The Tragic Voyage
The Lusitania was owned by the Cunard Company. She was the fastest and the biggest ship in the world but some of her boilers were shut down to save fuel costs so she could not move as quickly as she normally would have. She was a passenger ship but had a secret cargo beneath her decks, holding gunpowder and weapons for Britain. Some historians think that is why she sunk so fast. The Lusitania started its voyage from New York to Liverpool on May 1, 1915. This would be the Lusitania's 202nd trip across the Atlantic Ocean. It would also be her last.
On May 5, 1915, a man named Captain Schwieger was sent to the South-West tip of Ireland by the Germans to fire torpedoes at any shipping in the area. He tried to sink several ships but he missed them. Later, he fired at three other ships and destroyed them. The British did not warn the Captain of the Lusitania (Captain Turner) despite having all these ships sinking in the same area where the Lusitania was headed. Captain Schwieger's U-boat was going to turn around and head back to Germany because he was running out of fuel, when he spotted the Lusitania. This passenger ship was very easy for Captain Schwieger to destroy because he was facing the Starboard side of the Lusitania. The captain of the Lusitania could have zigzagged the ship to make it a harder target to hit. (Previously, Captain Schwieger was going to torpedo an old cruiser but the ship was zigzagging and that would have made it difficult to fire at.) Captain Turner chose not to do this because he did not want to lose fuel and time. Captain Turner ordered his crew to slow the speed to 15 knots due to fog and with this he ordered more lookouts. One of the lookouts spotted bubbles headed toward the starboard side of the Lusitania and hollered to the others but they did not hear him. Then another lookout spotted the bubbles and set the alarm off, but it was too late, the ship had been hit. Everyone scurried to the lifeboats but some of the boats could not be launched because the ship had tilted so far to one of the sides, that they were underwater. On the other side of the boat, the lifeboats had swung out so far that the passengers had to jump from the deck to the lifeboats. Many missed and died falling from many stories high into the water below. A few lifeboats were taken by the panicking crew with hardly any people in them. In the end, there were only six lifeboats, clearly not enough for all the passengers. 1,198 people died. Captain Schwiehger claimed that he did not fire any more torpedoes once he saw passengers in lifeboats and in the water trying to escape death. There were many who did not believe him.
Before the Lusitania sank, the crew in the wireless room sent out a distress signal. The distress signal was picked up from a city in Ireland about 17 kilometers away. A man named Vice Admiral Sir Charles Coke gathered all the ships he could find and told their captains to sail out to the Lusitania and save all the people who survived in the water and in the lifeboats. The ships arrived 2 hours after the Lusitania sank and those who still were alive were rescued. 761 people were rescued.
On May 5, 1915, a man named Captain Schwieger was sent to the South-West tip of Ireland by the Germans to fire torpedoes at any shipping in the area. He tried to sink several ships but he missed them. Later, he fired at three other ships and destroyed them. The British did not warn the Captain of the Lusitania (Captain Turner) despite having all these ships sinking in the same area where the Lusitania was headed. Captain Schwieger's U-boat was going to turn around and head back to Germany because he was running out of fuel, when he spotted the Lusitania. This passenger ship was very easy for Captain Schwieger to destroy because he was facing the Starboard side of the Lusitania. The captain of the Lusitania could have zigzagged the ship to make it a harder target to hit. (Previously, Captain Schwieger was going to torpedo an old cruiser but the ship was zigzagging and that would have made it difficult to fire at.) Captain Turner chose not to do this because he did not want to lose fuel and time. Captain Turner ordered his crew to slow the speed to 15 knots due to fog and with this he ordered more lookouts. One of the lookouts spotted bubbles headed toward the starboard side of the Lusitania and hollered to the others but they did not hear him. Then another lookout spotted the bubbles and set the alarm off, but it was too late, the ship had been hit. Everyone scurried to the lifeboats but some of the boats could not be launched because the ship had tilted so far to one of the sides, that they were underwater. On the other side of the boat, the lifeboats had swung out so far that the passengers had to jump from the deck to the lifeboats. Many missed and died falling from many stories high into the water below. A few lifeboats were taken by the panicking crew with hardly any people in them. In the end, there were only six lifeboats, clearly not enough for all the passengers. 1,198 people died. Captain Schwiehger claimed that he did not fire any more torpedoes once he saw passengers in lifeboats and in the water trying to escape death. There were many who did not believe him.
Before the Lusitania sank, the crew in the wireless room sent out a distress signal. The distress signal was picked up from a city in Ireland about 17 kilometers away. A man named Vice Admiral Sir Charles Coke gathered all the ships he could find and told their captains to sail out to the Lusitania and save all the people who survived in the water and in the lifeboats. The ships arrived 2 hours after the Lusitania sank and those who still were alive were rescued. 761 people were rescued.