THE LUSITANIA
By
BRIAN DONEGAN
In the early part of the twentieth century, the only way to traverse the Atlantic was by ocean liner. It was a time of fierce competition between rival lines – with passengers expecting not only a speedy crossing, but luxurious accommodations as well. In 1903 the Cunard Line led by Lord Inver Clyde began constructing on two fast and luxurious liners to challenge the German vessels that had held the " Blue Riband" since 1897. The resulting RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania would be a firm reassertion of British supremacy at sea.
Launched at the River Clyde in June 16, RMS Lusitania was a grand ship and the first of two sister ships to be launched. At 785 feet in length and 31,550 gross tons, she took the title of the largest liner afloat. Her maiden voyage took place September 7, 1907, and in October 1907 she recaptured the convoted "Blue Riband" from the German liner Deutschland. The Lusitania and the Mauritania were declared by The New York Times " as the unsinkable ships can be". The Lusitania was also noted by Sir Charles McLaren as " the fastest and most powerful cruiser in the world".
When World War 1 began in the summer of 1914, no one foresaw even the contours of the disaster ahead. " However, as the land offensives ground to a halt and the casualties rose this romantic view of war quickly disappeared". At sea, the war ought in theory to have produced a series of almighty contests between the bristling fleets of battleships. In practise, the German fleet after one major encounter off the coast of Denmark ( the battle of Jutland) retreated to part. The German naval strategy for the remainder was to use their submarines in the Atlantic to starve British into surrender. " This type of submarine warfare had intensely to the level that Admiral Pohl stated that " it will be impossible to avoid danger to the crew of neutral ships". The British who could claim command of the seas could not cope with German Submarines operating from Kiel to Bremerhaven which had sank over twelve million tons of allied shipping over the course of the war.
There was a dramatic turn in the atlantic war foot plane with the sinking of the Lusitania by submarine U-20 on the 7th May 1915.The construction of Lusitania had been fianced by generous loans, the Admiralty could requisition Lusitania or her sister in times of war. It the onset of World War 1 in August 1914, Lusitania, Mauretania and the newer "sistership" Aquitania were all officially requisitioned for war duties. All but Lusitania were given official orders, so Lusitania continued her regular transalantic passenger services. "May 1st, 1915 had been a very busy day at New York harbour" It was the day The Lusitania would set sail. There was a big turnout of New Yorkers that day. The voyage would consist of large numbers of the American citizens setting out for their long destination to Ireland. Unfortunately, German agents had spread rumours that the ship was carrying high explosives which were destined for warfronts.
On Thursday evening, May 6th, the Lusitania received a message from Queenstown that there had been submarines in the area. Lifeboats had been taken out in case of danger. Only twelve miles of the coast of Old Head OF Kinsale Lighthouse, off the coast of Ireland, the Lusitania had entered into war zone. Two-thousand passengers and crew on board the Lusitania had now come under great threat. Lieutenant Walter Schwieger (Captain of the U-20 submarine ) was to bring death, woe and desolation on board the ship within the next eighteen minutes. As passengers on deck enjoyed a light breeze as they viewed the shores of Ireland, a disturbance was noticed on the mirror-calm sea off the starboard bow. This was followed by " a thin streak of white foam as torpedo sped towards the Lusitania and exploded under its bridge". The first explosion was quickly followed by a second. The Aship’s bow had begun dipping into the sea. Women and children were to be put on to lifeboats quickly and safely. Captain Turner eagerly tried to head the doomed Lusitania north towards land, to find her out of control. An unexpected power cut left the powerless ship in darkness. Panic-stricken passengers came out on deck. As the ship began to sink beneath it’s feet, Turner stood calmly giving orders to his crew. Husbands and fathers stood tearfully as women and children were lowered onto lifeboats which had capsized when they’d reached the ocean. As the bow dipped to make its final death plunge, " the stern rose high in the water and exposed the brass propellers which glinted in the sunlight" .Tossed bodies like corks had been shrouded in smoke and stream. Finally, the water flattened and calmed which left a glass-like finish over the tomb of the Lusitania.
While the living cried out for help, the dead drifted by. A steamship Heron and two trawlers gathered up the dead- which later returned to Queenstown with over 100 bodies. "Queenstown became known as the town of "death" ." This was due to the ever increasing numbers of dead bodies which had been recovered from the Lusitania and been put into temporary morgues throughout the town. In total, 1,198 lives were lost on the Lusitania. Of the drowned, 127 were Americans, 79 were children including 39 infants under the age of two years. 200 corpses were recovered from the sea while the remainder was never found. The sinking of the Lusitania shocked the United States. President Woodwork Wilson was so affected by the news that he went into seclusion for two days, seeing and talking to no one but family and White House staff.
After the sinking, the outpouring of acrimony from the US took the German High Command by surprise and the skilled British propaganda machine did much to inflame public opinion in America against Germany. Cognisant of this perfect opportunity to incite the US into the war, the sinking was loudly proclaimed as "Demonical" and the German Kaiser himself branded, "the Lord of the Torture and Bloodshed." The Germans expected as much from a belligerent like Britain, but the volume and vehemence of the American protests took them off guard. There were calls for "action" and the U-boatmen were vilified as "murderers" and "pirates." Nevertheless, even the most indignant shied away from demanding war and indeed , President Wilson declared that there was such a thing as being " too proud to fight." It was the German’s failure to realise this fact, and press home their advantage, that was at the heart of Germany’s mistake. In conclusion the sinking of the Royal Mail Ship Lusitania by U-20 ON May 7, 1915 was, arguably, one of the most notorious milestones of World War 1.
Popular history sees the sinking of the Lusitania as the start of the U-boats attack on British shipping. Some historians assert that "major catastrophe" that finally shifted American opinion far enough for the country to seriously entertain the possibility of joining the struggle. However, by far the most serious consequence of the sinking, was the reaction of the Germans themselves. Appalled at the violence of the American response to the sinking, "the Kaiser called a halt to unrestricted submarine warfare in British waters". Consequently, for the better part of two years, Britain enjoyed a respite from an all-out U-boat offensive, giving her some time to recoup her losses and build up both merchant and naval shipping tonnage, as well as eventually goad the U.S into the war . This mistake would ultimately cost German World War 1.
Short questions 1:
Bibliography
Hoehling, A. and Hoehling M. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Madison Books, New York, 1996.
O’ Sullivan P. The Lusitania Unravelling the Mysteries, The Collins press, Cork ,1998.
Gilbert, M. First World War, The Orion Publising group, 1994.
D, Ballard Robert. Dunmor, Spencer. Exploring the Lusitania: Mysteries of the sinking that changed History, Warner Bros, 1995.
Short questions 2:
Skills: while completing this research topic the following skills were learned.
Short questions 3: One of the books used for this essay was Exploring the Lusitania: probing the mysteries of the sinking that changed History by Robert D. Ballard.
This book was published by Warner Bros in 1995. Second only to the Titanic’s 1912 collision with an iceberg in terms of famous sinkings of ocean liners, the Lusitania, also a British luxury ship, was torpedoed in May- 1915 by a German submarine and in 18 minutes went under waves off the coast of Ireland. Because 123 of the dead were American, the destruction of the Lusitania was a step in drawing the U.S into World War 1, already raging in Europe. In 1993 a team working with underwater explorer Robert Ballard, discovery of the Titanic’s remains, used a small submarine to find the wreckage of the Lusitania. Ballard profiles he luxurious life of the Lusitania while in trans-Atlantic services and reconstructs its scandalous wartime "assassination" in this oversize book. And in addition to profuse illustrations of the liner during its life and creepy ones of its carcass lying on the ocean floor, Ballard and his coauthor address the controversy that has surrounded the Lusitania’s sinking from that day to this: Why did it explode so violently when the torpedo hit and then sink so quickly? Ballard’s investigation indicates that an "extraordinary combination of circumstances" destined that the Lusitania would not have survive its attack. During this essay the issue of bias and truly gesturely came up. I think this was a good book because it was very balanced. It looked at the sinking of the Lusitania from both the British/ American and German side and the attempt to investigate and the theories about its sinking. Other books that I read on the subject showed that Ballard was fair in his dealing with the history of the sinking of the boat.
Short questions 4:
Why was this topic worthy of study?
This topic was worthy of study because:
1: The disaster happened off the coast of Ireland and bodies were taken to Cork.
2: It strained the relationship between Germany and USA and was one of the reasons why the US entered the war in 1917.