Disaster Psychology

The Sinking of the Lusitania

The Lusitania docked in Cobh Harbour

In the early part of the twentieth century the only way to traverse the Atlantic was by ocean liner. It was a time of fierce competition between rival lines as passengers expected, not only a speedy crossing, but luxurious accommodations too. In 1903 the Cunard Line led by Lord Inver Clyde began construction on two fast and luxurious liners to challenge the German vessels that had held the 'Blue Riband' (the title given to the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing) since 1897. The resulting RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauritania would be a firm reassertion of British supremacy at sea.

Launched on the River Clyde in June 16, 1906, RMS Lusitania was a grand ship and the first of the two sister ships to be launched. At 785 feet in length and 31,550 gross tons, she was the largest liner afloat. Her maiden voyage took place September 7, 1907, and in October 1907 she captured the coveted Blue Riband from the German liner, Deutschland. The Lusitania and the Mauritania were declared by The New York Times "as unsinkable as ships can be" and the Lusitania was described as "the fastest and most powerful cruiser in the world".

When World War 1 began in the summer of 1914, no one foresaw the contours of the disaster ahead. As the land offensives ground to a halt and the casualties rose any romantic view of war quickly disappeared. At sea the war should have produced a series of almighty contests between the fleets of battleships, bristling with weaponry. However the German fleet, after one major encounter off the coast of Denmark (the battle of Jutland), retreated to port. For the remainder of the war the German naval strategy was to use their submarines (U-boats) in the Atlantic to starve the British into surrender. This type of submarine warfare would intensify to the level that Admiral Pohl could state that there would be a risk even to the crews of neutral ships. Although the British could claim command of the seas, they could not cope with German submarines. Operating from Kiel to Bremerhaven, the U-boats would sink over twelve million tons of allied shipping over the course of the war. But, the sinking of the Lusitania by U-20 on the 7th May 1915 brought about a dramatic turn in the Atlantic war.

The construction of Lusitania had been financed by generous loans from the British government. In return, the British Admiralty could requisition Lusitania or her sister ships in times of war. Although at the onset war in 1914, the Lusitania, Mauritania and the newer Aquitania were officially requisitioned for war duties, the Lusitania was allowed to continue her regular transatlantic passenger services.

On May 1st 1915 a large crowd turned out to watch the Lusitania set sail from New York harbour. The passengers included of large numbers of American citizens travelling to Ireland. In addition there were rumours, spread by German agents, that the ship was carrying high explosives destined for the British war effort.

On Thursday evening, May 6th, the Lusitania received a message from Queenstown (now Cobh, Co.Cork) that there had been submarines in the area. On board lifeboats were taken out as a precaution. Just twelve miles south-west of the Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse, off the coast of Ireland, the Lusitania entered into a war zone and the two thousand passengers and crew on board the Lusitania had now come under great threat. In the next eighteen minutes Lieutenant Walter Schwieger (Captain of the U-20 submarine) would bring death, woe and desolation to those on the Lusitania.

As the passengers on deck enjoyed a view of the Irish coastline, some noticed a slight disturbance on the mirror-calm sea off the starboard bow. The thin streak of white foam was generated by a torpedo as it sped toward the Lusitania. An explosion under the bridge of the ship was quickly followed by another and the bow of the ship began to dip into the sea. The captain of the Lusitania, Turner, desperately tried to steer the ship north, towards land, but found her unresponsive. As panic-stricken passengers came out on deck and the ship began to sink, Turner calmly give orders to his crew. Horrified husbands and fathers watched tearfully as lifeboats, into which the women and children had been placed, capsized once in the ocean. As the ship's bow dipped to make its final death plunge the stern rose out of the water exposing the brass propellers. Shrouded in smoke and steam the ship sank. Finally, the water flattened and calmed which left a glass-like finish over the tomb of the Lusitania.

While the living cried out for help, the dead drifted by. The steamship Heron and two trawlers gathered up the dead and returned to Queenstown with over 100 bodies. In the following days, temporary morgues were established to handle the increasing number of recovered bodies giving Queenstown the title, 'town of death'. In total, 1,198 lives were lost on the Lusitania. Of the drowned, 127 were Americans, 79 were children including 39 infants under the age of two years. Just 200 corpses were recovered from the sea while the remainder were never found.

The sinking of the Lusitania shocked the United States. President Woodword Wilson was so affected by the news that he went into seclusion for two days, seeing and talking to no one but family and White House staff. After the sinking, the outpouring of acrimony from the US took the German High Command by surprise. The skilled British propaganda machine did much to inflame public opinion in America against Germany. Aware that this was a perfect opportunity to incite the US into the war on their side, the sinking was loudly proclaimed as 'Demonical' and the German Kaiser was branded as the 'Lord of Torture and Bloodshed'. While the Germans expected as much from a belligerent like Britain, the volume and vehemence of the American protests took them off guard. There were calls for 'action' and the U-boatmen were vilified as murderers and pirates. Nevertheless, even the most indignant shied away from demanding war and indeed, President Wilson declared that there was such a thing as being "too proud to fight". It was the German's failure to realise this fact, and press home their advantage, that was at the heart of Germany's mistake.

In conclusion the sinking of the Royal Mail Ship Lusitania by U-20 on May 7, 1915 was, arguably, one of the most notorious milestones of World War I. Popular history sees the sinking of the Lusitania as the start of the U-boats' attack on British shipping. Some historians assert that it was the most publicised tragedy of the First World War, a 'major catastrophe' that shifted American opinion sufficiently for it to seriously entertain the possibility of entering the war. However, by far the most serious consequence of the sinking was the reaction of the Germans themselves. Appalled at the vehemence of the American reaction to the sinking, the Kaiser called a halt to unrestricted submarine warfare in British waters. Consequently, for the better part of two years, Britain enjoyed a respite from an all-out U-boat offensive, giving her some time to recoup her losses and build up both merchant and naval shipping tonnage, as well as eventually goad the U.S. into the War. This mistake would ultimately cost Germany World War I.