RMS Lusitania Poshea

Cunard Line Cunard owned the Lusitania. She was built in Clydebank in Scotland. On the 7 th of June 1906 she was launched. Her route was New York to Liverpool. She was in service until 1915.

European War Zone During the 1 st World War this was the exclusion zone around Ireland. This meant that any ships sailing here might be torpedoed by German submarines….

U20 Around this time, the submarine(u boat) U20 appeared off the Irish coast of the Old Head of Kinsale. U20 was captained by Kapitän- leutnant Schwieger. In all, there were about 15 German U boats in the "European War Zone" -

Warning Newspapers printed the warning of submarine attacks next to Cunard's list of departure dates. Still, the liner was packed with passengers. The ship was billed by Cunard as the "fastest steamer now in the Atlantic service" and it was believed that the Lusitania would not be attacked.

The Irish Coast On May 7th, the Lusitania came into sight of the Irish coast. The ship's captain, Captain Turner, became worried as he could see no other ship ahead of him - especially, he was worried as he could see no protective naval ships. The Lusitania was a ‘sitting duck’

Attack At 14.02, the first torpedo was fired. The Lusitania took just 18 minutes to sink. 1,153 passengers and crew drowned. 128 of them were Americans. There was anger in America and Great Britain. But some questions remained unanswered……

Questions U20 had fired only 1 torpedo. Yet 2 explosions had occurred. Why ? It is thought that a second explosion occurred because the Lusitania was carrying more than a liner should have been carrying. In the hold of the Lusitania were 4,200 cases of ammunition. These exploded when the torpedo hit.

Rescue After the sinking, the Ballycotton lifeboat, with other local boats, who had heard word of the Lusitania's distress signals, rowed for 3½ hours to reach the site of the sinking. They managed to rescue 764 people, three of whom later died from injuries.

Burial Among those who died was Irish art collector Sir Hugh Lane and millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. Most of the 764 people who were saved were landed in Cobh. Only 289 bodies were recovered and 169 of these are buried in the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh in three mass graves and 20 individual plots. Forty five of those buried were unidentified and their coffins were merely marked with a number.

Aftermath The sinking of the Lusitania led directly to America entering World War I. "Remember the Lusitania" were the words that meant doom for Germany. America entering the war led to the allies winning it. For weeks afterwards bodies were washed up on the Irish coast.

Centenary 7 May 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Lusitania. To commemorate the occasion, Cunard's Ms Queen Victoria is coming in May 2015 to Cork in commemoration. There will, also, be many other ceremonies to commemorate the event