The wreck of the Titanic, the largest and most technically equipped ship of its time, was the greatest tragedy of the early 20th century. Nothing can overshadow his gloomy glory, his name has become a household name, and he himself has become a symbol.
But the fate of one British passenger liner is no less tragic. Just three years after the shipwreck of the Titanic, on May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, one of the fastest ships of the time, the "pride of the Atlantic", was sunk by a German submarine near the Irish coast. The disaster took with it 1,198 human lives. The death of "Lusitania" went down in history as one of the most tragic events of the First World War. It was called the second largest disaster of the century after the Titanic.
It all began in 1902, when British shipowners received a tempting offer from American banker Morgan to subsidize the construction of several huge ships for that time. These liners were supposed to monopolize passenger traffic across the Atlantic Ocean. But the project was carried out somewhat differently. The British government was preparing for war with Germany, all funds were directed to increasing the state Navy.
At the beginning of the war, it was planned to use passenger ships as transport ships, because the Admiralty secretly subsidized private British steamship companies. Negotiations with the Americans were interrupted at the insistence of the government, and the Cunard Line company received large funds for the implementation of the project. Several years later, the famous twin liners - Mauritania, Lusitania and Olympic - were launched.
The ships were a marvel of shipbuilding. With their grandeur and grandeur, they amazed the imagination of not only the ordinary man in the street. It was to these new liners that Rudyard Kipling dedicated the lines: "The captain only needs to take the steering wheel - the city of nine decks will float into the sea …"
"Lusitania" began to run between New York and Liverpool in 1907. The ship with a displacement of 32,000 tons was capable of carrying up to 2,600 passengers, and its crew consisted of 700 people. Contemporaries named it the floating palace. The ship amazed with its luxury and comfort. The creators of the ship provided for almost any requirements of passengers: there were not only an infirmary, libraries and children's rooms, but also - for those who could pay for it - special rooms for pets, winter gardens, concert halls, restaurants and even shops.
Passengers were attracted not only by comfort. Steam turbines made it possible to develop an unprecedented speed of 25 knots. 1907 - The Lusitania won the Atlantic Blue Ribbon for speed, crossing the ocean in just 116 hours. The ship's double bottom and watertight compartments created a sense of reliability. Speed became the main reason for the popularity of the Lusitania after the outbreak of the First World War, because it was believed that the ship was able to escape from German submarines. Moreover, at the very beginning of the war, he was able to avoid the attack of the German cruiser, although for this he had to develop maximum speed.
All sailings of this ocean liner from New York were a great public event. That afternoon, May 1, 1915, which marked the beginning of the end for 1,198 people and for the ship itself, 1,257 passengers and 702 crew members boarded the Lusitania. Among the passengers was American billionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. The fact that one of the richest people in the world is sailing on a liner inspired others with confidence in the complete safety of sailing.
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Before boarding the liner, there was some confusion and anxiety among the passengers. Reporters scurried about on the pier, trying to find out the mood of the sailors. This is because, in the morning New York newspapers under the heading of paid advertisements, a warning from the German Embassy was posted: “All travelers intending to travel across the Atlantic are reminded that Germany and her allies are at war with England and her allies.
The war zone includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles, and in accordance with an official warning issued by the German Reich Government, ships carrying the flag of Great Britain or any of its allies are to be destroyed in those waters. Persons intending to go to the war zone on ships of Great Britain or its allies do so at their own peril and risk. The announcement was placed alongside an advertisement for Cunard and a ship schedule that indicated that the Lusitania would leave New York on May 29 for its next voyage.
The ship seemed so reliable that only a few passengers decided to cancel the trip and refund their tickets. Despite the personal recommendations to cancel the flight on the Lusitania, which the multimillionaire Alfred Vanderbilt and the champagne king George Kessler received that morning by telegraph, they nevertheless boarded. Their presence on the ship created the illusion of a safe trip.
This was the beginning of the 202nd voyage of the Lusitania across the Atlantic Ocean. At 12.30 the ship departed from the pier of the New York port and headed for Liverpool. The captain of the liner is William Turner, the most famous captain in the North Atlantic, a stern and even rude man, famous for his fearlessness and professionalism.
The journey proceeded normally, with the Lusitania reaching a speed of 20 knots. The captain ordered to change the course of the ship every 5 minutes. 10 ° to the right and left. This to some extent slowed down the ship's progress, but one could be more confident that the submarine would not be able to detect it. In addition, the captain hoped that even if the Lusitania was discovered, she could leave.
After six days of relatively calm sailing on the evening of May 6, the captain of the Lusitania received a radiogram from the commander of the anti-submarine flotilla, Admiral Coke: "A German submarine is located off the southern coast of Ireland." In total, Turner will receive several warnings from the British Admiralty on this and the next day, the last of which was sent on May 7 at 11.25, three hours before the sinking of the Lusitania.
It remains a mystery why this information reached the captain of the liner so late, because the Germans had been operating in the area for a long time and sent several British civilian ships to the bottom. Three months ago, Germany declared British territorial waters a war zone, and by May 66 British and Allied ships had sunk there. Only on May 6, the German submarine U-20 under the command of Captain Walter Schwiger, which was in British waters, without warning torpedoed and sank the passenger liners Centurion and Candidate.
May 7 - The Lusitania approached the Irish Islands and entered the St George's. It was this place that posed the greatest danger to British ships - here even in times of peace, even an experienced captain found it difficult to pass, and now the strait has also become a hunting ground for German submarines. This time, everything was complicated by the thick fog that appeared at dawn. William Turner gave the order to slow the ship down to 18 knots, and then to 15 knots due to limited visibility.
The captain awaited the arrival of the British escort cruisers, which usually escorted ships off the coast of Ireland, and ordered siren signals to be sent to the Royal Navy warships of their approach. But this time the escort did not appear. It was impossible to change the course of the vessel without an order from the Admiralty. The only thing that could be done was to prepare for a possible attack. On the Lusitania, lifeboats were alerted, portholes and watertight bulkheads battened down.
Only by noon did the fog dissipate. The captain ordered to change course and turn left a few degrees in order to more accurately determine the location of the liner by the coastal outline, and again increased the speed. At 13.40 on the horizon appeared Cape Old Head of Kinsale. The ship continued on its previous course within sight of the coast. The sea was so calm that it seemed that all worries were over.
The disaster took place at 14.10. Lookout shout: "Torpedo on the right side!" already could not change anything. The captain did not have time to take a step, as the torpedo crashed into the side of the ship three meters below the waterline behind the bridge. Immediately after the exploded torpedo, a second, much more powerful explosion sounded in the hold, destroying the Lusitania. The bow of the ship was completely destroyed. Water poured into the holes. A cloud of smoke and dust rose above the chimneys.
From the attacked German submarine U-20, they watched the disaster, which was noted in the logbook: “The bridge and part of the ship, which hit the torpedo, were torn out, and a fire started. The ship stopped and very quickly fell to starboard, at the same time sinking with its bow. It looked like it was about to roll over. There was great confusion on board. Lifeboats were made, and many of them were launched. When the ship tilted, 20-meter pipes fell on the deck, steam lines burst.
Few were saved. The boats with people, launched in a hurry, "fell into the water bow or stern, and then overturned." It turned out to be impossible to lower the boats from the port side because of the large roll of the liner. The captain tried to take the liner closer to the shore, but did not have time: "Lusitania" lost speed, banked sharply and went under water in just 18 minutes. Perhaps the ships located in the harbor could help, but they were in no hurry to help the sinking ship: somewhere nearby was an enemy submarine, and no one wanted to risk it.
Only a few small fishing schooners near the shipwreck site came to the aid of the victims. Then the low-speed British tanker "Narragansett", the dry cargo ship "Etonian" and the Greek cargo ship "Katarina" approached the scene of the tragedy. Only 761 passengers and crew were saved. The remaining 1,198 people died. Of the 159 American citizens, 124 were killed. Among those who survived were very few women and almost no children. Among the dead were American writer Foreman, billionaire Alfred Vanderbilt, playwright Klein, British film director Frohman and oceanographer Stackhouse. The whole world was shocked by this tragedy, the death of the "Lusitania" - a peaceful passenger ship.
It can be assumed that the fate of the ship was predetermined by world politics. Britain simply did not expect to wage a submarine war. Its losses caused by the war grew rapidly. The army and navy required ammunition and weapons, and the British military industry did not have time to produce it in the required volumes. The government was forced to agree to an alliance with the United States, deciding on military supplies from America.
It was unsafe to transport military materials across the Atlantic Ocean on cargo ships; they first of all fell under the sights of German submarines. Perhaps it was at this point that the Admiralty decided to use the "largest and fastest" liners to carry cargo that was "of particular importance to Britain." It is likely that it was the presence of explosives on the ship that caused the second powerful explosion, which was the main reason that the Lusitania went into the water so quickly.
The loss of the Lusitania was beneficial to both the British and the Americans. According to one version, the catastrophe was set up by the government circles of England, who urgently needed to involve the United States in the war on their side: America, prior to the attack on Lusitania, maintained neutrality. The deaths of American citizens have sparked an outrage in the country. After the catastrophe, America demanded an explanation from Germany, as a result of which the blockade of the British Isles was avoided. Berlin was forced to withdraw its submarines from here.
In this tragedy, a lot of ambiguities and secrets remain - personal warnings of financial tycoons, the absence of escort ships, the second explosion, which was caused by detonation, and a rapid dive. All its details remain a secret to this day, and it is only possible to guess how everything was in reality.
V. Sklyarenko
