The RMS Lusitania

On September 7th, 1907, the Lusitania sailed from Liverpool to New York on her maiden voyage; and it is no exaggeration to say that never before had such widespread interest been taken in the first sailing of any liner. Fully 200,00 people witnessed her departure. The cheering of the vast crowds, supplemented by the steam whistles and sirens of all the shipping in the river at the time, as the leviathan moved from the Stage, and slowly disappeared into the darkness, made this epoch-marking event a most memorable one.

From the first, the Lusitania became a great favorite with Atlantic travelers, and no wonder, for in addition to her speed, she was so luxuriously appointed that her passenger accommodation was the acme of comfort, and well merited the description of a ‘floating palace’.

Her decorative and architectural features compared with those of the world’s finest hotels - lofty domes, fashioned and painted by expert decorators, panels prepared by skilled workers, handsome tapestries, curtains and carpets. The First Class Dining Saloon was a vision in white and gold. The style was Louis Seize, and the predominating colour was vieux rose. The magnificent mahogany side board, with its gilt metal ornaments, was the admiration of all who saw it, while high above towered the wonderful dome with painted panels after Boucher. The Lounge was decorated in late Georgian period, and the fine inlaid mahogany panels, richly modeled dome ceiling and marble mantelpieces constituted a luxurious ensemble.

On her second westbound trip she averaged 24 knots, and reduced the passage between Liverpool and New York to well under 5 days, and logged 617 knots for the highest day’s run, incidentally bringing back to the British mercantile service the ‘Blue Riband of the Atlantic’, having wrested it from the German liners Kronprinz Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Kronprinzessin Cecilia.

War broke out in August, 1914, and the British Government, according to its agreement with the Cunard Company in 1902, could have requisitioned the Lusitania, instead allowed her to continue her regular place amongst Cunard sailings. In April, 1915, she left Liverpool for New York on her 101st voyage, having then crossed the Atlantic 200 times. She arrived at the American port safely, although on a previous voyage she avoided the attack of an enemy submarine. On May 1st, the Lusitania left New York for Liverpool on what was to be her last voyage.

On May 7th, the Lusitania was within sight of the Irish Coast and at 2:10pm, the liner was 8 to 10 miles of the Old Head of Kinsale. Without the slightest warning, the wake of a torpedo from a German submarine was seen approaching the ship, and she was struck between the third and fourth funnels. There was evidence that a second, and perhaps a third, torpedo was fired, and the great ship sank within a mere 20 minutes. It is impossible to satisfactorily draw a pen picture of the heart-rending scenes which followed. Men, women and children, caught like rats in a trap, were vainly fighting for their lives amongst wreckage of every description. The doomed liner’s S.O.S. was answered within a few hours of the call, and 764 lives were saved.