The sinking of the Cunard battles occurred on Friday, May 7, 1915 during the First World War, when Germany waged a submarine war against the British Empire which had implemented a German blockade of naval bases. The vessel was identified and conquered by the U-Germany U-20 ship and sank in 18 minutes. The ship fell 11 miles (18 km) from Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 and leaving 761 survivors. The drowning of public opinion in many countries against Germany contributed to America's entry into World War I and became an iconic symbol in the military recruitment campaign on why war was fought.
Lusitania became the victim of a relatively early torpedo attack in the First World War, before tactics to avoid a submarine were properly implemented or understood. The contemporary investigation in Britain and the United States into the precise cause of the ship's loss is hindered by the need for wartime secrecy and propaganda campaigns to ensure all mistakes fall into the hands of Germany. The argument about whether the ship was a legitimate military target went berserk throughout the war when both sides made a misleading claim about the ship. By the time he drowned, he carried over 4 million grains of small-arms ammunition (.303 caliber), nearly 5,000 bullet-shell casings (totaling about 50 tons), and 3,240 brass percussion axes, in addition to 1,266 passengers and crew of 696. carried over the years since drowning to dive into shipwrecks looking for information on exactly how the ship sank, and the argument continues to this day.
Video Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
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When Lusitania was built, its construction and operational costs were subsidized by the British government, provided that it could be converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser if necessary. At the outbreak of the First World War, the British Navy regarded him as a list of armed merchant vessels, and he was included on the official AMC list.
The Admiralty then canceled their initial decision and decided not to use him as an AMC after all; Large liners such as Lusitania consume large amounts of coal (910 tons/day, or 37.6 tons/hour) and become serious destruction of Admiralty fuel reserves, so that express liners are considered unsuitable for current roles smaller cruisers will do it. They are also very distinctive; a smaller layer is used as a carrier. Lusitania remains on the official AMC list and is listed as a helper car in Jane's 1914 Edition of Military Fights, , along with Mauretania .
In the outbreak of hostility, fear for the safety of Lusitania and other great liners ran high. During the crossing to the east of the first ship after the war began, he was painted with a dull gray color scheme in an attempt to mask his identity and make it more difficult to detect visually. When it became known that the German Navy remained in check by the Royal Navy, and the threat of their trading almost entirely evaporated, it soon appeared that the Atlantic was safe for ships such as Lusitania if reservations were justified at the expense of keeping them in service.
Many of the large liners were laid during the fall and winter of 1914-1915, in part because of declining demand for passenger travel across the Atlantic, and partly to protect them from mine damage or other hazards. Among the best known of these liners, some were eventually used as troop transport, while others became hospital ships. Lusitania remains in commercial service; Although reservations on it did not mean strong during the fall and winter, demand was strong enough to keep him in civil service. However, austerity measures have been taken. One of them is to turn off boiler room no. 4 to save the cost of coal and crew; this reduces its maximum speed from 25 to 21 knots (46 to 39 km/h). Even so, it is the fastest first-class passenger liner left in commercial service.
With the obvious danger of yawning, the disguised ship paint scheme was also dropped and he was returned to civilian colors. His name was chosen with gold, his mouthpiece was repainted with traditional Cunard clothing, and his superstructure was painted white again. One of the changes was the addition of a bronze/gold band around the base of the superstructure just above the black paint.
1915
In early 1915, a new threat to British shipping began to materialize: U boat (submarine). Initially, the Germans only used them to attack naval vessels, and they only achieved an occasional success - but sometimes spectacular -. The U Boats then started attacking the merchant ship at the time, although it almost always conformed to the rules of the old cruisers. Desperate to make a profit in the Atlantic, the German government decided to step up their submarine campaign. On February 4, 1915, Germany declared the sea around the British Isles as a war zone: from February 18, Allied ships in the area would drown without warning. This is not a fully unlimited submarine warfare, as efforts will be taken to avoid drowning neutral vessels.
Lusitania is scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on March 6, 1915. Admiralty issues his specific instructions on how to avoid submarines. Despite the serious shortage of destroyers, Rear Admiral Henry Oliver ordered HMS Louis and Laverock to escort Lusitania , and took further precautions to ship Q < Lyons to patrol in Liverpool Bay. The destructive commander attempted to find the existence of Lusitania by calling Cunard, who declined to provide any information and referred it to Admiralty. At sea, the vessels contact Lusitania through radio but do not have the code used to communicate with merchant ships. Captain Daniel Dow of Lusitania refused to give his own position except in code, and because he was, in any case, a bit away from the position he gave, continued to Liverpool without blackmail.
Apparently, in response to the threat of this new submarine, some changes were made to Lusitania and its operations. He was ordered not to fly a flag in a war zone; a number of warnings, plus suggestions, were sent to the ship's commander to help him decide how best to protect his ship against new threats' and apparently also his mouthpiece most likely painted dark gray to help make it less visible to enemy submarines. Obviously, there was no hope of disguising his true identity, because his profile was well known, and no attempt was made to cross out the name of the ship in the bow.
Captain Dow, apparently suffering from the stress of operating his ship in a war zone, and after significant "false flag" controversy left the ship; Cunard then explains that he's "tired and really sick." He was replaced by a new commander, Captain William Thomas Turner, who had previously commanded Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania in the years before the war..
On April 17, 1915, Lusitania abandoned Liverpool on its 2014 transatlantic voyage, arriving in New York on April 24. A group of German-Americans, hoping to avoid controversy if Lusitania was attacked by U Boats, discussing their concerns with representatives of the German Embassy. The Embassy decided to warn passengers before crossing the next to avoid sailing on the Lusitania ship, and on April 22 put up a memorial ad in 50 American newspapers, including in New York:
Notifications !
Travelers who want to start the Atlantic voyage is reminded that a war situation exists between Germany and its allies as well as Great Britain and its allies; that the war zone includes waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with the official notices granted by the German Government of the Empire, ships flying the United Kingdom flag, or its allies, could be destroyed in those waters and that travelers sailing in war zones on British ships or allies doing so at risk themselves.
Embassy of the Kingdom of Germany
Washington, D.C. April 22, 1915
This warning is printed close to the ad for Lusitania ' s return voyage. The warning caused some unease in the media and worried the passengers and crew.
Maps Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
The final cruise
Departure
While many British passenger ships have been assigned to the war effort, Lusitania remains on its traditional path between Liverpool and New York. He left Pier 54 in New York on May 1, 1915 on his way back to Liverpool with 1,959 people aboard. In addition to his crew of 694, he carried 1,265 passengers, mostly Britons and a large number of Canadians, along with 128 Americans. Her First Class Accommodation, which she is well known in the North Atlantic, is ordered over half the capacity at 290. The Second Class is very solid with 601 passengers, far exceeding the maximum capacity of 460. While a large number of small children and infants help reduce the pressure on the cabin two and four are limited, the situation is finally fixed by allowing some Second Class passengers to occupy an empty First Class cabin. In the Third Class, the situation is considered a norm for crossings to the east, with only 373 trips in accommodation designed for 1,186.
Captain Turner, known as "Bowler Bill" for his favorite shoreide cap, has returned to his old command of Lusitania. He is a commissioner of Cunard Line and a very experienced sailor master, and has been relieved Daniel Dow, regular captain of the ship. Dow has been instructed by his chairman, Alfred Booth, to take time off, under pressure from the ship's captain on the U-boat lane and to protest that the ship should not be an armed cruiser, making it a prima donna. target for German troops.. Turner tries to calm the passengers by explaining that the speed of the ship makes it safe from submarine attacks. However, Cunard closed one of the four boiler chambers to reduce the cost of a rare wartime voyage, reducing its top speed from 25.5 to about 22 knots.
Lusitania was steamed out of New York at noon on May 1, two hours behind schedule, due to a last minute transfer of forty-one passengers and a crew from the recently requested Cameroon . Shortly after departure, three German-speaking men were found on a boat hiding in the pantry of a maid. Detective Inspector William Pierpoint of the Liverpool police, traveling in disguise as a first-class passenger, interrogated them before locking them in the cells for further questioning when the ship reached Liverpool. Also among the crew was an Englishman, Neal Leach, who had worked as a teacher in pre-war Germany. Leach has been interned but then released by Germany. The German Embassy in Washington was informed of Leach's arrival in America, where he met with known German agents. Leach and three German dark passengers boarded the ship, but they may be tasked with spying on Lusitania and the cargo. Most likely, Pierpoint, who survived the sinking, had been told about Leach.
Submarine activity
As the ship sailed across the ocean, the British Navy tracked the U-20 movement, commanded by Walther Schwieger's CapitÃÆ'¤nleutnant, via wireless interception and radio directional search.. The submarine leaves Borkum on April 30, heading northwest across the North Sea. On May 2, he had reached Peterhead and continued his journey to northern Scotland and Ireland, and then along the western and southern coast of Ireland, to enter the Irish Sea from the south. Although departure departures, destinations, and estimated arrival times are known to Room 40 in Admiralty, the activities of the decoding department are considered very secret that they are unknown even to normal intelligence departments that track enemy ships or to responsible trade divisions. for merchant memorial warning. Only very high-ranking officers in the Admiralty see information and give warnings only when they feel it matters.
On March 27, Room 40 has intercepted a message that clearly shows that the Germans have violated the code used to transmit messages to English merchant ships. Cruisers protecting merchant ships are warned not to use the code to give directions to the voyage because the ship could easily pull enemy submarines as a steering ship away from them. However, Queenstown (now Cobh) is not given this warning and continues to provide clues in the compromised code, which is not changed until after Lusitania ' sinks. By this time, the Royal Navy was significantly involved with operations leading to the landing at Gallipoli, and the intelligence department had undertaken a misinformation program to convince Germany to expect attacks on the north coast. As part of this, regular cross-channel traffic to the Netherlands was suspended since April 19 and false reports leaked about troop ship movements from ports on the western and southern coast of England. This led to a request from the German army for an offensive action against the expected troop movement and consequently, a surge of German submarine activity on the west coast of England. The fleet was warned to expect additional submarines, but this warning was not passed on to the navy section dealing with merchant ships. The return of the Orion battleship from Devonport to Scotland was postponed until May 4 and he was given orders to stay 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Ireland.
On May 5, the U-20 halted the schooner, the Earl of Lathom, from Kinsale's Old Chief, examined the paper, then ordered his crew to leave before drowning the schooner with a shot. On May 6, U-20 fired a torpedo into Cayo Romano from Cuba, a British steamer waving a neutral flag, off Fastnet Rock almost missing yards. At 22:30 on 5 May, the Royal Navy sent a warning without warning to all ships - "Active submarine off the southern coast of Ireland" - and in the middle of the extra night was made for regular night warnings, "submarine off Fastnet". On May 6 U-20 drowned a 6,000 tonne steamship vessel Candidate . It then failed to open fire on a 16,000 tonne Arabian ship, because although he kept straight liners too fast, then submerge another 6,000 tonne cargo ships that did not fly the flag, Centurion >, all in the Coningbeg light-ship area. The specific mention of the submarine was dropped from midnight broadcasts on May 6-7 because news of the sinking of the new ship has not reached the navy in Queenstown, and it is considered true that there are no more submarines on Fastnet.
Captain Turner of Lusitania was given a warning message twice on the night of May 6, and took what he felt was a wise precaution. That night, Seamen's Charities charity concert took place across the ship and the captain had to attend events in first-class lounges.
At about 11:00 on May 7, Admiralty sent another warning to all ships, possibly as a result of Alfred Booth's request, who worried about Lusitania: U Boats active in the southern part of the Irish Channel. about twenty miles south of Coningbeg Light Vessel ". Booth and all of Liverpool have received news of the sinking of the ship, which is already known to the submarine by noon at 3:00 that morning. Turner adjusts his post in the northeast, not knowing that this report is related to the previous day's events and seems to think the submarine will be more likely to remain open to the sea, so Lusitania will be safer close to the mainland. At 1:00 pm, another message was received, "The five-mile submarine south of Cape Clear drove west when it was seen at 10:00". This report is entirely inaccurate because there are no submarines at the site, but gives the impression that at least one submarine has been safely passed.
U-20 low fuel and only three torpedoes left. On the morning of May 7, the visibility was bad and Schwieger decided to go home. He drowned at 11:00 after seeing a fishing boat that he believed might be a British patrol and soon after it was passed while still drowned by a ship at high speed. This is a Juno cruise ship returning to Queenstown, traveling quickly and zigging after receiving a submarine activity warning from Queenstown at 7:45 am. The Admiralty considers this old cruiser to be very susceptible to submarines, and indeed Schwieger seeks to target ships.
Sinking
On the morning of May 6, Lusitania was 750 miles (1,210 km) west of southern Ireland. At 5am on May 7 he reached a point 120 miles (190 km) west of south west of Fastnet Rock (from the southern tip of Ireland), where he met the Partridge patrol cruise ship. By 6:00 am, a thick fog had arrived and additional reconnaissance was installed. When the ship came closer to Ireland, Captain Turner ordered the making of a deep voice and at 08:00 for the speed reduced to eighteen knots, then to 15 knots and for the foghorn to be heard. Some passengers were disturbed because the ship seemed to advertise its presence. At 10:00 am the fog began to rise, during the day had been replaced by bright sunlight over the clear ocean and speed increased to 18 knots.
U-20 reappeared at 12:45 am because the viewing distance is now very good. At 13:20 there was something to be seen and Schwieger was summoned to the convoy tower: at first there appeared to be some ships due to the number of funnels and poles, but this was settled into one large steamshaft that appeared above the horizon. At 13:25 the submarine sank to a depth of the periscope of 11 meters and set up a course to intercept the liner at its maximum speed which was submerged 9 knots. When the ships had closed up to 2 miles (3.2 km) Lusitania turned, Schwieger was afraid he had lost his target, but he turned again, this time in an approach that was near ideal to bring him to a position for a attack. At 14:10 with a target at a distance of 700 m he ordered a gyroscopic torpedo to be fired, which was set to run at a depth of three meters.
In Schwieger's own words, recorded in the log U-20 :
Torpedo hit the right side right behind the bridge. An unusually heavy explosion occurs with very strong explosive clouds. Torpedo explosion should be followed by the second [boiler or coal or powder?]... The ship stops immediately and heels to the right very quickly, immerse simultaneously in the bow... the name Lusitania becomes visible in the gold letter.
The U-20 torpedo officer, Raimund Weisbach, saw the damage through the periscope of the ship and felt the explosion was unbelievably severe. Within six minutes, Lusitania 'forecasts began to sink.
Aboard the Lusitania, Leslie Morton, an eighteen-year-old in the bow, has seen a thin line of foam racing toward the ship. He shouted, "Torpedo comes on the right side!" through a megaphone, thinking bubbles come from two projectiles. Torpedo hit Lusitania under a bridge, sent a rag, steel and water coating up and dropped the number-five lifeboat from the crane. "It sounds like a one-ton hammer that bumps into a hundred-foot-high boiler," said one passenger. The second explosion, which was more powerful, sent hot water, coal, dust, and debris high above the deck. Schwieger's log entry proves that he only launches one torpedo. Some doubted the validity of this claim, arguing that the German government later changed the published copy of Schwieger's fair, but reports from other U-20 member crews supported it. Entries are also consistent with intercepted radio reports sent to Germany by U-20 after he returned to the North Sea, before the possibility of official closure.
At 14:12, Captain Turner ordered the Johnston Quartermaster stationed on the ship's wheel to direct the 'hard-a-starboard' to the Irish coast, which Johnston confirmed, but the ship could not stabilize on the field and quickly stopped responding to the wheels. Turner motioned for the engine to turn over to stop the ship, but even though the signal was received in the engine room, nothing could be done. The vapor pressure had fallen from 195 psi before the explosion, to 50 psi and falling thereafter. Lusitania 'wireless carriers sends direct SOS, which is recognized by coastal wireless stations. Shortly afterwards he sent a ship position, 10 miles (16 km) south of the Old Head of Kinsale. At 14:14 the electric power fails, plunging the inside of the cave into the darkness. The radio signal continued on the emergency battery, but the electric elevator failed, trapping passengers and crew; closed door seal as a precaution before the attack can not be reopened to release the trapped people.
About a minute after the power failure, Captain Turner gave orders to leave the ship. Water has flooded the longitudinal compartment of the ship's starfish, causing the list to be 15 degrees to the right.
Lusitania ' s complicated right list complicates the launch of its lifeboats. Ten minutes after the torpedo, when he was slow enough to start placing the boat in the water, the lifeboat on the right side swung too far to move safely. While it is still possible to board a lifeboat on the harbor side, lowering them presents a different problem. As usual during that period, the Lusitania hull's plate was transfixed, and when the lifeboat was lowered they dragged the inch-high spikes, which threatened to destroy the boats before they landed in the water.
Many lifeboats reverse when loading or lowering, spilling passengers into the sea; the other upside down with the movement of the ship when they hit the water. It has been claimed that some boats, due to the negligence of some officers, fell onto the deck, smashed other passengers, and slid down towards the bridge. This has been disputed by the testimony of passengers and crew. Some of the crew will lose their grip on the rope used to lower the lifeboats while trying to lower the ship into the sea, and this causes passengers to spill into the sea. The others led to the launch as some panicked people jumped into the boat. Lusitania has 48 lifeboats, more than enough for all crew and passengers, but only six are successfully unloaded, all from the right side of the ship. Lifeboat 1 is reversed when it is lowered, spilling its original carrier into the sea, but manages true itself shortly afterwards and then filled with people from the water. Lifeboats 9 and 11 managed to reach the water safely with several people, but both then took many swimmers. Lifeboats 13 and 15 also safely reach the water, each overload with about 70 people. Finally, Lifeboat 21 reaches the water safely and clears the ship just before its final plunge. Several folded lifeboats drifted from the deck as she sank and flotation for some survivors.
Two lifeboats on the left also clean the boat. Lifeboat 14 is lowered and launched safely, but because the boat plug is not in place, it is filled with seawater and sinks as soon as it reaches the water. Later, Lifeboat 2 drifted away from the ship with new passengers (who had previously spilled into the sea when they interrupted the boat) after they pulled the rope and one of the "tentacle-like" vessel's permanent funnel. They rowed immediately before the ship sank.
There was panic and chaos on the deck. Schwieger has observed this through the U-20 'periscope , and at 14:25, he dropped the periscope and headed overboard. Later in the war Schwieger was killed in action when, as commander of U-88, he was pursued by HMSÃ, Stonecrop, crashed into the British mine, and drowned on September 5, 1917, to the north Terschelling. No one survived the sinking of the U-88.
Captain Turner was on the deck near the bridge gripping the notebook and the ship chart as the wave swept up toward the bridge and the rest of the ship's superstructure, dropping it into the sea. He managed to swim and found a floating chair in the water he was putting on. He survived, pulled involuntarily from the water after spending three hours there. Lusitania ' s arc crashes down about 100 meters (330Ã, ft) below at a shallow angle because of forward momentum as she sinks. Along the way, several boilers explode, including one that causes the third funnel to collapse; the remaining mouthpiece soon collapsed. As he took the notebook and the ship chart with him, Turner's last turning turn was just two minutes before the torpedo, and he was able to recall the speed of the ship and bearings at the sinking. It's pretty accurate to find the wreck after the war. The ship traveled about two miles (3 km) from the torpedo to its final resting place, leaving behind a trail of debris and people behind. After the bow is completely submerged, Lusitania ' hard out of the water, enough for the propeller to be seen, and fall down.
Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes, 11.5 miles (19 km) from Old Head of Kinsale. It took a few hours for help to arrive from the coast of Ireland, but by the time the aid had arrived, much at 52Ã, ° F (11Ã,  ° C) the water had died from the cold. At the end of the day, 764 passengers and crew from Lusitania were rescued and landed in Queenstown. Finally, the final death toll for the disaster comes to the disaster number. Of the 1,959 passengers and crew of the Lusitania ships at the time of his sinking, 1,195 were lost. In the days after the disaster, the Cunard line offers local fishermen and sea traders a cash prize for bodies floating across the Irish Sea, some floating as far as the Welsh beaches. Overall, only 289 bodies were found, 65 of which were never identified. The bodies of many of the victims were buried in Queenstown, where 148 corpses were buried in the Old Church Cemetery, or St. John's Church. Multose in Kinsale, but the bodies of the remaining 885 victims were never found.
Two days earlier, U-20 had drowned Earl of Lathom , but first let the crew escape by boat. Under international maritime law, any military vessel that stops unarmed civilian ships is necessary to enable those on board to escape before drowning it. The meetings had been made in the time before the invention of the submarine and did not take into account the serious risks of a small ship, such as a submarine, faced if the ship handed over the advantage of a surprise attack. Schwieger could have allowed the crew and passengers of Lusitania to board the ship, but he assumed the danger of being hit or fired with a deck gun too big. Trade ships, in fact, are advised to direct direct to U Boats that appear. Cash bonuses have been offered for all drowned, although the advice is carefully labeled so there is no order quantity for the ram. This achievement will only be achieved once during the war by commercial vessels when in 1918 the White Star Liner RMS Olympic , the ship's sister to the Titanic , hit SM U -103 in the English Channel, submerging the submarine.
According to Bailey and Ryan, Lusitania is traveling without a flag and its name is painted with dark dyes.
Immediately after drowning, on May 8, local coroner John Hogan opened the examination in Kinsale into the deaths of two men and three women whose bodies were brought ashore by a local boat, the Heron . Most of the survivors (and dead) have been taken to Queenstown, not Kinsale, which is closer. On May 10, Captain Turner gave evidence of the sinking of the ship in which he described that the ship had been attacked by a torpedo between the third and fourth funnel. This has been followed immediately by the second explosion. He admitted receiving a general warning about a submarine, but has not been informed of the sinking of the Earl of Lathom. He stated that he had received another instruction from the admiralty he had done but was not allowed to discuss. The examiner brought a verdict that the deceased had sunk following an attack on an unarmed non-combat ship that was contrary to international law. Half an hour after the examination was completed and the result was given to the press, Crown Lawyer for Cork, Harry Wynne, arrived with instructions to stop him. Captain Turner did not provide any evidence and no statements had to be made about the instructions given for delivery about avoiding submarines.
Board of Commerce investigation
The Board of Commerce's official investigation into the sinking was led by Wreck Commissioner Lord Mersey and took place at Westminster Central Hall from 15-18 June 1915 with a follow-up session at Westminster Palace Hotel on July 1 and Caxton Hall on July 17. Lord Mersey has a commercial background rather than maritime law but has led a number of important maritime investigations, including into the loss of Titanic. He was assisted by four assessors, Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Samuel Inglefield, Commander Lieutenant Hearn and two naval captains, D. Davies and J. Spedding. The Attorney General, Sir Edward Carson, representing the Trade Council, is assisted by the Attorney General, F. E. Smith. Butler Aspinall, who previously represented the Council of Commerce on the Titanic investigation, was retained to represent Cunard. As many as 36 witnesses were summoned, Lord Mersey questioned why more survivors would not provide evidence. Most sessions are general but two on June 15 and 18 are held in camera when evidence of the navigation of the ship is presented.
Statement collected from all crew. These are all written for presentations for investigation on standard forms in handwriting identical to similar phrases. Quartermaster Johnston later explained that pressure had been placed on him to be loyal to the company, and that it had been suggested to him that it would help the case if two torpedoes crashed into the ship, not what he described. Providing evidence to court he was not asked about torpedoes. Another witness who claimed that only one torpedo was involved was denied permission to testify. Unlike his statement at the inquest, Captain Turner stated that two torpedoes had hit the ship, not one. In an interview in 1933, Turner returned to his original assertion that there was only one torpedo. Most witnesses say there are two, but some say three, possibly involving a second submarine. Clem Edwards, representing seafarers' unions, attempted to introduce evidence about the impermeable compartments but was prevented from doing so by Lord Mersey.
During the closed hearing that Admiralty tried to blame Captain Turner, the line that Turner was turning to was negligent. The root of this view begins in the first report about the sinking of the Vice Admiral Coke who led the navy in Queenstown. He reported that "the ship was specifically warned that the submarine was active on the south coast and to keep the mid-channel path avoiding the cape as well as the submarine position off Cape Clear at 10:00 am communicated by W/T to him". Captain Webb, Director of the Trade Division, began preparing signals sent to Lusitania that Turner might have failed to observe. First, Sea Lord Fisher notes on a document Webb submits for review: "Since Cunard's company will not hire an incompetent person, its certainty that Captain Turner is not a fool but a criminal, I hope that Turner will be arrested as soon as any question of his decision ". First Lord Winston Churchill said: "I consider the Admiralty case against Turner to be suppressed by an expert advisor and Captain Webb must be present as a witness, if not employed as an appraiser, we will pursue the captain without examination". In the event, both Churchill and Fisher were replaced in their positions before the investigation due to the Gallipoli campaign's failure.
Part of the process turns into a question of the exact evasive tactics of submarines. It was given to Captain Turner that he failed to comply with Admiralty's instructions to travel at high speed, maintain a zigzag path and away from the coast. Naval clues about the zigzag were read to the captain, who confirmed that he had received them, though later added that they did not look as he remembered them. This is not surprising, since the cited rule was only approved on 25 April, after the recent arrival of Lusitania ' in New York, and began distribution on May 13, after he sank. Lusitania has slowed to 15 knots at one point due to fog, but otherwise maintained 18 knots over Ireland. 18 knots faster than all but nine other ships in the UK merchant fleet could reach and be more comfortable faster than the submarine. Although he may have reached 21 knots and has given orders to increase steam ready to do so, he is also under orders for his arrival time in Liverpool for the tide so that the ship does not have to wait to enter the harbor. Thus, he chose to travel more slowly. At that time, no ship was penetrated at more than 15 knots. Although Admiralty instructed the ship to keep well offshore and claimed that Turner was only 8 miles (13 km), the actual distance when crashing was thirteen miles (21 km). As a matter of procedure, only ships traveling closer than five miles (8.0 km) from the coast are usually criticized for being too close.
Turner stated that he had discussed what the ship should do, with two of its most senior officers, Captain Anderson and Chief Officer Piper, both unsaved. All three have agreed that Admiralty's warning about "submarine activity 20 miles (32 km) south of Coningbeg" effectively outperformed other Admiralty's suggestions to maintain the 'middle channel', exactly where the submarine has been reported. Therefore, he ordered the change at 12:40 pm, with the intention to bring the ship closer to land and then take the northern route of the reported submarine.
At one point in the process, Smith attempted to press the point he made, by quoting from signals sent to British ships. Lord Mersey questioned what this message was, and it was revealed that the message in question was in the version of evidence given to Smith by the Council of Trade Lawyers, Sir Ellis Cunliffe, but not in the version given to others. Cunliffe explains the incompatibility by saying that various versions of papers have been prepared for use, depending on whether the question is in the camera or not, but the quoted message seems to have never existed. Lord Mersey observed that it was his duty to gain the truth, and then became more critical of the evidence of the Admiralty.
On June 10, just before the trial, significant changes were made to the Defense of the Realm Act, which made it offensive to collect or publish information about the nature, use or transportation of "war materials" for any reason. Previously, this was only a violation if information was collected to help the enemy. This is used to prohibit discussion of cargo ship. The gun cartridge brought by Lusitania was mentioned during the case, Lord Mersey stated that "5,000 cases of ammunition on board were 50 meters away from where the torpedoes hit the ship".
An additional hearing took place on July 1, at the urging of Joseph Marichal, who threatened to sue Cunard for their poor handling of the disaster. He testified that a second explosion had sounded to him like a machine-gun fire and appeared to be under a second-class dining room at the back of the ship where he had been sitting. Information about Marechal's background was sought by the British government and leaked to the press to discredit him.
Captain Turner, Cunard Company, and Royal Navy were exempt from all negligence, and all wrongs were placed on the German government. Lord Mersey found that Turner "carried out his judgment for the best" and that the error of the disaster "should rest only with those who planned and with those who committed the crime".
Two days after he closed the investigation, Lord Mersey waived the case and officially resigned. His last words about the matter were: "The case of Lusitania is dirty and dirty business!" The full report has never been publicly available. Copies are considered to exist between Lord Mersey's personal papers after his death, but have since proved untraceable.
American court proceedings
In the United States, 67 claims for compensation were filed against Cunard, all of which were heard together in 1918. Judge Julius Mayer, chosen to hear the case, had previously led the case brought after the disappearance of the Titanic, where he had decided to support the shipping company. Mayer is a conservative who is regarded as a safe pair of hands with national interest affairs, and whose favorite statement to lawyers is "coming to the point". The case must be heard without a jury. The two sides agreed earlier that no questions would be asked as to whether Lusitania had been armed or carrying troops or ammunition. Thirty-three witnesses who could not travel to the US made a statement in the UK to Commissioner R. V. Wynne. The evidence produced in an open court for a Mersey investigation is considered, but evidence of a closed UK session is not considered. The defense of the Realm Act was called in so that the English witnesses could not provide evidence on any topic covered. The statement has been collected in Queenstown soon after being drowned by the American Consul, Wesley Frost, but this is not produced.
Captain Turner gave evidence in England and now provides a more vocal defense of his actions. He argues that until the moment of drowning he has no reason to think that zig-zag on a speedboat will help. Indeed, since then he has ordered another ship that sank while zig-zagging. His position was supported by evidence from another captain, who said that before the sinking of Lusitania there were no zigzagged merchant ships. Turner argues that maintaining a fixed course for 30 minutes is required to take a four-point bearing and precisely confirm the ship's position, but at this point it receives less support, with another captain arguing that a two-point bearing can be taken in five minutes and is quite accurate.
Many witnesses testified that the peephole in the vessel had been opened at the time of the sinking, and expert witnesses confirmed that a three foot hole underwater would allow four tons of water per minute. The testimony varies on how many torpedoes there are, and whether the strike takes place between the first and second funnel, or the third and fourth. The official cargo nature is considered, but experts assume that under no circumstances the cargo can not explode. It is noteworthy that Crewman Jack Roper wrote to Cunard in 1919 asking for the cost of his testimony according to the line pointed out by Cunard.
Mayer's decision was that "the cause of the sinking was the illegal act of the German Empire Government", that two torpedoes had been involved, that the captain had acted correctly and the emergency procedures were in line with the expected standards. He decided that further compensation claims should be addressed to the German government (which ultimately paid $ 2.5 million in 1925).
International reaction
German reaction
On May 8th, Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, the former German Colonial Secretary, made a statement in Cleveland, Ohio, where he sought to justify the sinking of Lusitania. At that time Dernburg was recognized as the official spokesman of the German imperial government in the United States. Dernburg says that because Lusitania carries a veil of war and also because it is "classified as an additional explorer" Germany has the right to destroy it regardless of passengers. Dernburg further said that the warning given by the German embassy before sailing, plus the Feb. 18 note that the existence of a "war zone" liberates Germany from any responsibility for the deaths of Americans aboard. He referred to the ammunition and military items declared in the Lusitania manifest ' and said that "such a ship" could be seized and destroyed under the rules of The Hague without honoring the war zone.
The next day the German government issued official communications regarding the sinking of a ship saying that the Cunard ship Lusitania was attacked by a German submarine and drowned yesterday, that Lusitania was naturally armed with weapons , as recently most of the British steamers "and that" as it is known here, he has a large amount of war material in his cargo ".
Dudley Field Malone, New York Port Collector, issued an official denial of German allegations, saying that Lusitania had been checked before his departure and no weapons were found, installed or removed. Malone stated that no merchant ship was allowed to arm themselves at the Port and leave the port. Cunard Line's Assistant Manager Herman Winter denied allegations that he was carrying ammunition:
He has 4,200 cases of cartridges, but they are bullets for small arms, packaged in separate cases... they are definitely not under the classification of ammunition. The US authorities will not allow us to carry ammunition, which is classified as such by the military, on passenger ships. Over the years we have sent small cartridges abroad in Lusitania.
The fact that Lusitania had brought bullet casings and musket bullets was unknown to the British public at the time, as it was felt that, although permitted under the current rules, it would be used. in German propaganda.
The sinking was strongly criticized by and met with disagreements in Turkey and Austria-Hungary, while in the German press, the sinking was regretted by the VorwÃÆ'¤rts , the daily newspaper of the German Social Democratic Party, and also by Captain Persius, a a blatant naval critic who wrote for Berliner Tageblatt.
One of the Catholic Party Center's newspapers, KÃÆ'¶lnische Volkszeitung, stated: "The sinking of the giant British steamers is a success of moral significance that is still greater than material success.With delighted pride we contemplate this latest deed of the Force Our sea This will not be the last The English want to leave the Germans dead by starvation We are more humane We only sink British ships with passengers who, with their own risks and responsibilities, enter the operating zone.
In the aftermath of the sinking, the German government tried to justify it by claiming in an official statement that he had been armed with weapons, and had "a large amount of war material" in his cargo. They also stated that because it was classified as an additional cruiser, Germany had the right to destroy it regardless of passengers on board, and that warnings issued by the German Embassy prior to its voyage plus 18 February note declared the existence of a "war zone", Germany's relief from all responsibility responsible for the death of Americans aboard, although it is true that Lusitania has been mounted with mount mounts as part of the government's borrowing requirements during its construction, to enable rapid conversion into an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) in the case of war, weapons it is still officially listed as AMC, but it is still officially listed as AMC, with a total of 4,200,000 rifle cartridges, 1,250 empty shell cases, and 18 cases of non-explosive fuses, all of which are listed in the manifest, but the cartridges are not officially classified as ammunition by the Cunard Line.Several theories have d argued for years that he also brought unreported high explosives that were detonated by torpedoes and helped to drown him, but this was never proven.
English and American actions
Schwieger was cursed in the Allied press as a war criminal.
Of the 139 US citizens aboard the Lusitania ship, 128 lost their lives, and there was a massive outrage in Britain and America, The Nation called it "an act that would make Hun blush. " , a Turk became embarrassed, and a Barbary pirate apologized "and the British felt that America should declare war on Germany, but US President Woodrow Wilson refused to overreact, saying in Philadelphia on May 10, 1915:
There are things like men who are too proud to fight. There is such a nation that is so true that it is not necessary to convince others by coercion that it is true.
When Germany started its submarine campaign against Britain, Wilson had warned that the US would assume the German government is very responsible for any violation of American rights. On May 1 he declared that "there is no warning that unlawful and inhuman actions will be done" is acceptable as a valid reason for that action.
For weeks after drowning, the issue was hotly debated in government. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan urged compromise and restraint. The United States, he argues, should try to persuade the British to abandon their ban on foodstuffs and limit their mining operations at the same time as Germany was persuaded to restrict their submarine campaigns. He also suggested that the US government issue an explicit warning against US citizens traveling by any warship. Despite sympathy with Bryan's anti-war feelings, Wilson insisted that the German government should apologize for the sinking, compensation of US casualties, and pledged to avoid similar events in the future.
Wilson notes
Backed by the State Department, Robertton, Wilson made his position clear in three notes to the German government issued on 13 May, 9 June, and 21 July.
The first note confirms the right of Americans to travel as passengers on merchant ships and asks Germans to abandon submarine warfare against commercial vessels, whatever flag they sail under (including 3 other vessels: Falaba, Cushing, and Gulflight).
In the second note, Wilson rejected Germany's argument that the British blockade was illegal, and was a cruel and deadly attack on innocent civilians, and their allegations that Lusitania had brought ammunition. William Jennings Bryan considers Wilson's second note too provocative and resigns in protest after failing to moderate him, to be replaced by Robert Lansing who later said in his memoir that after the tragedy he always had "the confidence that we [the United States] would eventually become British allies".
The third record, July 21, issued an ultimatum, stating that the US would regard every sink as "deliberately unfriendly".
While the American public and the leadership are not ready for war, the road to the declaration of war that took place has been established as a result of the sinking of Lusitania. On August 19th, U-24 drowned the white Star liner SSÃ, Arab , with the loss of 44 passengers and crew, three of whom were Americans. The German government, while insisting on the legitimacy of its campaign against the sending of the Allies, ruled out the drowning of Arabs ; it offered compensation and promised to order the submarine commander to leave a surprise attack on merchants and passenger ships.
The British public, the press, and the government were generally disillusioned with Wilson's actions - unaware it reflected the US general opinion at the time. They sneer "too proud or too scared?". Unexploded shells at the front are called "Wilsons".
Germany, however, continued to drown the merchant vessels heading to England, especially after the Battle of Jutland in late May 1916.
German policy reversal
The German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg persuaded Kaiser to forbid action against a ship flying a neutral flag and the U-boat war was postponed once again on August 27, as it was realized that British ships could easily fly a neutral flag.
There is disagreement over this move between the navy admiral (led by Alfred von Tirpitz) and Bethman-Hollweg. Supported by Army Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn, Kaiser Wilhelm II supported the Chancellor's solution, and Tirpitz and Admiralty retreated. The German restriction order of September 9, 1915 stated that the attacks were only allowed on the British-definite vessel, while the neutral vessels had to be treated under Prize Prize rules, and no attacks on passenger liners were allowed at all. The war situation demanded that no order be misinterpreted, and on September 18 Henning von Holtzendorff, the new head of the German Navy, issued a secret order: all U-ships operating in the English Channel and off the west coast of Great Britain were recalled, U Boats will continue only in the North Sea, where it will be done under the rules of the Rewards Law.
In January 1917, the German Government announced that it would now conduct a fully unlimited submarine warfare. Once again, Woodrow Wilson was furious and on April 6, 1917 the United States Congress followed Wilson's request to declare war on Germany. The buildup of US participation was initially slow, but during the German Spring Assault in March 1918, which initially went well for Germany with the Allies barely holding the line, reversed with the arrival in April 1918 of two million American troops.
English propaganda
It is in the British interest to make Americans aware of German actions and attitudes. One of the enthusiastic propagandist fabrication stories circulated that in some areas of Germany schoolchildren were given a holiday to celebrate the sinking of Lusitania. The story is based on popular reception given the Goetz medal (see below) and is so effective that James W. Gerard, the US ambassador to Germany, recounts it in his memoirs of the time in Germany, Goetz Medal
In August 1915, Munich medalist and sculptor Karl X. Goetz (1875-1950), who had produced a series of propaganda and satire medals as a walking commentary on the war, personally beat a small number of medals as a limited circulation satire. Attack (less than 500 attacked) on Cunard Line to try to continue business as usual during wartime. Goetz blames the British government and Cunard Line for allowing Lusitania to sail despite German embassy warnings. A popular request caused many unauthorized copies to be created.
One side of the popular medal shows Lusitania drowning with a weapon (incorrectly depicted first) with the motto KEINE BANNWARE! " ("WITHOUT CONTRACT!"), While instead showing a template that sells Cunard tickets with the motto "GeschÃÆ'¤ft ÃÆ'Ã…" Alles " (" Business Above All ").
Goetz had wrong dates for the drowning of medals, his mistake then blamed the mistake in a newspaper story about the sinking: instead of May 7, he had put "Mai 5.", two days before his actual sinking. Unaware of his mistake, Goetz makes a medal copy and sells it in Munich as well as to some numismatic dealers with whom he runs the business.
The British Foreign Office obtained a copy of the medal, photographed it, and sent a copy to the United States where it was published in the New York Times on May 5, 1916. Many popular magazines display medal photos, that it had been given to the crew of the U boat.
Emile Henry Lacombe wrote a letter to the New York Times to advance the conspiracy theories about the sinking of Germany in Lusitania in 1915. His letter was published on October 22, 1917 on page 14 entitled "NEW THEORY OF LINKS SINKING.Evidence of the German Medal on May 5 and the" Cigar " Explosive on Board. "
Replica English Goetz medal
Goetz's medal attracted so much attention that Lord Newton, who was in charge of Propaganda at the Foreign Office in 1916, decided to develop the anti-German feelings he generated for propaganda purposes and asked department store employer Harry Gordon Selfridge to reproduce the medal again. Replica Medals are produced in an interesting case and are exact copies of German medals, and sold for each shilling. In those cases it was stated that the medal had been distributed in Germany "to commemorate the sinking of Lusitania" and they came up with a propaganda leaflet that strongly condemned Germany and used the wrong date of the medal (May 5) to falsely claim that the drowning < I> Lusitania has been planned, not just an incident for a larger German plan to sink any ship in the battle zone without warning. The head of the Lusitania Souvenir Medal Committee then estimated that 250,000 were sold, the proceeds were given to the Red Cross and St. Dunstan's Blinded Soldiers and Sailors Hostel. Unlike the original Goetz medal made of sand from bronze, the English copy is a diecast iron and has a worse quality. However, some of the original medals are also made of iron. Originals usually have "KGoetz" by the edges. Over the years, numerous other copies have been made.
Feeling belatedly aware of his mistake, Goetz issued a medal corrected with the "Mai" date. The Bavarian government, worried about a strong world reaction to Goetz's work, pressed the medal and ordered seizure in April 1917. The original German medal could easily be distinguished from the English copy because of its date in German, that is, the point behind the numbers; the English version was changed to read 'May' rather than 'Mai'. After the war, Goetz expressed his regret that his work has been the cause of the growing anti-German feeling, but remains a well-known propaganda act.
Baudichon medal
Around 1920, the French medalist Renà ©  © Baudichon created a counterblast into the Goetz medal. Baudichon Medal in bronze, 54 millimeters (2.1 inches) and weighs 79.51 grams (2,805 oz). The front shows Liberty as depicted on the Statue of Liberty but holds the sword that is lifted and up from the sea of ​​storms. Behind him the sun pierced the clouds and six steaming vessels. Signed R Baudichon . Legend: Ultrix America Juris, 1917 US. 1918 (America avenger of right). The opposite shows the landscape to the right of Lusitania by appropriately describing the first arc sinking. In the foreground there is an upside-down lifeboat. The top shows a child drowning, head, hands and feet on the water; RB monogram. Legend: Lusitania May 7, 1915 .
The last victim
- The last victim was Audrey Warren Lawson-Johnston (nÃÆ' Â © e Pearl), who was born in New York City on February 15, 1915. He is the fourth of six children (two youngest people born after the disaster) was born from Mayor Frederic "Frank" Warren Pearl (August 26, 1869 - January 2, 1952) and Amy Lea (nÃÆ' Â © e Duncan; 12 November 1880-1 February 1964). He was only three months old when he boarded Lusitania in New York with his parents, three siblings and two nurses - and because of his age did not have first-hand memory of the disaster. He and his brother Stuart (age 5)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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