniently step aboard. 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 riveted. As the lifeboats were lowered, they dragged on these rivets, which threatened to seriously to 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 that some boats, by 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 . Lusitania had 48 lifeboats, more than enough for all the crew and passengers, but only six were successfully lowered, all from the starboard side. 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. Within six minutes, Lusitania Captain Turner remained on the bridge until the water rushed upward and destroyed the sliding door, washing him overboard into the sea. He took the ship's logbook and charts 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 but miraculously survived after spending 3 hours in the water. Lusitania's bow slammed into the bottom about 100 m (300 ft) below at a shallow angle, given her forward momentum as she sank. Along the way, some boilers exploded, including one that caused the third funnel to collapse, with the remaining funnels proceeding to snap off soon after. Captain 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. Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, off the Old Head of Kinsale. 1,198 people died with her, including almost a hundred children. The bodies of many of the victims were buried at either Lusitania's destination, Queenstown, or the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale, but many other bodies were never recovered and remain entombed in the wreck. Political consequencesSchwieger was condemned in the Allied press as a war criminal. Had he survived the war he'd have undoubtedly been placed on trial as a war criminal at the Allies' insistence.Of the 139 Americans aboard, 128 lost their lives. There was massive outrage in Britain and America. The British felt the Americans had to declare war on Germany. U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, fearing the US would declare war, resigned from the Cabinet in protest; however, President Woodrow Wilson still didn't want the country to get involved in a European dispute because the American population (many of whom were German-American) didn't want to be involved in a war nor were they ready -- no matter how outraged they were. Instead of declaring war, he sent a formal protest to Germany. Wilson was bitterly criticised in Britain as a coward. In the trenches a shell that didn't explode was called a "Wilson." Although unrestricted submarine warfare continued at a varying pace into the summer, on August 19 U-24 sank the White Star liner, with the loss of 44 passengers and crew. Three of the dead were Americans, and President Wilson angrily protested through German diplomatic channels. On August 27, the Kaiser imposed severe restrictions on U‐boats attacks against large passenger vessels. On September 18 1915, he called off unrestricted submarine warfare completely. Munich metalworker Karl Goetz struck commemorative medallions in August 1915 to satirize what he saw as the greed of the Cunard Line and the foolishness of contraband he suspected was being smuggled with the help of US neutrality. The original medal has the incorrect date of 5 May 1915 on it. Some time thereafter British intelligence obtained a copy and saw a propaganda opportunity as the medal apparently celebrated the sinking as a premeditated crime. The incorrect date was taken as proof of this theory and combined with possibly apocryphal German press reports touting the triumph. British propagandists precommissioned Selfridges of London to make 250–300,000 copies of the medal in an attractive case claiming to be an exact copy of the German medal, which then were sold for a shilling to benefit the British Red Cross and other charities. 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 (fewer than 500 were struck) can most easily be distinguished from the English copies because the date is in German; the English version spells 'May' rather than 'Mai'. After the war Goetz expressed his regret his work had been the cause of increasing anti‐German feelings, but it remains one of the most celebrated propaganda acts of all time. While the American public and leadership wasn't ready for war, the path to an eventual declaration of war had been set as a result of the sinking of the Lusitania. According to French newspapers, the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, which resulted in the Treaty of Versailles, coincided deliberately with the anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania. Last living survivorAudrey Lawson-Johnston (nee Pearl) born February 1915 is the last living survivor of the RMS Lusitania sinking. She presently resides in Bedfordshire, England.(External Link) Audrey became the last living survivor following the death of Barbara McDermott (nee Anderson) on April 12, 2008.(External Link)
ControversiesContraband and second explosionLusitania was carrying small arms ammunition, which wouldn't have been explosive. Under the "cruiser rules", the Germans could sink a civilian vessel only after guaranteeing the safety of all the passengers. Since Lusitania (like all British merchantmen) was under instructions from the British Admiralty to report the sighting of a German submarine, and indeed to attempt to ram the ship if it surfaced to board and inspect her, she was acting as a naval auxiliary, and was thus exempt from this requirement and a legitimate military target. By international law, the presence (or absence) of military cargo was irrelevant.Recent expeditions to the wreck have shown her holds are intact and show no evidence of internal explosion. The question remains, however: if ammunition and alleged "secret" cargo didn't cause the violent second explosion, what did? In 1993, Dr Robert Ballard, 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 this is a near-impossibility. Critics of this 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 the influx of seawater which poured 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 didn't 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 Scotch boilers in boiler room no. 1, but rather in the high-pressure steam lines to the turbines. In any case, most researchers and historians agree a steam explosion is far more likely than clandestine high-explosives as the reason for the second explosion. It must be noted, however, it's quite likely the original torpedo damage alone, striking the ship on the starboard coal bunker of boiler room no. 1, would have sent the ship to the bottom without the aid of the second explosion. This first blast was able to cause, on its own, off-center flooding of a serious nature. The deficiencies of the ship's original watertight bulkhead design exacerbated the situation, as did the many portholes which had been left open to aid in ventilation. Recent developmentsF. Gregg Bemis Jr, who bought it in 1968 from former business partners, one of whom had previously bought it in 1967 for £1000 from the Liverpool & London War Risks Insurance Association.The Irish Government in 1995 declared the wreck a heritage site under the National Monuments Act. This protects the wreck for 100 years. One reason for this is attributed to the presumed presence of art treasures in lead containers located in the hold believed to have been carried by Sir Hugh Lane. In June 2005, Bemis won a High Court challenge with the Irish State and is now in a position to legally inspect and carry out a $2 million research expedition on the wreck. Bemis intends to send divers down to prove his theory the second explosion was caused by munitions being carried. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision in a judgment delivered on March 27, 2007. A dive team from Cork Sub Aqua Club, under license, made the first known discovery of munitions aboard in 2006. These include 15,000 rounds of 0.303 (7.7×56mmR) caliber rifle ammunition in boxes in the bow section of the ship. The 0.303 round was used by the British army in all of their battlefield rifles and machine guns. The find was photographed but left in situ under the terms of the license. 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. On March 28, 2007, the Irish Times reported the Irish Government would grant Bemis a licence to carry out research on the vessel, but the Supreme Court's decision makes it clear a further licence application would be required by Bemis. Further Information Get more info on 'Rms Lusitania'.
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