Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

by Erik Larson

  TELEGRAM

  1 “S.O.S. from ‘Lusitania’ ”: Ledger, “Subs,” May 7, 1915, 2:26 P.M., Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/4101, National Archives UK; also in Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

  LUSITANIA: A QUEEN’S END

  1 One woman, Margaret Gwyer: Morton, Long Wake, 108.

  2 Two other passengers: Ramsay, Lusitania, 87; Morton, Long Wake, 108.

  3 “a slow, almost stately, dive”: Morton, Long Wake, 108; For depth, see Ballard, Exploring the Lusitania, 10.

  4 “plunged forward like a knife blade”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

  5 “As she went under”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 85–87.

  6 “never met anyone as ‘cool’ ”: Letter, Hugh Johnston to Adolf Hoehling, Sept. 25, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

  7 “ ‘Lusitania’ sunk”: Telegram, Head of Kinsale to Admiralty, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

  ALL POINTS: RUMOR

  1 Frost walked to the windows: I decided to footnote this because it is precisely the kind of detail that is likely to cause a reader to pause a moment and ask him- or herself, Hmmm, how do you know he walked to his windows? Answer: because he tells us so. Frost, German Submarine Warfare, 187.

  2 “I hear there is some sort of street rumor”: Ibid., 188.

  3 After hanging up, Frost paced his office: Again, we know this because Frost tells us, “I must have spent ten or fifteen minutes pacing the floor of the office.” Ibid.

  4 “Urgent: Recall Juno”: Telegram, Admiralty to S.N.O. Queenstown, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

  5 “I then received a telegram”: Letter, Vice-Admiral C. H. Coke to Admiralty, May 9, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

  6 Each call brought fresh reports: Hendrick, Life and Letters, 2:1–2.

  7 “We shall be at war”: Ibid., 2:2.

  8 That morning, in New York: Jack Lawrence’s account, including dialogue, appears at Lawrence, When the Ships Came In, 134–39.

  9 “I was pacing the streets”: Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, 286.

  10 “Astern in the distance”: Schwieger, War Log.

  LUSITANIA: ADRIFT

  1 “I saw myself hundreds”: Letter, E. S. Heighway to Mrs. Prichard, June 25, 1915, Prichard Papers.

  2 the killer was hypothermia: For a primer on hypothermia, see Weinberg, “Hypothermia.”

  3 “The most frightful thing”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

  4 “The cries for help”: Ibid.

  5 “When I came to the surface”: Mackworth, This Was My World, 246.

  6 “a little dazed”: Ibid., 247.

  7 “so that one could inhale it”: Ibid., 248.

  8 “an oasis in a desert of bodies”: Morton, Long Wake, 108

  9 “We were picking people out of the water”: Testimony, Frederic J. Gauntlett, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 123.

  10 “Never have I heard”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 25.

  11 “I would, old chap”: How delightful, frankly, that people actually did once upon a time use the phrase “old chap.” Ibid., 40.

  12 Seaman Morton swam to get her: Morton, Long Wake, 108–9.

  13 “The clothes were almost blown off”: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 29.

  14 “I heard a woman’s voice say”: Ibid.

  15 “Come, Holy Ghost”: Henry Wood Simpson’s account in “Saved from the Lusitania,” Church Family, May 14, 1915, courtesy of Mike Poirier.

  16 “I was fully expecting the submarine”: Mersey, Report, 1, account of George Bilbrough.

  17 Here were the Brock: See a list of boats that participated in the rescue effort, enclosed within letter, Vice-Admiral C. H. Coke to Admiralty, May 9, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

  18 “No news could be had”: Frost, German Submarine Warfare, 191.

  19 “We did everything we could:” Ramsay, Lusitania, 25–26.

  20 As they approached the vessel: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 34.

  21 “songs were being sung”: “Statement of Mr. A. J. Mitchell,” May 14, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  22 “She’s conscious”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.

  U-20: PARTING SHOT

  1 “All we thought of”: Hayden Talbot, “The Truth About the Lusitania,” Answers, Nov. 8, 1919, in “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

  2 “Of course he couldn’t hear anything”: This is the phrase that makes her account seem credible. It is a subtle point that only submariners understood—the silence, even though what they see through their periscopes is fire and death.

  3 Just five minutes: Schwieger, War Log.

  4 The steamer Schwieger had fired upon: Hoehling and Hoehling, Last Voyage, 85, 147–48.

  5 “We proceeded with all possible speed”: Telegram, Lands End Wireless Station to Chief Censor, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

  LUSITANIA: SEAGULLS

  1 “The whole ship”: Ramsay, Lusitiana, 274.

  2 “I thought he had gone”: New York Times, Nov. 21, 1915.

  3 “I noticed it because”: Ibid.

  4 “he used to carry a .22 rifle”: Letter, Norman H. Turner to Adolf Hoehling, Sept. 18, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

  5 “That’s better”: The dialogue here is as reported by Mackworth, This Was My World, 248–49.

  6 They applauded: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

  7 Charles Lauriat carried one man: Lauriat, Lusitania’s Last Voyage, 41. Mike Poirier provided McMurray’s identity.

  8 “I saved the baby’s pictures”: Boston Daily Globe, May 11, 1915.

  9 She found her father waiting: Mackworth, This Was My World, 251.

  10 “She was still dressed in the neat fawn tweed”: Ibid., 254.

  11 “and took a huge dose of whiskey”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

  12 “I was left on a lounge”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.

  13 She arranged to send: Katz, Dearest, 120.

  14 “All night I kept expecting Mr. Friend”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.

  15 “You should be worrying”: Hoehling and Hoehling, Last Voyage, 161.

  16 “appeared stunned”: Telegram, Tuchy, London to New York World, New York, May 9, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

  17 Tears filled his eyes: Ibid.

  QUEENSTOWN: THE LOST

  1 Of the Lusitania’s 1,959 passengers and crew: As on so many points involving the Lusitania, there is disagreement as to just how many passengers and crew were aboard, how many died, and how many of the passengers were American. Here I’m using Cunard’s official tally. See “General Analysis of Passengers and Crew” and “Summary of Passengers’ Nationality,” both in R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside.

  2 For days dozens of cables: Letter, Charles P. Sumner to General Manager’s Office, Cunard, May 18, 1915, D42/PR13/32, Cunard Archive. This letter alone provides a jarring portrait of the dimension of the disaster. Running thirteen pages, single-spaced, it lists scores of cables sent between Cunard’s headquarters and its New York office.

  3 “Am saved, looking for Cliff”: Details of Leslie Morton’s search for his brother, including dialogue, are from Morton, Long Wake, 112–13.

  4 One man’s body: The fragment of lifeboat resides at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

  5 “There was a curious effacement”: Frost, German Submarine Warfare, 226–28.

  6 The unimportant bodies: Ibid., 226.

  7 Body No. 1: “Identified Remains, South Coast List,” R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside.

  8 “Several weeks after t
he disaster”: Frost, German Submarine Warfare, 228.

  9 “Much of the body was eaten away”: Telegram, July 15, 1915, “Male body washed ashore,” D42/PR13/1/226–250, Cunard Archives.

  10 Frost offered an additional pound: Telegram, Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, May 13, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/16, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  11 His name was Leon C. Thrasher: Telegram, U.S. Consul General, London, to William Jennings Bryan, April 7, 1915, Foreign Relations.

  Thrasher is sometimes identified in news accounts as Thresher. I’ve chosen to use “Thrasher” because it is the spelling used in official U.S. diplomatic correspondence included in the Foreign Relations series.

  12 Such was the case: Letter, Sgt. J. Regan to U.S. Consul Wesley Frost, Aug. 20, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/105, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  13 “Needless to say”: Details of the Shields autopsy may be found in letter, Wesley Frost to U.S. Secretary of State, July 27, 1915, and enclosure, “Autopsy on Remains of Victor E. Shields,” decimal file 341.111. L97/87, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  14 “My own personal loss”: Letter, Alfred A. Booth to Charles P. Sumner, May 8, 1915, D42/C1/1/66, Part 2 of 4, Cunard Archives.

  15 “is sad beyond expression”: Letter, Charles P. Sumner to Alfred A. Booth, May 14, 1915, D42/C1/1/66, Part 2 of 4, Cunard Archives.

  16 “a picture of peace”: Washington Times, May 10, 1915.

  17 The family of Elizabeth A. Seccombe: “Identified Remains,” R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside; letter, Wesley Frost to U.S. Secretary of State, Sept. 17, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/123-124, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  18 Of the 791 passengers: I computed these numbers on the basis of data provided in R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside.

  19 “The place is alive”: Preston, Lusitania, 297.

  20 “I can see his face”: Letter, Grace French to Mrs. Prichard, Sept. 10, 1915, Prichard Papers.

  21 “I beg of you”: Letter, Theodate Pope to Mrs. Prichard, Feb. 4, 1916, Prichard Papers.

  22 “I know you must be tempted”: Letter, Ruth M. Wordsworth to Prichard, July 9, 1915, Prichard Papers.

  PART V: THE SEA OF SECRETS

  LONDON: BLAME

  1 “We sh’d pursue the Captain”: Annotation to telegram, Richard Webb to Cecil Spring-Rice, May 11, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

  2 “a brave but unlucky man”: Horgan, Parnell to Pearse, 274.

  3 “willful and wholesale murder”: Ibid., 273.

  4 “That august body”: Ibid., 275.

  5 “proceeded along the usual trade route”: “Memorandum as to Master’s Actions,” May 8, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 1/8451/56, National Archives UK.

  6 “appears to have displayed”: Telegram, Richard Webb to Cecil Spring-Rice, May 11, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

  7 “Bare facts only”: Letter, Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, May 11, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  8 “I was struck by the fact”: Memorandum, “Statement of Captain W. A. Castle,” May 14, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  9 “Merchant traffic must look after itself”: Independent, May 24, 1915.

  10 “Have sunk off the South Coast of Ireland”: Images of the actual handwritten decodes may be found in the papers of the Ministry of Defence, DEFE/69/270, National Archives UK.

  11 “My highest appreciation”: Ibid.

  12 “by means of one torpedo”: Ibid.

  13 Turner testified that by his own standards: Testimony, William Thomas Turner, June 15, 1915, 4, “Investigation.”

  14 Carson let pass the fact: Bailey and Ryan, Lusitania Disaster, 143; telegram, Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, May 9, 1915, Foreign Relations. In his telegram, Frost quotes a passenger’s statement, which began, “At 12 noon ship began to zigzag … off Irish coast.”

  15 “I mean to say, we have the very great advantage”: Testimony, William Thomas Turner, June 15, 1915, 15, “Investigation.”

  16 “exercised his judgment for the best”: Annex to the Report, Ministry of Transport Papers, MT 9/1326, “Investigation,” 9.

  17 “still left the Lusitania a considerably faster ship”: Ibid., 7.

  18 “He was very bitter”: Letter, Norman H. Turner to Adolf Hoehling, Sept. 18, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

  19 “a damned dirty business”: Memorandum, Head of Naval Historical Branch, Oct. 25, 1972, Ministry of Defence Papers, DEFE/69/270, National Archives UK.

  20 “one is left only with an unforgivable cock-up”: Beesly, Room 40, 121.

  21 “As an Englishman”: Article and associated interview, Patrick Beesly, Misc. 162, Item 2491, Imperial War Museum.

  22 “With regard to the question of convoy”: Memorandum, “ ‘Lusitania’—American Proceedings,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 1/8451/56, National Archives UK.

  23 “Even one destroyer encircling the liner”: Irish Independent, May 7, 1955.

  24 “The neglect to provide naval escort”: Bisset, Commodore, 46.

  25 “It might … but it is one of those things one never knows”: Liverpool Weekly Mercury, May 15, 1915.

  26 Testing done several years earlier: Bailey and Ryan, Lusitania Disaster, 101; Wood et al., “Sinking,” 179–80.

  27 A more plausible theory: Ballard, Exploring the Lusitania, 194–95. Ballard’s book, by the way, has many compelling photographs (152–91) of what remains of the Lusitania at the bottom of the sea, taken during his exploration of the wreck in 1993.

  28 Subsequent investigation by forensic engineers: Garzke et al., Titanic, 260–61; Wood et al., “Sinking,” 181–83, 187. Also see Annex to the Report, Ministry of Transportation Papers, MT 9/1326, “Investigation.”

  29 This was Turner’s theory: Preston, Lusitania, 453.

  30 “to 50 pounds in a few seconds”: Deposition, George Little, May 15, 1915, “Depositions Removed from Trade Division Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK; Preston, Lusitania, 453.

  31 Not only that, it struck precisely the right place: Garzke et al., Titanic, 256–60, 263–67; Wood et al., “Sinking,” 174–78, 186, 188.

  WASHINGTON; BERLIN; LONDON: THE LAST BLUNDER

  1 “If I pondered”: New York Times, Nov. 15, 1921.

  2 In fact, apart from a noisy pro-war faction: Resolution, May 16, 1915; Rush Medical College, Resolution, May 16, 1915; College of Dentistry, University of Illinois, Resolution, May 11, 1915; and Tennessee State Assembly, Resolution all in Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park; Cooper, Vanity of Power, 33–34; Cummins, “Indiana’s Reaction,” 13, 15, 17.

  And may I just say how refreshing it was to read the state of Louisiana’s resolution, in light of the rancor in American politics that prevailed at the time I completed this book:

  “Such a crisis as now confronts our country calls for coolness, deliberation, firmness and precision of mind on the part of those entrusted with the power of administration.

  “Under the providence of God this country has such a leader in Woodrow Wilson … who with his advisers has so signally shown the temper and courage and great humanity that reflects the sentiment of his loyal countrymen.” Resolution, May 20, 1915, Louisiana Legislature, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

  3 “the day which marked the end”: Neue Preussische Zeitung, May 10, 1915, translation, Foreign and German Press Analysis, Box 2, Bailey/Ryan Collection.

  4 “America does not know what conditions are”: Telegram, Heer[illegible], New York, to Evening News, London, May 8, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

  5 “There is such a thing”: Berg, Wilson, 364; Link, Wilson: Struggle, 3
82. Newspaper editor Oswald Garrison Villard, in his autobiography Fighting Years, claimed it was he who had planted the phrase “too proud to fight” in the president’s mind. He did so inadvertently, he wrote. He had discussed the concept with Wilson’s personal secretary, Tumulty, never thinking that Tumulty would pass it along to Wilson. Villard, Fighting Years, 256–57.

  6 “probably the most unfortunate phrase”: Berg, Wilson, 364.

  7 “I do not know just what I said”: Wilson to Galt, May 11, 1915, Wilson Papers.

  8 “I have just put the final touches”: Wilson to Galt, May 12, 1915, Wilson Papers.

  Wilson understood that diplomatic notes were likely to have little effect in the short term but believed them valuable all the same. “They alter no facts,” he wrote, in a letter to Galt, dated Aug. 8, 1915; “they change no plans or purposes; they accomplish nothing immediate; but they may convey some thoughts that will, if only unconsciously, affect opinion, and set up a counter current. At least such is my hope; and it is also the only hope for these distracted English!”

  9 “the sacred freedom of the seas”: Telegram, William Jennings Bryan to German Foreign Office, via U.S. Amb. James Gerard, May 13, 1915, Foreign Relations, 394; Berg, Wilson, 365–66.

  10 “The Kaiser has awarded the Iron Cross”: Cummins, “Indiana’s Reaction,” 24.

  11 Wilson himself described Bryan as a “traitor”: Wilson to Galt [undated], Wilson Papers. Wilson wrote: “For he is a traitor, though I can say so, as yet, only to you.”

  Bryan’s defection caused Wilson deep hurt. In a letter to Galt dated June 9, 1915, he wrote, “The impression upon my mind of Mr. Bryan’s retirement is a very painful one now. It is always painful to feel that any thinking man of disinterested motive, who has been your comrade and confidant, has turned away from you and set his hand against you; and it is hard to be fair and not think that the motive is something sinister.”

  To which Galt replied, “Hurrah! Old Bryan is out!”

  12 “a figure in top hat, tailcoat”: Starling, Starling, 62.

  13 “Were I the Captain of a U-boat”: Halpern, Naval History, 306.

  14 “Dear Old Tirps”: Bailey and Ryan, Lusitania Disaster, 36.

  15 “advantageous to the Allied cause”: Hall, Minute, Dec. 27, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.