Portal:Disasters/Selected anniversary/May 2007
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The RMS Lusitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner, that was built by the John Brown & Co. Ltd ship yard near Clydebank, Scotland. Lusitania then sailed on her maiden voyage on September 7, 1907 and reached New York City on September 13, 1907.
During World War I, when Britain and Germany were at war, on May 7, 1915 the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-Boat, the U-20. It sank within 18 minutes, eight miles off of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard. The sinking turned sentiments in neutral nations against Germany and helped provoke the United States into entering the war two years later.
Lusitania was making for the port of Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, 70 kilometers from the Old Head of Kinsale when the liner crossed in front of U-20 at 2:10 p.m. It was sheer chance that the liner became such a convenient target, since U-20 could hardly have caught the fast vessel otherwise. Schwieger gave the order to fire, but 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-martialed and served three years in prison at Kiel. Another crewman took over, and a single torpedo was launched towards Lusitania. It hit cleanly under the bridge, blowing a hole in the side of the ship, and was then followed by a much larger secondary explosion that blew out the starboard bow.
As was typical 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 the boats apart. Many lifeboats overturned while loading or lowering, spilling their passengers into the sea below; those that were lowered tended to be overturned by the ship's motion when they hit the water. Some, by the negligence of some officers, crashed down onto the deck, crushing other passengers, and sliding down towards the bridge. Lusitania had 48 lifeboats, more than enough for all the crew and passengers, but only six managed to get to the water and stay afloat. Lusitania sank in 18 minutes at 2:28 pm, 8 miles off of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. 1,198 people died with her, including almost a hundred children. The bodies of many of the victims were buried at either the Lusitania port in Cobh or the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale. However, the bodies of many other victims were never recovered and remain entombed inside the wreck of the ship.
