by Erik Larson
7 “that no suggestion would be made”: “Statement of Mr. A. J. Mitchell,” May 14, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
8 “She was only too happy”: Josephine Brandell Account, quoted in Kalafus et al., Lest We Forget.
9 “Hope you have a safe crossing”: Record of Wireless Signals, May 6, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.
LONDON; WASHINGTON; BERLIN: TENSION
1 “in sight for five minutes:” Telegram, Naval Center Queenstown to Admiralty, May 6, 1915, “Home Waters: General Operation Telegrams,” May 6–10, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/113, National Archives UK.
2 “heart failure, accelerated by shock”: New York Times, May 6, 1915; Washington Times, May 5, 1915.
3 “running amok”: Washington Times, May 5, 1915.
4 “There are some things”: Wilson to Galt, May 5, 1915, Wilson Papers.
5 “I can hardly see”: Wilson to Galt, May 6, 1915, Wilson Papers.
6 “There was the fear”: Wilson, My Memoir, 66–67.
7 “Oh, so many things swarmed”: Ibid., 67.
8 “all the problems which confronted him”: Ibid.
9 “unwelcome publicity”: Ibid.
10 “This fact is eminently bound not only to alter our good relations”: Link, Wilson: Struggle, 398.
11 That evening: Washington Times, May 6, 1915.
12 At midnight that Thursday: Intercepted telegram, “Norddeich to all Ships,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/3959. Here’s the actual text:
MAY 6, 1915
NORDDEICH TO ALL SHIPS
NO. 48
S.S. LUSITANIA LEAVES LIVERPOOL FOR NEW YORK ON MAY 15TH. S.S. TUSCANIA LEAVES GLASGOW ON MAY 7TH FOR NEW YORK VIA LIVERPOOL. S.S. CAMERONIA 11,000 TONS LEAVES ON MAY 15TH FOR NEW YORK.
U-20: FOG
1 Schwieger and his crew: Schwieger, War Log.
PART III: DEAD WAKE
THE IRISH SEA: ENGINES ABOVE
1 Early Friday morning a number of passengers: “Statement of Mrs. Theodore Naish,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 187, U.S. National Archives–College Park; “Statement of Maude R. Thompson,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 187, U.S. National Archives–College Park; Ramsay, Lusitania, 77.
2 “We had been told”: “Statement of Mrs. Theodore Naish,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 187, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
3 “I do not like this”: Ibid.
4 “As the horn was blowing”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 5, 69–70.
5 “just the loom of the land”: Testimony, Leo Thompson, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 673.
6 “Number and directions”: Telegram, Kilrane to Director Naval Intelligence, London, May 7, 1915, “Home Waters: General Operation Telegrams,” May 6–10, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/113, National Archives UK.
7 Booth quit breakfast: Testimony, Alfred Booth, “Investigation,” Lines 262–65, 276–77; “Answers of Petitioner to Interrogatories Propounded by Hunt, Hill & Betts,” Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 1, 3.
8 “Submarines active”: Telegram, May 7, 1915, 11:25 A.M., cited in “Answers of the Petitioner to the Interrogatories Propounded by May Davies Hopkins,” Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 8.
9 “It was a beautiful day”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 70.
10 “just flat as a billiard table”: Francis Burrows, interview, Lusitania, BBC Written Archives Centre.
11 “The view was grand”: “Narrative of Mrs. J. MacFarquhar,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
12 “All of a sudden”: Schwieger, War Log.
13 A seven-year-old girl: As you perhaps have guessed, these and other details that follow also come from lists of belongings recovered from the unidentified dead of the Lusitania. “Unidentified Remains,” R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside; “Lusitania: Effects of Unidentified Bodies,” in Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, June 4, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/37, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
14 “I pinned the big diamond brooch”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.
15 “I replied that his word”: “Statement of Mrs. Theodore Naish,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 187, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
16 “Submarines 5 miles south”: “Memorandum as to Master’s Actions,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 1/8451/56, National Archives UK.
17 At his periscope: Schwieger, War Log.
18 “After I was through swearing”: Thomas, Raiders, 96.
19 “Unusually good visibility”: Schwieger, War Log.
LONDON; WASHINGTON: THE KING’S QUESTION
1 “We spoke of the probability”: Seymour, Intimate Papers, 1:432; also in Ramsay, Lusitania, 77–78.
2 “Suppose they should sink”: Seymour, Intimate Papers, 1:432; Cooper, Walter Hines Page, 306; Ramsay, Lusitania, 78.
3 severe shortage of artillery shells: Keegan, First World War, 199; Churchill, World Crisis, 437.
4 “incurring unjustifiable risks”: Churchill, World Crisis, 437.
5 “Without actually taking part”: Ibid.
6 “suffering from every form of horrible injury:” Ibid., 438.
7 “In this clear morning air”: Letter, Wilson to Galt, May 7, 1915, Wilson Papers.
THE IRISH SEA: FUNNELS ON THE HORIZON
1 U-20 moved: Schwieger, War Log.
2 “At first I thought”: Thomas, Raiders, 97.
3 “Ahead and to starboard”: Schwieger, War Log.
4 At about 1:30 P.M.: Bailey and Ryan, Lusitania Disaster, 143.
5 But as he watched: Robert Kay Account, courtesy of Mike Poirier.
6 “I suggested that the passengers”: Kessler, quoted in Kalafus et al., Lest We Forget.
7 Just as Pilot Lanz arrived: Schwieger, War Log.
8 That the ship “was not sent”: Ibid.
9 Charles Lauriat went to lunch: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 73.
10 “A young Englishman at our table”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.
11 “While at table”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.
12 “talking about Submarines”: Letter, Gadsden to Mrs. Prichard, July 4, 1915, Prichard Papers.
13 “volunteered to point her out”: Letter, Grace French to Mrs. Prichard, Sept. 10, 1915, Prichard Papers.
14 “I replied that Mr. Prichard”: Letter, Grace French to Mrs. Prichard, Sept. 19, 1915, Prichard Papers.
15 They joked as they hunted: Ibid.
16 Schwieger estimated: Schwieger, War Log.
LUSITANIA: BEAUTY
1 “At five minutes to four bells”: Morton, Long Wake, 103.
2 “All lookouts had been warned”: Letter, Thomas Mahoney to Adolf Hoehling, May 14, 1955, Hoehling Papers.
3 “trick at the wheel”: Hugh Johnston, interview, Lusitania, BBC Written Archives Centre.
4 “We carried on”: Ibid.
5 “seeing a dozen things”: Morton, Long Wake, 102–3.
6 A group of children: John Brennan, interview, Lusitania, BBC Written Archives Centre.
7 “At ten minutes past two”: Leslie Morton, testimony, June 16, 1915, 16, “Investigation.”
8 “10 points on the port bow”: Hugh Johnston, testimony, June 16, 1915, 19, “Investigation.”
9 “Here is a torpedo coming”: Ibid.
10 “a real walk”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 7.
11 “a piece of vitriolic English”: Ibid., 7–8.
12 “which was a marvelous blue”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.
13 “a streak of froth”: Liverpool Weekly Mercury,
May 15, 1915.
14 “That isn’t a torpedo, is it?”: Ibid.
15 “I did not think that anybody”: Ibid.
16 That first turmoil: Ballard, Exploring the Lusitania, 84–85; New York Times, May 10, 1915; Preston, Lusitania, 441–42; Testimony, Casey B. Morgan, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 714, 715; testimony, Lawrence Y. Spear, Petition, 766, 767. Anyone interested in more detail about torpedoes, and German U-boats generally, would do well to visit uboat.net, a well-monitored and authoritative website on German submarine warfare in both world wars. See especially “Selected Technical Data of Imperial German U-Boats and Their Torpedoes,” www.uboat.net/history/wwi/part7.htm. See also www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTGER_PreWWII.htm.
17 “I saw the torpedo coming!”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.
18 “It was a beautiful sight”: James A. Brooks, quoted in unidentified, undated news clipping, Hoehling Papers.
19 In just two months, another Cunard captain: Bisset, Commodore, 65.
U-20: “TREFF!”
1 “Torpedo hits starboard”: Schwieger, War Log.
PART IV: THE BLACK SOUL
LUSITANIA: IMPACT
1 “I saw it disappear”: Quoted in telegram, Pitney to Tribune, New York, May 9, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.
2 “The side of the ship is nothing”: Testimony, Gregory C. Davison, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 837.
3 “was blown to atoms”: Deposition, Thomas Quinn, May 15, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK; Preston, Lusitania, 453.
4 Just inside the hull: See Garzke et al., Titanic, and Wood, et al., “Sinking,” throughout.
5 “forced flooding”: Wood et al., “Sinking,” 177.
6 Captain Turner was standing: Deposition, William Thomas Turner, May 15, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK; Preston, 453.
7 “Well, that wasn’t so bad”: Ballard, Exploring the Lusitania, 87.
8 “Water, bits of coal”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.
9 “The ship listed so much”: Letter, Grace French to Mrs. Prichard, Sept. 10, 1915, Prichard Papers.
10 “I timed everything”: Testimony, William McMillan Adams, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 24.
11 Charles Lauriat checked his stem-winding wristwatch: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 9.
12 “You could feel the two separate motions”: Ibid., 72.
13 “more like an explosion of a boiler”: Testimony, Charles E. Lauriat Jr., Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 92, 104.
14 “I think we might stay up”: Mackworth, This Was My World, 242.
15 “wasted a minute or so”: Ibid., 243.
16 “I always thought”: Ibid., 244.
17 “Mr. Hubbard stayed by the rail”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 9.
18 “If you don’t care to come”: Ibid., 73.
19 Norah Bretherton: Statement of Norah Bretherton (n.d.), Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
20 On entering the bridge: Deposition, Hugh Johnston, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.
21 “All right, boy”: All dialogue here is as reported by Johnston in Ibid.
22 “every step was an effort”: Robert Kay Account, courtesy of Mike Poirier.
23 “In their hurry, they put them on”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 11.
24 “Captain, what do you wish us to do”: Ibid., 11.
25 “The Captain says the boat will not sink”: Letter, Henry Needham to Mrs. Prichard, July 9, 1915, Prichard Papers.
26 “I don’t know what possessed me”: New York Times, June 2, 1915.
27 “I left my coffee and nuts”: Testimony, Frederic J. Gauntlett, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 115.
28 The two first-class elevators: There is debate as to exactly what happened in these two elevators. Preston quotes one of the ship’s bellboys as saying, “We could hear their screams coming up—they knew they were trapped.” She also quotes a passenger’s statement that the elevators were “filled with passengers screaming.” Certainly, the loss of electric power would have stopped the elevators and would have provided a truly terrifying moment for passengers within. But Lusitania expert Mike Poirier questions whether anyone was in fact trapped or killed in the elevators. He bases his skepticism on the absence of additional corroborating accounts in the scores of statements made by passengers after the disaster. The debate, however, cannot be settled in any definitive way. Preston, Lusitania, 210.
29 The scores of men: There is, however, no debate about what happened with this elevator, and in the luggage room.
30 “rush of water”: Ramsay, Lusitania, 214.
31 By one estimate, at least 70 portholes: Ibid., 215.
32 “A strange silence prevailed”: Irish Independent, May 7, 1955.
FIRST WORD
1 “ ‘LUSITANIA’ in distress”: “Copies of Telegrams Relative to Sinking of S.S. Lusitania,” Lusitania Various Papers, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.
2 “ ‘Lusitania’ S.E. 10 miles sinking”: Telegram, Galley Head to Admiralty, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.
3 “ ‘Lusitania’ torpedoed”: Telegram, Naval Center Queenstown to Admiralty, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64; also, Ledger, “Subs,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/4101, National Archives UK.
LUSITANIA: DECISIONS
1 Ogden Hammond: Testimony, Ogden H. Hammond, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives-New York, 171–78; letter, Ogden H. Hammond to Joseph F. Tumulty, May 21, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
2 The boat contained: Testimony, Leslie Morton, June 16, 1915, 17, “Investigation”; James H. Brooks, “Statement or Story on the Sinking of the Lusitania,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park; testimony, Isaac Lehmann, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 297.
3 “It is the captain’s orders”: This segment of dialogue was reported by Isaac Lehmann in Ibid., 297–98.
4 “I took a look at things”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.
5 “The deck suddenly looked very strange”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.
6 “We walked close together”: Ibid.
7 “Come Robinson”: Ibid.
8 another readout of the spirit gauge: Testimony, Hugh Robert Johnston, June 16, 1915, 19, “Investigation.”
9 “My God”: Hugh Johnston, interview, Lusitania, BBC Written Archives Centre.
10 “Save yourself”: Hugh Johnston, interview, Lusitania, BBC Written Archives Centre; testimony, Hugh Robert Johnston, June 16, 1915, 19, “Investigation.”
U-20: SCHWIEGER’S VIEW
1 “I took my position”: Thomas, Raiders, 97.
2 “It would have been impossible”: This sentence seems so unlike something Schwieger would write that it has prompted some Lusitania scholars to wonder whether he, or someone else, altered his log after the fact. But, as it is in the log, and I am in no position to know for certain whether he did in fact touch up the log to improve his future stature in the eyes of history, I quote it here. Schwieger, War Log.
LUSITANIA: THE LITTLE ARMY
1 The floor was canted: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 14, 78.
2 “The steamer was all the time rapidly settling”: Ibid., 17.
3 “Never could one realize”: Statement of Mr. A. J. Mitchell, May 14, 1915,
Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
4 Lauriat stood on a seat: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 82–83.
5 “Please will you show me”: Newspaper account, “Knox Describes Lusitania’s End,” provided by Mike Poirier, quoted in Kalafus et al., Lest We Forget.
6 Norah Bretherton: Statement of Norah Bretherton (n.d.), Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.
7 “I opened my eyes”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.
8 “The gulls were flying overhead”: Kalafus et al., Lest We Forget.
9 “It got blacker and blacker”: Grace French Account, Lennox Herald, May 1975, courtesy of Mike Poirier.
10 “I had no feeling of fear”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.
11 For the family of Joseph Frankum: Liverpool Weekly Mercury, May 15, 1915.
12 “I clung to my wife”: Ibid.
13 “gently and vaguely”: Mackworth, This Was My World, 244.
14 “Well, you’ve had your thrill”: Ibid.
15 “One gets very close in three minutes”: Dorothy Conner Account, courtesy of Mike Poirier.
16 “She’s all right”: “Statement of Mrs. Theodore Naish,” Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 187, U.S. National Archives–College Park, 2.
17 “I thought about how wondrously beautiful”: Ibid., 3.
18 The sinking crowned a troubled period: This detail provided by Mike Poirier.
19 After helping to launch: Testimony, Leslie Morton, June 16, 1915, “Investigation,” line 495. Morton writes that this boat was No. 13, but Lusitania expert Mike Poirier suggests that he may have erred, that the boat was actually No. 9.
20 “If you had to jump”: Morton, Long Wake, 105.
21 “to waste in either horror or sympathy”: Ibid., 106.
22 “in some mistaken belief”: Ibid., 107.
23 “The time for heroics”: Ibid.
24 “but seeing the turmoil”: Ibid.
25 Lauriat swam clear: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 18.
26 “An all-swallowing wave”: The Irish Independent, May 7, 1955.
27 As measles-poxed Robert Kay: Robert Kay Account, courtesy of Mike Poirier.
28 “I couldn’t imagine what was landing on me”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 20–21, 85.