The Lusitania: 96 Years Later

It was 96 years ago today that the Cunarder Lusitania was torpedoed by Imperial Germany's U-20. World War I raged in Europe, but America remained blissfully neutral. The grand ship set sail from New York for the last time on May 1, 1915. Travelers were warned by the Imperial German Embassy, who reminded them that a state of war existed between Germany and Britain. Many passengers paid this no mind.

One torpedo was fired as the ship made her way along the Irish coast, which struck just behind the wheelhouse on the starboard side. A second explosion rocked the Lusitania just seconds later, which many experts now believe was triggered by the ignition of coal dust in the near-empty bunkers.

The Lusitania - one of the Cunard's proudest and safest ships - went down in just 18 minutes. Her passengers and crew struggled for survival in that short period, but only 761 of the nearly 2,000 people aboard lived.

The reason for the attack has always been an issue. Germany maintained that the Lusitania was carrying arms and munitions (which indeed she was) and was therefore a legitimate target of war.

Just 305 feet below the waves rests the wreck of a once-noble liner. The sea has terribly ravaged her remains, yet it is unmistakably the Lusitania. Her bow looks as it did when she sailed from New York for the last time, and her name is still visible.

But may she act as a reminder for the cruel indifference that war brings. Many of those lost on May 7, 1915 were innocent and had little - if anything - to do with the Allied war effort. So may they and this grand ship rest forever in peace.

Winsor McCay's "The Sinking of the Lusitania" (1918)

The First World War had already torn the globe apart by the time the United States became involved in 1917. Propaganda posters, cartoons and films flourished in an effort to produce anti-German sentiment within the nation. Many of them have since become iconic. One of them is particularly interesting - an animated documentary on the Lusitania disaster of 1915. It was created by the famous cartoonist, Winsor McCay (of "Gertie the Dinosaur" fame) in 1918.

Although the film is clearly a piece of anti-German propaganda, it nevertheless gives an interesting interpretation of the sinking. Some of the facts are incorrect, such as when it says that U-39 attacked with two torpedoes (it was U-20 with one). It is important to be mindful of this while watching the film. McCay, however, is able to show what happened with remarkable detail and clarity using nothing more than simple animation.

"The Legend of 1900"

As Oscar Sunday is finally here, this is going to be my final movie trailer (for now, anyway).

"The Legend of 1900" was directed by Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore and released in 1998. Tim Roth stars as a musically gifted orphan named Danny Boodman T.D. Lemon 1900 - or 1900 for short - who spends his entire life aboard the fictional SS Virginian (There really was a ship by that name, however, which was launched in 1904).

The film's Virginian's appearance was very much inspired by both the Lusitania and the Mauretania, with the latter's First Class Dining Room acting as the model for the ship's.

Sad Irony

What's sadly ironic about this cartoon? The fact that the Lusitania would be at the bottom of the Celtic Sea in a mere two months.

I won't go into the issues involved with the sinking, or whether or not the Lucy was a legitimate target of war. This image just struck me in a certain way...so much so that I felt I had to point it out.

The Last Survivor of the Lusitania Dies

Audrey Lawson-Johnston (née Warren Pearl), the last known survivor of the RMS Lusitania, died earlier today at the age of 95. The First World War was in full swing, and the famous Cunarder was just a few miles from the Irish coast when she was torpedoed by the U-20 on May 7, 1915: Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes.

Mrs. Lawson-Johnston's family was traveling to Great Britain when the disaster occurred. Her parents and brother survived, while her two sisters did not unfortunately. At only 3 months, there would have been no chance for the infant Audrey to survive on her own. She was saved, however, by nanny Alice Lines. The two women would remain close until the latter's death in 1997 at the age of 100. With Mrs. Lawson-Johnston dies the last living link to that long ago, wartime disaster.


References: "Last know Lusitania survivor, 95, dies." BBC News, January 11, 2011, under "UK," http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12161194 (accessed January 11, 2011).