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Aisha McLaughlin
Comp II CM-115-03
Professor Abdoo
February 29, 2019
The Lusitania Sinking: What Really Caused It?
”More than 200,000 people had lined the sides of the landing port to see her
maiden voyage, the largest ocean liner in the world in Liverpool docks as it set out on its
first journey to the New World.” (Townend) . The Lusitania amazed many with its size
and speed on its maiden voyage. “The grand Lusitania had been running at 25 knots in
the bright early afternoon sunlight, but it slowed to 15 knots for fog and soundings.
Around 2 p.m., the fog broke and a much slower Unterseeboot-20, running under 9
knots, spotted the liner. “ (Sack). On its journey, the Lusitania set a record speed of
25.88 knots with an average speed of 24 knots. It was the largest transatlantic ship in its
time , estimating at 760 feet in length and 87.5 feet high,weighing 32,000 tons. It was
known for its size, yet in addition for its extravagance. The engineering was contrasted
with the best hotels in the world, and it was given the names of, “The Greyhound of the
Seas” and “The Floating Palace”. The entirety of these qualities built into one boat
made The Lusitania the most loved boat of Atlantic explorers.
The last voyage for the Lusitania began in the New York harbor where it set sail
out toward Liverpool. The commander of the boat for the journey was Captain William
Thomas Turner. On board the boat was right around 2,000 individuals, and $77,695.19
worth of cargo. Included were 6,000,000 rounds of ammo and explosives expected to
be offered to England.
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On May 7, 1915 the Lusitania was attacked by a German U-Boat just south
of Kinsale Ireland.“The British steamship Lusitania
was sunk on 7 May 1915 off the Old
Head of Kinsale, Ireland, after being torpedoed by a German U-boat. The Lusitania
had
left New York on 1 May 1915 bound for Liverpool. Of the 785 passengers lost, 124 were
Americans. The incident was a diplomatic disaster for the Germans, with the American
government coming close to breaking off relations. It had a major influence on the
eventual decision of the USA to enter World War I.” ( The Hutchinson Unabridged
Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide).
Accepting a warning in the territory that the Lusitania was voyaging, Captain
Turner played it safe to attempt to maintain a strategic distance from an attack. This
was not the first occasion in which Turner or the Lusitania had expected to sidestep an
encounter from a submarine.He needed to redirect his boat to another course, yet he
was not ready to do this without explicit guidelines from either the Admiralty or a British
warship. He simply needed to do as well as he could. He requested all the lifeboats to
be swung out on their davits, and their canvas covers to be taken off. Double lookouts
were posted, every watertight door and bulkheads not important to the working of the
boat had been shut. The stewards were requested to shut down all the traveler
portholes and the travelers themselves were told to not show any lights that weren’t
necessary.( The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
7).
Turner had nothing else to do so he joined the travelers for supper. After the supper,
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ordinarily, individuals would smoke cigars. Turner asked the travelers however,to light
their cigars in closed areas and not on deck.
With all the precautionary measures, the Lusitania still never comprehended what
hit her as a result of a mist that had floated over the water. Lusitania was hit by three
torpedoes on the starboard side. Water hurried in the boat at a pace of 3/4 ton every
minute. Following four minutes the deck was submerged, and following eighteen
minutes the entire boat was down. Out of the forty-eight rafts, just six were
launched.There were 1,198 passings which included 128 Americans and 764
individuals survived. After the moment of his rescue from tragedy, Captain Turner was
