Back in the twentieth century, the only way to travel
the Atlantic was by an ocean liner. There was fierce competition
between the rival lines. Passengers were not only expecting a speedy journey,
but luxurious accommodations. In 1903 Lord Inver Clyde led the Cunard Line which began construction on two fast and
luxurious ocean liners to challenge the German vessels that had held the “Blue Riband” since 1987. The Lusitania and Mauretania would be regarded as a firm reassertion of British
supremacy at sea.
Lusitania was a grand ship which was launched at the river
Clyde in June 16, 1906. The Lusitania was a grand ship and it was the first of the two
sister ships to be launched.
It was 785 feet in length and 31,550 gross tons, she
took the title of the largest liner afloat. Her maiden voyage took place in September
7th, 1907, and
in October 1907 she recaptured the coveted “Blue Riband”
from the German liner Deutschland. The Lusitania and the Mauretania were declared by the New York Times as “unsinkable as
ships can be”. The Lusitania was also noted by Sir Charles McLaren
as the “the fastest and most powerful cruiser in the world”.
When World War One 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 raised this romantic view of war
quickly disappeared”. At sea the war thought in theory to have produced a
series of almighty contests between the bristling fleets of battleships. In
practice, the German fleet after one major encounter off the coast of Denmark (the battle of Jutland) retreated to part
The German navel 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 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 of May 1915.
The construction of the Lusitania had been financed by generous loans from the British.
In return for the generous loans, the Admiralty could requisition Lusitania or her sister in times of war. At the onset of World
War 1 in August 1914, Lusitania, Mauretania and the newer ‘sistership’ Aquitania were officially requisitioned for war duites. All but Lusitania were given official orders, so Lusitania continued her regular transatlantic passenger
services.
On the 1st of May 1915, the New York’s docks were getting ready for the sailing of the Lusitania. There was a big turnout of New Yorkers. The voyage
would consist of
large numbers of American citizens setting out for
their long destination to Ireland. A rumour had spread 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 Southwest of the Old Head of Kinsale
Lighthouse, off the coast of Ireland, 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 that ship within the next eighteen minutes.
As passengers on deck enjoyed a light breeze as they viewed the shores if Ireland, a disturbance was noticed on the mirror-calm sea off
the starboard bow. This is followed by “a thin streak of white foam as a
torpedo sped towards the Lusitanian and exploded under is bridge”.
The first explosion was quickly followed by a second.
The ship’s bow had begun dipping into the sea. Women and children were to be safely
into lifeboats. 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 on deck. As the ships began to sink
beneath its feet, Turner stood calmly
giving orders to his crew. Husbands and Fathers stood
tearful as the women and children were lowered onto the lifeboats which had
capsized when they had reached the ocean. As the bow dipped to make its final
death plunge, “the stern raised high in the water and exposed the brass
propellers which glinted in the sunlight”. Tossed bodies like corks had been
shrouded in smoke and steam. Finally, the water flattened and calmed which left
a glass-like finish over the tomb of the Lusitania.
While the living cried out for some help, the dead
drifted on by. A steamship and 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
the dead bodies which had been recovered from the Lusitania and been put into temporary morgues throughout the
town.
All that evening ‘a ghastly procession of rescue
ships’ drew alongside the quay at Queenstown on the southern coast of Ireland. Under flaring gas torches, they landed the living
and the dead. Most survivors were in shock, wrapped in blankets and staring
silently ahead. Many were injured; at least two quick amputations, without unaesthetic, were conducted aboard the rescue fleet. Adult
corpses were lifted ashore on stretchers to be stacked ‘like cordwood… among
the paint kegs and coils of rope on the shadowy old wharves’. Sailors gently
carried dead children and babies in their arms to the hastily improvised
mortuaries. Waiting journalists recorded how one woman, a baby in her arms and
a rough blanket donated by a sailor around her shoulders, refused to leave the
quay. She waited, the very emblem of forlornness, ‘until the last survivor had
passed, searching each face as it went by in the vain hope of finding her
husband from whom she had been separated in the last terrible scene on the
liner’s deck.
In total 1,198 lives were lost on the Lusitania “including 128 Americans”[1][1], 70 were children including 39 infants under the age of two years. 200
corpses were recovered from the sea while the remainders were 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
his 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. Cognizant of this perfect opportunity to incite the US into the war, the sinking loudly proclaimed as
“Demonical” and the German Kaiser himself branded, “the Lord of Torture and
Bloodshed”. The Germans expected as much from belligerent like Britain, but the volume and vehemence of the American
protests took them off guard. There were cells for “action” and the U-boatman
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 Germans
failure to realize 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 7th,
1915 was,
arguably, one of the most notorious milestones of World War One. Popular
history sees the sinking of The Lusitania as the start of the U-boats’ attack on British
shipping. Some historians assert that “it was the most publicized tragedy of
the First World War”. Others contend that it was the “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 consequences 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 the merchant and
naval shipping tonnage, as well as eventually goad the U.S into the war. This
mistake would ultimately cost Germany World War One. The concept of a clean “no hard
feelings” war which had prompted the fraternisation and games of football
between opposing troops on the Western Front, mainly at the instigation of
German soldiers singing ‘Silent Night’ at Christmas in 1914 was banished.
Instead, the events of early summer 1915, including the destruction of the Lusitania, were signposts on the path to Guernica, Hiroshima and beyond. They heralded a time when the best available technology
would be unleashed without warning on an enemy’s population regardless of age,
sex and whether or not they were combatants in order to secure victory at the
lowest cost to the attacker. Despite their protestations as to the moral
superiority of their cause, each major power would feel compelled to follow
that path. The new barbarism of total war had begun.
SHORT QUESTIONS:
SHORT QUESTION1: EXPERIENCES/SKILLS
When I studied this topic I learnt:
1: I learnt my way through the local libraries to find
books suitable for my project.
2: I learnt how to search the internet to find extra
information for my essay.
3: I have learnt how to use Microsoft Word.
4: I have also learnt how to read and compare many
different sources and put them together.
SHORT QUESTION2:REVIEW
Wilful Murder: The Sinking of the Lusitania by Diana Preston
On May 7th, 1915 a passenger ship crossing the Atlantic ship crossing
the Atlantic sank with the loss of 1200 lives. On board were some
world-famous figures, including multimillionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. But this
wasn’t the Titanic and there was no iceberg. The liner was the Lusitania and it was torpedoed by a German U-boat. “Wilful
Murder” is the story of the sinking of the Lusitania. The book looks at the events in their full
historical context, while placing the human dimension at its heart. Using
first-hand accounts of the tragedy the author brings the characters to life,
recreating the splendour of the liner as it set sail and the horror of its
final moments. Using British, American and German research material, Diana
Preston aims to answer many of the unanswered and controversial questions
surrounding the Lusitania: why didn’t the Cunard
listen to warnings that the ship would be a target of the Germans? Was the Lusitania sacrificed to bring the Americans into War? What was
really in the Lusitania’s hold? Was she armed? Had Cunard’s
offices been infiltrated by German agents? And did the Kaiser’s decision to
cease unrestricted U-boat warfare in response to international outrage
expressed after the sinking effectively change the outcome of the World War
One?
Since the sinking of the “Lusitania” in May 1915 she has been political fodder, the stuff
of legend and the darling of conspiracy theorists. Preston’s latest book not only gives truly harrowing accounts of the liner’s
sinking, but also explains why and how the “Lusitania” sank and the role the three governments (British,
American and German) played in her demise.
The only, slight, criticism of the book is that Preston’s knowledge of other ocean liners (the “Lusitania’s” rivals) is a little hazy. She totally ignores the LUSITANIA’s first major rival, the “Olympic,” and erroneously
states that the “Titanic” came into service in 1911.
SHORT QUESTION 3: BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soifer, Paul and Hoffman, Abraham.
U.S. History II, Cliffs notes, Nebraska, IDG Books
worldwide, Inc. California, 1999.
Cunliffe, Barry, Bartlett, Robert, Morrill, John, Briggs, Asa and Bourke, Joanne. British & Irish History
Penguin books LTD. London, 2001.
Preston, Diana, Wilful Murder, The sinking of the Lusitania, Doubleday edition, Great Britain, 2002
Gardiner, Juliet, Wenborn,
Neil The Companion to British HistoryCollins
& Brown Limited, Great Britain, 1995
SHORT QUESTION 4: HOW THE ESSAY WAS WRITTEN.
I found out about this essay when I first came into
History after Christmas. My teacher explained this essay was 20% of our Leaving
Cert and basically this essay is really important. We were given a week to think
about the topic we wanted to study and do our essay on. So it was really good
the way we got a choice. When I decided on which topic I was going to study I
went to the schools library to get my books which I would get my information
out of. One of the books I chose was Wilful Murder: The Sinking of the Lusitania by Diana, Preston. I
found this book very helpful I also used footnotes out of this book. I also
used the internet to get information on the sinking of the Lusitania but I found the Books more helpful.
I planned out how I would do the essay and what
information I would use. Then when I had my first draft written and I found
more information I would put it in as footnotes. I typed up this essay using
Microsoft Word. Then when it was typed up I made what ever changes or
corrections where needed. When my essay was finished I printed it out and put
it on the schools website.
[1][1] Juliet Gardiner & Neil Wenborn,The Companion to British History ,page 486