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RMS Lusitania- The Disaster
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Welcome to our page on the Lusitania Disaster.
The Fateful Day
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| The Lusitania at sea. |
By 7 May the ship had entered what was called the danger zone, waters in which enemy submarines might be expected. Captain Turner took all possible pre-cautions ordering all the lifeboats to be swung out, all the bulkhead doors to be closed, look-outs to be doubled and steam pressure to be kept high to give the ship all possible speed in case of emergency. At 8.00am speed was reduced to 18 knots to secure the ship's arrival at the bar outside Liverpool at 4.00am the following day, in order to catch the high tide.
At 12.40pm the ships course was altered in order to make a better landfall. The ship was brought closer to land and the Old Head of Kinsale was sighted at 1.40pm. Having steadied the ship on this course an officer began to make a four-point bearing at 1.50pm, but this was never completed.
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An advertisement for
the Lusitania. |
At 2.00pm the passengers were finishing their lunch, and at 2.15pm the ship was 10 to 15 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale with the weather clear and the sea smooth. Captain Turner then heard the second officer shout 'There is a torpedo coming, Sir'. Immediately afterwards there was a huge explosion on the starboard side, between the third and fourth funnels. Almost simultaneously there was a second explosion, which was thought at the time to be a second torpedo but has since been confirmed as an internal explosion, although the cause has never been definitely established.
The stricken Lusitania immediately took on a heavy list to starboard and in about 20 minutes it had sunk, with the loss of 1,198 lives. The ship sank bow first, with its stern almost perpendicular out of the water, just as the Titanic had done some 3 years earlier. Captain Turner survived and he remained on the bridge giving orders until the ship foundered. His order 'women and children first' was largely obeyed. The lights went out on the ship and it sunk in 18 minutes.
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An ad to get people to
join an Irish Regiment.
To get revenge for the
Lusitania sinking. |
There is no doubt that the sinking of the Lusitania was one of the First World War's single biggest tragedies. The political repercussions were enormous, and although it did not directly bring the United States into the War on the side of the Allies it ensured that no American administration would ever be allied to Germany.
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| A funeral for 130 victims. |
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