July 1, 2025 • 45 mins
The catastrophic sinking of the RMS Lusitania on May 7, 1915, serves as a poignant focal point for our discourse, representing not merely an act of war but a complex intersection of hubris, tragedy, and potential conspiracy. This ocean liner, lauded for its engineering marvels and luxurious accommodations, met its demise in a mere eighteen minutes after being torpedoed by a German U-boat, resulting in the loss of approximately 1,200 lives. As we meticulously unravel the events leading to this maritime disaster, we shall explore the implications of British military strategy, the nature of naval warfare during World War I, and the controversial presence of undeclared munitions aboard the Lusitania. Furthermore, we examine the consequential ripple effects that this incident had on American public opinion and its eventual entry into the war, illuminating the broader narrative of international relations during this tumultuous period. Join us as we delve into the depths of history, scrutinizing the myriad factors that transformed the Lusitania from a symbol of luxury into a harbinger of tragedy.
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Takeaways:
- The sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, resulted in the tragic loss of approximately 1,200 passengers and crew members, marking a significant event in maritime history.
- Despite warnings from the German government about the dangers of sailing in a war zone, the Lusitania embarked on her final voyage with a large number of civilians on board.
- The controversy surrounding the second explosion following the torpedo strike raises questions about potential undeclared munitions on the Lusitania that may have contributed to the disaster.
- The event served as a pivotal moment in shaping American public opinion against Germany, ultimately leading to the United States' involvement in World War I.
- The Lusitania was not merely a passenger ship; it was allegedly carrying munitions and war materials, which complicates the narrative of innocent civilian loss.
- Discrepancies in accountability between the British Admiralty and Captain Turner suggest potential scapegoating in the aftermath of the disaster.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Foreign May 7, 1915.
A calm, clear afternoon offthe coast of Ireland.
(00:23):
The grandest fastest liner onthe Atlantic, the the RMS Lusitania
was nearing the end of her voyage.
The Lusitania was a Britishocean liner, a luxury passenger ship
whose dedicated purpose was totransport people across the ocean.
It was one of the fastestships of its time, capable of reaching
speeds up to 25 knots.
And it was quite large,reaching 240 meters, the length of
(00:47):
two football fields.
On Board were over 1900 souls,the majority of them British and
Canadian, but also 159American citizens.
So far the Lusitania's presentjourney had been uneventful.
But as it sailed through theCeltic Sea between Ireland and England,
its destination of Liverpooljust a short distance away, something
(01:11):
sinister lurked beneath the waves.
At 2:10pm without warning, theLusitania was torpedoed by a U20
German submarine, also knownas a U boat.
Minutes later a secondexplosion occurred at the cause of
which is still debated.
The consequences however, were unmistakable.
The entire ship sank within 18minutes, killing 1200 passengers
(01:35):
and crew on board.
In just 18 short minutes.
Michael.
The Lusitania, the marvel ofengineering, would become a tomb,
sparking a firestorm ofoutrage and controversy that burns
to this day.
Was it just an act of war orsomething far more calculated?
A crime of unimaginable proportions?
Welcome to history's greatest crimes.
(01:57):
I'm Michael.
And I'm Elena.
Today we're diving deep intothe murky waters surrounding the
sinking of the Lusitania.
Stay with us as we discuss thereasons why German submarines targeted
the Lusitania as seeminglyinnocent passenger ship.
How the media used this eventto promote World War I and what archaeologists
later found buried in the shipthat suggests the British authorities
(02:21):
were actually to blame.
(02:43):
Alright Alina, before we goget get into the sinking, we have
to talk a little bit moreabout the ship herself, the Lusitania.
And it wasn't just any steamliner.
She was a statement.
Built by John Brown andCompany in Scotland, she was launched
in 1906.
She was a technological marvelfor her time.
She was one of the firstBritish four stackers, which meant
(03:05):
that she had four funnelswhich allowed the ship to move much
quicker.
The Lusitania was the firstship to cross the Atlantic in under
five days.
And boy was she luxurious.
She was designed to carry over2000 passengers in style.
552 of them in first class,460 in the second cabin and over
(03:26):
1100 in third class, plus acrew of around 850 in 1915, it had
10 decks, it had magnificentpublic rooms.
Cunard, the company thathelped build the Lusitania, really
pulled out all the stops andshe was a symbol of luxurious British
maritime supremacy.
(03:47):
But there was a catch, wasn't there?
Built with a little help fromthe British government.
The British government hadactually subsidized the cost of the
Lusitania's construction withthe understanding that the ship could
be converted into an armedmerchant cruiser if war broke out.
She even had emplacementsdesigned for 126 inch guns, though
it's hotly debated if any wereever actually fitted or on board.
(04:10):
During her final voyages, thisdual nature would become a critical
point of contention.
And by May 1915, that war wasin full brutal swing.
World War I included two mainalliances at the time, the Allied
powers, which included France,Great Britain and Russia, but also
(04:30):
Italy, Japan, Serbia, Belgiumand Montenegro.
The United States wouldeventually join this alliance, but
not until April of 1917.
The opposing Central Powersincluded the German Empire, the Austria
Hungary Empire, the OttomanEmpire and Bulgaria.
World War I, aka the GreatWar, broke out in July of the previous
(04:52):
year.
In 1914, and now in 1915,conflict between Allied and Central
Powers had turned the Atlanticinto a hunting ground.
Britain, with its verypowerful surface fleet, had established
a naval blockade of Germanyand aiming to starve them into submission.
And Germany's response?
The U boat, AKA the submarine.
(05:14):
These submarines were an acein the hole for the Germans against
British naval dominance.
On February 4th of 1915,Germany declared the waters around
the British Isles a war zone.
They announced that they wouldsink any Allied merchant ships in
the zone, often without warning.
And this was their policy ofwhat they called unrestricted submarine
(05:35):
warfare.
A terrifying prospect for anyship, but especially for a passenger
liner that was stillattempting to maintain transatlantic
service.
The Germans argued that manyAllied ships were actually carrying
war materials, making themlegitimate targets.
And to be fair, many of them were.
(05:57):
It's fascinating, Michael, howthe nature of naval warfare was shifting
so dramatically at this point.
Up to this point, the oldprize rules had applied to naval
warfare.
It was understood that if awarship intended to target an enemy
ship, it should allow for thesafety of crew and passengers before
sinking it.
(06:18):
But as you can imagine, when aU boat surfaced to give warning to
a targeted ship, that thenmade the U boat vulnerable to attack
and turn.
And this was especially aconcern because the British had started
using what they called Q ships.
They were disguised warshipsdesigned to lure German U boats to
the surface and then destroy them.
(06:39):
So the stage is set.
A magnificent liner A brutalwar and a new terrifying weapon changing
all the rules.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, hindsight being 20 20,always, I guess everything.
But I feel you that on thisoccasion I too want to reach back
in time and shake people alittle bit in response to their actions.
(07:01):
So on May 1st of 1915, theocean liner the Lusitania prepared
for her 202nd transatlanticvoyage departing New York for Liverpool,
England.
And to be fair, there werewarnings, Michael, very explicit
warnings that suggested thatthis was a bad idea for the ship
(07:21):
and its passengers.
Indeed, the German Embassy inWashington took the extraordinary
step of placing advertisementsin in American newspapers right alongside
Cunard's own sailing notices.
One such warning appearing onApril 22 of 1915 and in the papers
and around the departure date,this is what it read.
Quote, notice.
(07:42):
Travelers intending to embarkon the Atlantic voyage are reminded
that a state of war existsbetween Germany and her allies as
well as Great Britain and herallies, that the zone of war includes
the waters adjacent to to theBritish Isles, that in accordance
with formal notice given bythe Imperial German government, vessels
flying the flag of GreatBritain or any of her allies are
(08:05):
liable to destruction in those waters.
And that traveling sailing inthe war zone on ships of Great Britain
or her allies do so at theirown risk.
Chilling.
And to make the situation evenmore clear, some newspapers even
specifically mentioned theLusitania in connection with these
warnings.
But it wasn't just newspaper ads.
(08:26):
Apparently some prominentpassengers received anonymous telegrams
warning them that theLusitania would be torpedoed.
And yet many passengers, thecrew and the ship's owner company
seemed to dismiss these threats.
There was a prevailing belief,a kind of hubris perhaps, that the
Lusitania was simply too fastfor any submarine to catch.
(08:49):
One ship official was quotedsaying, the Lusitania is the safest
boat on the sea and too fastfor any submarine.
End quote.
That is a dangerous assumption.
It highlights a fascinatingpsychological aspect, a refusal to
believe that something sogrand, so symbolic, could actually
be vulnerable.
As one historian, Eric Larson,put it in his research on the Lusitania,
(09:13):
he said, quote, it is a storythat many of us think we know, but.
But don't.
He notes that there was awidespread refusal to believe that
anything untoward could happento the ship.
This dismissal of clearwarnings is a crucial element.
It speaks to a mindset,perhaps an Edwardian hangover, where
(09:33):
the, quote, gentlemanlystrictures of warfare were still
believed to offer someprotection to these civilian vessels.
And this, of course, was afatal miscalculation.
So despite the undercurrent of danger.
The Lusitania steamed out ofNew York and as mentioned, the ship
included different classes forpassengers for different prices.
(09:55):
A veritable cross section of society.
There were also quite a rangeof passengers.
As mentioned, theirnationalities weren't incredibly
diverse.
Mostly British and Canadianwith 159Americans sprinkled in.
But to give you an even closerlook at the passengers, we also know
that the ship tragically alsoheld many children.
51 male children, 39 femalechildren and 39 infants.
(10:19):
A total of 129 young lives.
Among the passengers were someactually notable figures.
Alfred Gwyn Vanderbilt, themillionaire sportsman, third son
of the even richer CorneliusVanderbilt ii.
He was on a business trip toattend a meeting of the International
Horse Breeders Association.
(10:39):
One can imagine him strollingthe deck of Lusitania the in his
tailored suit and top hat.
Then there were Americanwriter, publisher and philosopher
Elbert Hubbard, who wastraveling with his wife Alice.
Hubbard was the founder of theRoycroft movement which was based
around an influential Arts andcrafts movement in New York.
Whereas Alice was a well knownsuffragist pushing for women's suffrage.
(11:03):
The couple were reportedly ontheir way to Europe for Hubbard to
interview Kaiser.
Wilhelm II and Theodot PopeRiddle, one of America's pioneering
female architect who wastraveling with her maid and a friend.
Theodot was a strong willedyoung woman born into privilege and
wealth in the United States.
She refused to answer to hergiven name, Effie and went on to
(11:26):
become one of the nation'spioneering female architects.
Rather than a debutante, herfamily wanted her to being the free
spirit that she was.
Theodore was actually headingto England on board the Lusitania
to promote psychical researchin England.
Like many at her time, she wasvery interested in mediums and telepathy
(11:47):
and spirits.
Charles Laureate Jr.
A Boston bookseller, was alsoon board.
Less elite than some of theother names we've mentioned, he was
traveling with a colleague insecond class.
In his memoir about hisexperience on the Lusitania, he described
the early part of the voyageas fairly normal, though he noted
the ship's somewhat slowerspeed and the unusual weather conditions.
(12:12):
And similarly class passengerwas also quoted saying, I can't help
hoping that we get some sortof thrill going up the English Channel,
end quote.
Looking back, it's one ofthose things that make you think,
be careful what you wish for.
Indeed, historians of theLusitania paint a picture of passengers
being trained and using lifejackets, portholes covered and a
(12:37):
ban on showing lights on deck,which was intended to make passengers
feel like precautions werebeing taken against German submarines.
Over the course of the trip,there was apparently much discussion
about the war and U boats.
But there was also a sense of routine.
According to written memoirs,Theoday Pope and her friends left
(12:58):
lunch on the ship on thatfateful day, May 7, as the ship orchestra
played a waltz known as theBlue Danube.
A chilling juxtaposition ofnormalcy and impending doom.
(13:30):
While passengers enjoy enjoyedthe Lusitania's relative luxury,
German captain Lt.
Walther Schweiger and his Uboat, the U20 were already on the
prowl in the waters off of Ireland.
The U20 was a German dieselelectric submarine built in 1912
and commissioned in 1913.
It was 42 meters long withengines that went up to 700 metric
(13:53):
horsepower.
It was also capable ofoperating at depths of up to 150
meters and.
Even more intimidating, theU20 German submarine was fitted with
four torpedo tubes at the bow,type A torpedo mines and an anti
aircraft gun.
And Schwaiger was having abusy and tragically successful patrol.
(14:14):
Just days before encounteringthe Lusitania on May 7, his U boat
had already sunk three other vessels.
The sailing vessel Earl ofLatham, the steamer's candidate and
Centurion, all of them British.
In the case of the candidateand Centurion, Schwaiger noted in
his log that he provided timefor their crews to evacuate before
(14:36):
sinking the ships.
And this is a crucial detail, Michael.
It shows that at least withthese smaller merchant vessels, Captain
Schwaiger was to some extentadhering to the older prize rules.
This makes his later actionsregarding the Lusitania even more
stark.
On the morning of May 7th,visibility was poor.
(14:56):
Schwaiger's U boat was low onfuel and had only three torpedoes
left.
The German captain hadinitially decided to head home, even
submerging to avoid asuspected patrol boat which turned
out to be the British cruiserHMS Juno.
According to Schwaiger'snotes, the Juno was passing at high
speeds and zigzagging too fastfor the U20 to target.
(15:18):
The Juno had actually beenwarned of U bot activity in the area.
German Captain WalterSchweiger himself is a figure of
considerable interest.
Born in Berlin in 1885, hejoined the Imperial German Navy in
1903 and had been in the UBoat Service since 1911.
By 1915 he was an experienced submarine.
(15:40):
Commander and a successful one.
Over his career he would sink49 ships.
He had been decorated withGermany's highest military honors.
But his methods werecontroversial even at the time.
While he was known to take thegentlemanly approach of allowing
enemy crew off targeted ships,allowing them to survive.
He apparently didn't alwaysfollow that approach.
(16:02):
Some historians describe hisoverall approach as shoot first and
ask questions later and later.
After he chose the laterviolent approach with the Lusitania
on May 7, he would becomeknown to the British as the baby
killer.
On May 7, around 1:20pmGreenwich time, the U boat crew chief
(16:23):
sighted the Lusitania.
Schweiger ordered the U boatto submerge.
Initially, he didn't think anattack would be possible.
But then, as he noted, theLusitania turned, presenting a perfect
target.
The hunter had found its prey.
At 2pm The Lusitania wasapproximately 11 miles off the Old
Head of Kinsel on the southerncoast of Ireland.
(16:45):
Captain of the Lusitania,William Thomas Turner, was on the
bridge.
Captain Turner is best knownfor his role in the Lusitania disaster,
but he was actually anexcellent navigator who accomplished
several crossings at noble speeds.
He, he was promoted for hisnaval skills.
Despite his unsuitably gruffdemeanor around passengers.
(17:06):
Yeah, Captain Turner was a bitgrumpy at times.
At some point he was said tohave referred to passengers as, quote,
a load of bloody monkeys whoare constantly chattering, end quote.
But as noted, Captain Turnerwas good at what he did.
And in the afternoon of May 7,the sea was smooth and the day was
(17:27):
now clear.
Suddenly, lookout LeslieMorton, stationed at the bow, spotted
the telltale white streak of atorpedo in the water.
He shouted, torpedoes comingon the starboard side.
Seaman Thomas Quinn in thecrew's nest echoed the warning.
And Captain Turner rushed tothe starboard side of the bridge.
But there was no time for evasive.
(17:49):
Action in the U boat.
Captain Schweiger watched whathappened through his periscope.
In the entry to his war diaryfor that day, he wrote a chillingly
detached record stating,quote, clear bow shot at 700 meters.
Shot struck starboard sideclose behind the bridge.
And an extraordinarily heavydetonation followed with a very large
(18:11):
cloud of smoke far above thefront tunnel.
End quote.
The time was 2:10pm the impactwas devastating.
Passengers at lunch reporteda, quote, penetrating thrust.
Theodore Pope, who was at thetime on the B deck promenade, heard
a dull explosion as water andtimbers flew past.
(18:32):
A column of water and debrisfrom the impact actually knocked
lifeboat number five overboard.
And then, Michael, came theevent that sealed the Lusitania's
fate and has fueled debateever since.
A second more powerfulexplosion just seconds after the
torpedo hit.
Schweiger himself noted in his log.
He wrote that a secondExplosion must have followed that
(18:54):
of the torpedo.
But his question marks at theend of the log suggest he wasn't
actually sure what caused it.
Survivors attested the secondblast felt different, more muffled
and internal and.
And far more violent.
It sent a cloud of chokingsteam and dust swirling around the
bridge.
This second explosion is thecrux of so many Lusitania controversies.
(19:18):
What caused it?
The evidence here is murky,but as we'll discuss in a few minutes,
the second explosion makes alittle more sense if you consider
the possibility of undeclaredexplosives being on board the Lusitania.
Perhaps the Lusitania wasn'tjust a passenger ship solely carrying
people like it suggested.
Maybe it had some hidden cargothat was intended to help the British
(19:42):
war effort in World War I.
That would certainly changethe narrative.
It moves the sinking of theLusitania from a simple act of war
against a passenger liner toone where the liner itself was a
floating powder keg, knowinglyor unknowingly to its passengers.
And if it's true, it becomes acrucial piece of evidence pointing
(20:03):
towards deception.
After the second explosion,the Lusitania began to list heavily
to starboard.
Captain Turner ordered theship to turn around towards the Irish
coast, hoping to breach her.
But the hydraulics had failedand she would not respond.
He then ordered the enginesastern to slow her down.
But ruptured steam lines meantthe engines were dead.
(20:28):
The list was severe, quicklyreaching 15 degrees, then over 20.
This is where a criticaldesign aspect of the Lusitania played
a fatal role.
Her longitudinal bulkheads,particularly around the coal bunkers,
were meant to contain damage.
Instead, they prevented waterfrom cross flooding and balancing
(20:48):
the ship, concentrating allthe flooding on the starboard side
and exacerbating the list.
A tragic irony, a safetyfeature contributing to the disaster.
This extreme list madelaunching the lifeboats an absolute
nightmare.
Those on the port side, whichwas high up in the air at this point,
swung inboard, crushing anyonebeneath and making them impossible
(21:11):
to launch.
In contrast, on the starboardside, the lifeboat swung far out,
reaching a terrifying 60 footgap between the deck and the boats.
Captain Turner ordered womenand children into the boats first.
But many boats capsized during lowering.
They were damaged or spilled.
Their occupants, some accountssuggest crew were inexperienced and
(21:33):
passenger confusion may haveadded to the chaos.
Of the 48 lifeboats, only sixwere successfully launched.
Just six?
Yikes.
The personal stories are heartbreaking.
The millionaire AlfredVanderbilt was last seen helping
others into lifeboats ingiving his own life jacket to a mother
(21:54):
with a child, knowing that hehimself couldn't swim and he perished.
A witness saw Albert and AliceHubbard link arms and walk into an
open cabin on the top deck,closing the door behind them, choosing
to meet their end togetherrather than be separated in the water.
The Pope, after a harrowingexperience trying to get into a lifeboat,
(22:17):
jumped into the sea with hermaiden friend, only to be separated
and later rescued unconscious.
She recalled the water beingfilled with, quote, hundreds of frantic,
screaming, shouting humans andthe children.
Of the 39 infants on board, 35were lost.
Overall, 94 of the 124children perished.
(22:39):
Many died from exhaustionafter immersion in the cold water.
The sheer speed of the sinkinggave them little chance.
Captain Turner remained on thebridge until the ship went down under
him.
He survived, clinging to anoar or a chair before being picked
up.
For those who found themselvesin the water, Michael, it was an
unimaginable hell.
(23:00):
The sea off Ireland in earlyMay is frigid.
Hundreds were pitched intothat cold, churning chaos.
Charles Lariat, the Bostonbookseller, described the sound of
over a thousand people in thewater as, quote, a long, lingering
moan, end quote.
He managed to get into acollapsible boat with lookout Leslie
(23:21):
Morton and others pulling inmore survivors until the boat was
almost swamped.
Theodore Pope's account is terrifying.
Sucked down with the ship,trapped momentarily between decks,
then surfacing to what shecalled a gray and watery inferno.
She lost consciousnessmultiple times before being found
clinging to an ore.
(23:42):
Initially mistaken for dead,she later mentioned that the trauma
of the event was so severethat her hair began to fall out.
Afterwards, another survivor,Robert Timmis, a British cotton trader
traveling first class, wasdragged down.
But being a strong swimmer, hemanaged to surface after what he
estimated was 32 strokes.
(24:02):
Believing he'd been pulleddown roughly 60ft, he was eventually
rescued by the ship'scarpenter, Neil Robertson.
These.
These individual stories,collected by historians from letters
and diaries, paint such avivid picture of the personal tragedy.
And the psychological scarsmust have been immense.
First class passenger, theBritish lady Margaret Mackworth Bluebell.
(24:27):
And hearing another survivor,Beatrice Witherbee, who had lost
her baby and her mother to thewater, vehemently berating Captain
Turner, the grief and angerwere palpable.
While the official response tothe sinking of the Lusitania was
being mobilized, the firstheroes on the scene were local Irish
fishermen and boatmen.
It took about two hours forthe first rescue vessels to reach
(24:50):
the site 11 miles offshore.
The fishing boat, the Wandererof Peel, skippered by William Ball,
was one of the very first.
They reportedly picked uparound 160 to 200 survivors and towed
lifeboats despite the dangerof being swamped themselves.
Skipper Ball later wrote,quote, we were the only boat there
(25:11):
for two hours and it was anawful thing to see her sinking and
to see the plight of thesepeople, end quote.
Another crewman from the samefishing ship, Harry Costin, said,
I never want to see the like again.
There were four babies aboutthree months old, and some of the
people were almost naked.
End quote.
The spontaneous heroism fromordinary civilians is incredibly
(25:34):
moving.
They face the horror head on.
Despite the U boat potentiallystill being in the area.
A lifeboat from another ship,the Quetzia Gwilt, apparently launched
promptly, but with no wind.
The crew had to row the entire12 nautical miles to the scene of
the sinking.
They arrived about three and ahalf hours later, tragically too
(25:55):
late to save lives.
Their log entry is heartbreaking.
If we had wind or any motorpower, our boat would have certainly
been first on the scene.
It was a harrowing sight to witness.
The sea was strewn with dead bodies.
Eventually, other navalvessels arrived and began coordinating
the larger rescue and recovery effort.
(26:16):
Survivors and bodies wereprimarily brought to Queenstown on
the southern coast of Ireland,where the local community rallied
to provide aid, setting up amakeshift hospitals and morgues.
While figures vary slightlyacross sources, the consensus is
that somewhere between1193-1199 people perished.
(26:38):
Only about 760 survived.
The American losses wereparticularly significant, at least
politically.
128 US citizens died and as aresult, the sinking of the Lusitania
became a key factor in inshifting American public opinion
against Germany.
Fewer than 300 bodies wereever recovered.
(27:01):
The rest were lost to the Atlantic.
In Queenstown, 173 victimswere buried in mass graves in the
old church cemetery, 80 ofthem unidentified.
(27:29):
The news of the sinking of theLusitania hit the world like a thunderclap.
In the United States, initialheadlines were a mix of shock and
a demand for facts.
The New York Times on May 8ran with, quote, divergent views
of the sinking of theLusitania, end quote.
But that restraint didn't last long.
Soon American papers werecalling the attack a massacre, villainous,
(27:52):
barbaric and ghastly.
The focus was squarely on theAmerican lives lost and the perceived
brutality of Germany.
In the uk, as you wouldexpect, condemnation, was swift and
furious.
Papers like the Surrey Mirrorand the Newcastle Journal carried
extensive reports.
The sinking of Britain'spremier liner with such loss of civilian
(28:14):
life became a potent symbol ofGerman wartime aggression.
German newspapers, however,largely toed the official line.
They justified the sinking,claiming the Lusitania was actually
an auxiliary cruiser, that shewas carrying munitions and that ample
warning had been given to passengers.
Our listeners will recall allof the ads placed in newspapers and
(28:37):
other such warnings thatpassengers had received prior to
the sailing.
In fact, one German artist,Carl Goetz, actually created a commemorative
medal of the event.
On the medal he depicted theLusitania laden with war materials,
under the caption, nocontraband goods.
And on the reverse, a skeletonselling tickets at the ship company
(28:59):
office with the words businessabove all, this really captured the
German public sentiment thatthe ship company and Britain more
generally were, were to blamefor risking passenger lives.
It's clear the sinkingimmediately became a propaganda battlefield.
Each nation framed the eventto suit its wartime narrative.
(29:19):
The truth was almost secondaryto how the story could be spun.
This manipulation ofinformation, Michael, is a key part
of why this event remains sucha contentious crime.
So the Lusitania is at thebottom of The Atlantic, nearly 1200
souls lost.
The immediate question beyondthe horror was why?
And who was to blame?
(29:41):
Was it simply a German atrocity?
Or Michael, was theresomething more sinister at play?
We have a ship that wasallegedly laden with undeclared explosives,
a captain accused of criticalerrors, and whispers from historians
that the British Admiralty,perhaps even Winston Churchill himself,
(30:02):
let the Lusitania sail into adeath trap in order to lure the United
States into the war.
This is where the story movesfrom tragedy to a potential crime
of unimaginable cynicism.
This is one of the mostenduring controversies of the whole
story.
The official manifest listeditems like 4.2 million rounds of
(30:24):
Remington bullets, almost5,000 shrapnel shell casings, about
female, 50 tons worth, and 18cases of non explosive artillery
fuses.
These were openly declared andunder US law at the time considered,
quote, non explosive in bulk.
And it was permissible onpassenger ships, even those heading
(30:44):
to belligerent nations.
But the real firestorm is overwhat wasn't declared.
Some sources allege a far moredangerous undeclared cargo, specifically
a large consignment of guncotton, a highly volatile explosive.
And those shrapnel shellcasings that were officially listed.
(31:05):
The claim is that many wereactually about 1200 cases of 3 inch
shrapnel shells filled withgunpowder, live and ready for the
Royal Artillery to use againstGerman forces.
So to be clear, the Lusitaniawas a passenger ship that was already
risking it by sailing intotroubled waters.
But in addition totransporting passengers, it was also
(31:27):
clearly carrying hidden, veryexplosive ammunition and weapons
to get them past Germansubmarines into England.
That's correct.
The German ambassador, CountBernstorff, even presented evidence
to President Wilson claimingthe shrapnel consignment was 5,000
filled shells weighing over100,000 pounds, deliberately mislabeled
(31:48):
as non explosive shrapnel.
Now, if this is true, thiswasn't just contraband, it was a
massive safety hazard thatcould explain that catastrophic second
explosion.
The distinction here is crucial.
Declared rifle cartridges wereone thing, arguably legal under the
loose neutrality laws of the time.
(32:08):
Undeclared gun cotton and liveartillery shells were something else
entirely.
That shifts the blamesignificantly towards the British
authorities for recklesslyendangering their passengers, which,
regardless of the German actions.
In the aftermath, CaptainWilliam Turner himself was found
in the crosshairs.
He faced a barrage ofcriticism for not zigzagging in a
(32:31):
known submarine zone, for hisreduced speeds of 18 knots when the
ship was capable of 24 or 25,for sailing too close to Headlands
and for alleged poor crewtraining for lifeboat deployment.
The British Admiralty actuallybrought charges against him.
Turner defended himself,stating he was following instructions
(32:52):
as he understood them, thatboiler conditions limited his speed
and that the fog had been afactor earlier as well.
Ultimately, Captain Turner was exonerated.
British authorities famouslyconcluded that the blame lay squarely
with, quote, those who orderedthe crime and those who committed
a end quote, meaning theGerman government and the U boat
(33:14):
crew.
But was Turner being set up asa scapegoat?
Some historians suggest thatFirst Lord of the Admiralty, Winston
Churchill and other Britishofficials were quick to pin as much
blame on Turner as possible,even allegedly backdating Admiralty
orders and distortinggeography to make him look culpable.
The Admiralty's eagerness topoint the finger at Turner certainly
(33:36):
raises eyebrows.
The reality is that if itcould be shown that British authorities
had failed in their duty toprotect such a high profile liner,
the political fallout wouldhave been immense.
Shifting blame to the captainwould be a convenient way to deflect
their own responsibility.
And this brings us to thedarkest conspiracy of them all, Elena.
(33:57):
That the British Admiraltyunder Winston Churchill deliberately
endangered the Lusitania tocreate an incident so horrific that
it would have to drag theUnited States into the war.
Proponents of this theorypoint to a couple of factors.
First, that the Lusitaniasailing orders led her directly into
danger.
And second, that a crucialnaval escort that would have helped
(34:20):
protect the ship wasinexplicably withdrawn as the Lusitania
was sailing across the Atlantic.
One supporter of this theory,Patrick Beasley, who worked in Naval
Intelligence during World WarII and wrote extensively about Britain's
naval code breaking unit inWorld War I, was, quote, reluctantly
driven to the conclusion thatthere was a conspiracy deliberately
(34:43):
to put the Lusitania at risk,and that such a plot could not have
been put into effect withoutWinston Churchill's express permission
and approval.
End quote.
British code breakers hadalready broken German naval codes
and knew that CaptainSchweiger's submarine was operating
off the Irish coast.
The question is, was theintelligence used effectively to
(35:03):
protect the Lusitania?
But frankly, most mainstreamhistorians strongly rebut these conspiracy
claims.
They argue that there's noconcrete evidence of a plot and that
Churchill was actually inParis in the days immediately preceding
the sinking.
The Admiralty did send generalwarnings about U boat activity, even
if it wasn't as effective asthey hoped.
(35:25):
And Captain Turner's ownnavigational decisions, as we've
discussed, played asignificant role.
There's also the practicalargument that Britain lacked the
resources to escort everysingle liner, and the Lusitania was,
in theory, much faster thanany available escort.
And yet there's still somequestionable evidence.
(35:45):
For example, in a letter fromChurchill to Walter Runciman, President
of the Board and trade, datedFebruary 12, 1915, he stated, for
our part, we want the traffic,the more the better, and if some
of it gets into trouble,better still.
This was seen by some as asmoking gun, indicating a willingness
(36:06):
to see an incident occur thatmight embroil the United States.
Others argue it was simplyChurchill wanting trade to continue
despite the known risks,knowing that any German aggression
against neutral ships would bediplomatically damaging to Germany.
The allure of the conspiracyis also fueled by claims of missing
(36:26):
Admiralty documents from theperiod when official records are
incomplete.
It naturally breeds suspicionthat something is being hidden.
Whether this is due to wartimesecrecy, bureaucratic bungling or
an actual cover up is, ofcourse, debatable.
Churchill was undeniably apragmatic and sometimes ruthless
wartime leader.
(36:46):
That February 1915 lettercertainly reveals a mindset willing
to countenance high risk forstrategic gain.
It doesn't prove he plotted tosink the Lusitania, though, but it
helps explain why he becamesuch a central figure in these enduring
and disturbing theories.
The sinking of The Lusitania,with 128American lives lost, sent
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shock waves across theAtlantic and landed squarely on President
Woodrow Wilson's desk.
American public opinion, whileinitially calling for facts, quickly
turned to outrage.
Wilson was in a tough spot.
He had campaigned on keepingAmerica out of the war.
Yet here was a blatant attackthat killed American civilians.
(37:31):
Former President TheodoreRoosevelt was Scathing, demanding
military reprisal andcriticizing Wilson's cautious approach.
Wilson opted for diplomacy, atleast initially.
The US government sent aseries of strongly worded diplomatic
notes to Germany.
The first, on May 13, 1915,demanded that Germany disavow the
(37:53):
sinking, make reparations andtake immediate steps to prevent reoccurrence.
It stated that the USGovernment cannot admit that the
adoption of such measures orsuch a warning of danger to operate
is in any degree anabbreviation of the rights of American
shipmasters or of Americancitizens bound on lawful errands.
(38:15):
End quote.
Germany's initial response was defiant.
They argued the Lusitania wascarrying munitions, which, as we've
seen, was at least partially true.
And they argued that theLusitania was listed as an auxiliary
cruiser, making her alegitimate target.
They also pointed to thenewspaper warnings.
The diplomatic back and forthcontinued for months.
(38:37):
Wilson, Secretary of StateWilliam Jennings Bryan actually resigned
in June of 1915, believingWilson's notes were too provocative
and might lead to war.
Wilson's third note on July21, 1915, warned Germany that any
future infringement of U.S.
rights would be deemeddeliberately unfriendly, which was
(38:58):
strong diplomatic language.
It's clear Wilson was tryingto walk a tightrope.
He was attempting to upholdAmerican rights and honor, pacify
public anger, but but alsoavoid being dragged into a massive
European conflict.
This was a monumental task.
While Wilson engaged indiplomacy, the propaganda machines
(39:18):
went into overdrive.
In Britain and America, thesinking became a powerful symbol
of German barbarity.
The loss of innocent lives,especially women and children, was
heavily emphasized.
The phrase Remember theLusitania became a public, potent
rallying cry, much likeremember the main had been in the
(39:39):
Spanish American war that wecovered in a previous episode.
Recruitment posters featuredimages of a sinking Lusitania or
drowning mothers and childrendesigned to stir outrage and encourage
enlistment.
One particularly effectivepiece of British propaganda was their
reproduction of the GermanCarl Getz medal.
(40:00):
Getz had actually incorrectlydated the sinking as May 5, which
was two days earlier, on hisoriginal satirical medal.
And the British seized on thismass produced copies and sold them,
claiming the incorrect datewas proof the Germans had premeditated
the attack on that specific day.
A clever, if deceitful pieceof psychological warfare.
(40:22):
The Germans, of course, hadtheir own propaganda, emphasizing
the Lusitania's alleged roleas an armed auxiliary carrying war
supplies and the Lusitaniaowner company as a reckless company.
But in the court of Alliedpublic opinion, and especially in
America, the image of Germanyas the aggressor ruthlessly sinking
(40:42):
a Passenger ship took firm hold.
The sheer volume of Americancasualties, including prominent figures
like Alfred Vanderbilt,ensured constant press coverage and
kept the tragedy in the public consciousness.
It solidified anti Germansentiment even if it didn't immediately
lead to war.
That's right.
See, the sinking of theLusitania wouldn't be the reason
(41:04):
the United States would enterWorld War I.
But the Lusitania crisis didlead to a temporary shift in German
policy and public opinion.
After further incidentsresulting in German submarines sinking
innocent Americans or Alliedships, Germany, fearing American
intervention, issued theSussex Pledge on May 4, 1916.
(41:28):
Under this pledge, Germanypromised to stop the indiscriminate
sinking of non military ships.
Merchant ships would besearched and sunk only if they were
found to be carryingcontraband and only after safe passage
had been provided for crew and passengers.
This somewhat eased tensionswith the United States for a while
while, but it.
(41:49):
Was only a temporary reprieve.
By early 1917, Germany,desperate to break the British blockade
and win the war, made thefateful decision to once again resume
unrestricted submarinewarfare, fully aware that it would
likely bring the United Statesinto the conflict.
That, coupled with theZimmerman telegram on March 1st of
(42:10):
1917, was the final straw.
This telegram, discovered byBritish code breakers, was a secret
German proposal of an alliancewith Mexico against the United States.
On April 6, 1917, nearly twoyears after the Lusitania went down,
the United States formallydeclared war on Germany and its allies.
(42:31):
So while the Lusitania wasn'tthe sole cause of America's entry
into the war, it wasundeniably a pivotal event.
And it exposed the brutalityof modern warfare, galvanized public
opinion, and set the stage forAmerica's eventual and decisive involvement.
And what of the Lusitania herself?
She still lies in about 300ftof water 11 miles off the Irish coast.
(42:55):
The wreck is in poorcondition, with the ship lying on
her starboard side, largelyflattened by time and strong currents.
The sinking of the Lusitaniawas a tragedy born of war, hubris,
and perhaps deliberatecalculation, and played a crucial
role in shaping the course ofthe 20th century.
A crime of war?
(43:16):
Undoubtedly.
But was it also a crime ofconspiracy, of a nation sacrificing
its own to achieve a greaterstrategic aim?
The jury of history, it seems,is still out on at least some of
those charges.
Thank you for joining us todayon history's greatest crimes.
I'm Elena.
And I'm Michael.
Until next time, stay curious.
(43:36):
Curious.
Foreign May 7, 1915.
A calm, clear afternoon offthe coast of Ireland.
(00:23):
The grandest fastest liner onthe Atlantic, the the RMS Lusitania
was nearing the end of her voyage.
The Lusitania was a Britishocean liner, a luxury passenger ship
whose dedicated purpose was totransport people across the ocean.
It was one of the fastestships of its time, capable of reaching
speeds up to 25 knots.
And it was quite large,reaching 240 meters, the length of
(00:47):
two football fields.
On Board were over 1900 souls,the majority of them British and
Canadian, but also 159American citizens.
So far the Lusitania's presentjourney had been uneventful.
But as it sailed through theCeltic Sea between Ireland and England,
its destination of Liverpooljust a short distance away, something
(01:11):
sinister lurked beneath the waves.
At 2:10pm without warning, theLusitania was torpedoed by a U20
German submarine, also knownas a U boat.
Minutes later a secondexplosion occurred at the cause of
which is still debated.
The consequences however, were unmistakable.
The entire ship sank within 18minutes, killing 1200 passengers
(01:35):
and crew on board.
In just 18 short minutes.
Michael.
The Lusitania, the marvel ofengineering, would become a tomb,
sparking a firestorm ofoutrage and controversy that burns
to this day.
Was it just an act of war orsomething far more calculated?
A crime of unimaginable proportions?
Welcome to history's greatest crimes.
(01:57):
I'm Michael.
And I'm Elena.
Today we're diving deep intothe murky waters surrounding the
sinking of the Lusitania.
Stay with us as we discuss thereasons why German submarines targeted
the Lusitania as seeminglyinnocent passenger ship.
How the media used this eventto promote World War I and what archaeologists
later found buried in the shipthat suggests the British authorities
(02:21):
were actually to blame.
(02:43):
Alright Alina, before we goget get into the sinking, we have
to talk a little bit moreabout the ship herself, the Lusitania.
And it wasn't just any steamliner.
She was a statement.
Built by John Brown andCompany in Scotland, she was launched
in 1906.
She was a technological marvelfor her time.
She was one of the firstBritish four stackers, which meant
(03:05):
that she had four funnelswhich allowed the ship to move much
quicker.
The Lusitania was the firstship to cross the Atlantic in under
five days.
And boy was she luxurious.
She was designed to carry over2000 passengers in style.
552 of them in first class,460 in the second cabin and over
(03:26):
1100 in third class, plus acrew of around 850 in 1915, it had
10 decks, it had magnificentpublic rooms.
Cunard, the company thathelped build the Lusitania, really
pulled out all the stops andshe was a symbol of luxurious British
maritime supremacy.
(03:47):
But there was a catch, wasn't there?
Built with a little help fromthe British government.
The British government hadactually subsidized the cost of the
Lusitania's construction withthe understanding that the ship could
be converted into an armedmerchant cruiser if war broke out.
She even had emplacementsdesigned for 126 inch guns, though
it's hotly debated if any wereever actually fitted or on board.
(04:10):
During her final voyages, thisdual nature would become a critical
point of contention.
And by May 1915, that war wasin full brutal swing.
World War I included two mainalliances at the time, the Allied
powers, which included France,Great Britain and Russia, but also
(04:30):
Italy, Japan, Serbia, Belgiumand Montenegro.
The United States wouldeventually join this alliance, but
not until April of 1917.
The opposing Central Powersincluded the German Empire, the Austria
Hungary Empire, the OttomanEmpire and Bulgaria.
World War I, aka the GreatWar, broke out in July of the previous
(04:52):
year.
In 1914, and now in 1915,conflict between Allied and Central
Powers had turned the Atlanticinto a hunting ground.
Britain, with its verypowerful surface fleet, had established
a naval blockade of Germanyand aiming to starve them into submission.
And Germany's response?
The U boat, AKA the submarine.
(05:14):
These submarines were an acein the hole for the Germans against
British naval dominance.
On February 4th of 1915,Germany declared the waters around
the British Isles a war zone.
They announced that they wouldsink any Allied merchant ships in
the zone, often without warning.
And this was their policy ofwhat they called unrestricted submarine
(05:35):
warfare.
A terrifying prospect for anyship, but especially for a passenger
liner that was stillattempting to maintain transatlantic
service.
The Germans argued that manyAllied ships were actually carrying
war materials, making themlegitimate targets.
And to be fair, many of them were.
(05:57):
It's fascinating, Michael, howthe nature of naval warfare was shifting
so dramatically at this point.
Up to this point, the oldprize rules had applied to naval
warfare.
It was understood that if awarship intended to target an enemy
ship, it should allow for thesafety of crew and passengers before
sinking it.
(06:18):
But as you can imagine, when aU boat surfaced to give warning to
a targeted ship, that thenmade the U boat vulnerable to attack
and turn.
And this was especially aconcern because the British had started
using what they called Q ships.
They were disguised warshipsdesigned to lure German U boats to
the surface and then destroy them.
(06:39):
So the stage is set.
A magnificent liner A brutalwar and a new terrifying weapon changing
all the rules.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, hindsight being 20 20,always, I guess everything.
But I feel you that on thisoccasion I too want to reach back
in time and shake people alittle bit in response to their actions.
(07:01):
So on May 1st of 1915, theocean liner the Lusitania prepared
for her 202nd transatlanticvoyage departing New York for Liverpool,
England.
And to be fair, there werewarnings, Michael, very explicit
warnings that suggested thatthis was a bad idea for the ship
(07:21):
and its passengers.
Indeed, the German Embassy inWashington took the extraordinary
step of placing advertisementsin in American newspapers right alongside
Cunard's own sailing notices.
One such warning appearing onApril 22 of 1915 and in the papers
and around the departure date,this is what it read.
Quote, notice.
(07:42):
Travelers intending to embarkon the Atlantic voyage are reminded
that a state of war existsbetween Germany and her allies as
well as Great Britain and herallies, that the zone of war includes
the waters adjacent to to theBritish Isles, that in accordance
with formal notice given bythe Imperial German government, vessels
flying the flag of GreatBritain or any of her allies are
(08:05):
liable to destruction in those waters.
And that traveling sailing inthe war zone on ships of Great Britain
or her allies do so at theirown risk.
Chilling.
And to make the situation evenmore clear, some newspapers even
specifically mentioned theLusitania in connection with these
warnings.
But it wasn't just newspaper ads.
(08:26):
Apparently some prominentpassengers received anonymous telegrams
warning them that theLusitania would be torpedoed.
And yet many passengers, thecrew and the ship's owner company
seemed to dismiss these threats.
There was a prevailing belief,a kind of hubris perhaps, that the
Lusitania was simply too fastfor any submarine to catch.
(08:49):
One ship official was quotedsaying, the Lusitania is the safest
boat on the sea and too fastfor any submarine.
End quote.
That is a dangerous assumption.
It highlights a fascinatingpsychological aspect, a refusal to
believe that something sogrand, so symbolic, could actually
be vulnerable.
As one historian, Eric Larson,put it in his research on the Lusitania,
(09:13):
he said, quote, it is a storythat many of us think we know, but.
But don't.
He notes that there was awidespread refusal to believe that
anything untoward could happento the ship.
This dismissal of clearwarnings is a crucial element.
It speaks to a mindset,perhaps an Edwardian hangover, where
(09:33):
the, quote, gentlemanlystrictures of warfare were still
believed to offer someprotection to these civilian vessels.
And this, of course, was afatal miscalculation.
So despite the undercurrent of danger.
The Lusitania steamed out ofNew York and as mentioned, the ship
included different classes forpassengers for different prices.
(09:55):
A veritable cross section of society.
There were also quite a rangeof passengers.
As mentioned, theirnationalities weren't incredibly
diverse.
Mostly British and Canadianwith 159Americans sprinkled in.
But to give you an even closerlook at the passengers, we also know
that the ship tragically alsoheld many children.
51 male children, 39 femalechildren and 39 infants.
(10:19):
A total of 129 young lives.
Among the passengers were someactually notable figures.
Alfred Gwyn Vanderbilt, themillionaire sportsman, third son
of the even richer CorneliusVanderbilt ii.
He was on a business trip toattend a meeting of the International
Horse Breeders Association.
(10:39):
One can imagine him strollingthe deck of Lusitania the in his
tailored suit and top hat.
Then there were Americanwriter, publisher and philosopher
Elbert Hubbard, who wastraveling with his wife Alice.
Hubbard was the founder of theRoycroft movement which was based
around an influential Arts andcrafts movement in New York.
Whereas Alice was a well knownsuffragist pushing for women's suffrage.
(11:03):
The couple were reportedly ontheir way to Europe for Hubbard to
interview Kaiser.
Wilhelm II and Theodot PopeRiddle, one of America's pioneering
female architect who wastraveling with her maid and a friend.
Theodot was a strong willedyoung woman born into privilege and
wealth in the United States.
She refused to answer to hergiven name, Effie and went on to
(11:26):
become one of the nation'spioneering female architects.
Rather than a debutante, herfamily wanted her to being the free
spirit that she was.
Theodore was actually headingto England on board the Lusitania
to promote psychical researchin England.
Like many at her time, she wasvery interested in mediums and telepathy
(11:47):
and spirits.
Charles Laureate Jr.
A Boston bookseller, was alsoon board.
Less elite than some of theother names we've mentioned, he was
traveling with a colleague insecond class.
In his memoir about hisexperience on the Lusitania, he described
the early part of the voyageas fairly normal, though he noted
the ship's somewhat slowerspeed and the unusual weather conditions.
(12:12):
And similarly class passengerwas also quoted saying, I can't help
hoping that we get some sortof thrill going up the English Channel,
end quote.
Looking back, it's one ofthose things that make you think,
be careful what you wish for.
Indeed, historians of theLusitania paint a picture of passengers
being trained and using lifejackets, portholes covered and a
(12:37):
ban on showing lights on deck,which was intended to make passengers
feel like precautions werebeing taken against German submarines.
Over the course of the trip,there was apparently much discussion
about the war and U boats.
But there was also a sense of routine.
According to written memoirs,Theoday Pope and her friends left
(12:58):
lunch on the ship on thatfateful day, May 7, as the ship orchestra
played a waltz known as theBlue Danube.
A chilling juxtaposition ofnormalcy and impending doom.
(13:30):
While passengers enjoy enjoyedthe Lusitania's relative luxury,
German captain Lt.
Walther Schweiger and his Uboat, the U20 were already on the
prowl in the waters off of Ireland.
The U20 was a German dieselelectric submarine built in 1912
and commissioned in 1913.
It was 42 meters long withengines that went up to 700 metric
(13:53):
horsepower.
It was also capable ofoperating at depths of up to 150
meters and.
Even more intimidating, theU20 German submarine was fitted with
four torpedo tubes at the bow,type A torpedo mines and an anti
aircraft gun.
And Schwaiger was having abusy and tragically successful patrol.
(14:14):
Just days before encounteringthe Lusitania on May 7, his U boat
had already sunk three other vessels.
The sailing vessel Earl ofLatham, the steamer's candidate and
Centurion, all of them British.
In the case of the candidateand Centurion, Schwaiger noted in
his log that he provided timefor their crews to evacuate before
(14:36):
sinking the ships.
And this is a crucial detail, Michael.
It shows that at least withthese smaller merchant vessels, Captain
Schwaiger was to some extentadhering to the older prize rules.
This makes his later actionsregarding the Lusitania even more
stark.
On the morning of May 7th,visibility was poor.
(14:56):
Schwaiger's U boat was low onfuel and had only three torpedoes
left.
The German captain hadinitially decided to head home, even
submerging to avoid asuspected patrol boat which turned
out to be the British cruiserHMS Juno.
According to Schwaiger'snotes, the Juno was passing at high
speeds and zigzagging too fastfor the U20 to target.
(15:18):
The Juno had actually beenwarned of U bot activity in the area.
German Captain WalterSchweiger himself is a figure of
considerable interest.
Born in Berlin in 1885, hejoined the Imperial German Navy in
1903 and had been in the UBoat Service since 1911.
By 1915 he was an experienced submarine.
(15:40):
Commander and a successful one.
Over his career he would sink49 ships.
He had been decorated withGermany's highest military honors.
But his methods werecontroversial even at the time.
While he was known to take thegentlemanly approach of allowing
enemy crew off targeted ships,allowing them to survive.
He apparently didn't alwaysfollow that approach.
(16:02):
Some historians describe hisoverall approach as shoot first and
ask questions later and later.
After he chose the laterviolent approach with the Lusitania
on May 7, he would becomeknown to the British as the baby
killer.
On May 7, around 1:20pmGreenwich time, the U boat crew chief
(16:23):
sighted the Lusitania.
Schweiger ordered the U boatto submerge.
Initially, he didn't think anattack would be possible.
But then, as he noted, theLusitania turned, presenting a perfect
target.
The hunter had found its prey.
At 2pm The Lusitania wasapproximately 11 miles off the Old
Head of Kinsel on the southerncoast of Ireland.
(16:45):
Captain of the Lusitania,William Thomas Turner, was on the
bridge.
Captain Turner is best knownfor his role in the Lusitania disaster,
but he was actually anexcellent navigator who accomplished
several crossings at noble speeds.
He, he was promoted for hisnaval skills.
Despite his unsuitably gruffdemeanor around passengers.
(17:06):
Yeah, Captain Turner was a bitgrumpy at times.
At some point he was said tohave referred to passengers as, quote,
a load of bloody monkeys whoare constantly chattering, end quote.
But as noted, Captain Turnerwas good at what he did.
And in the afternoon of May 7,the sea was smooth and the day was
(17:27):
now clear.
Suddenly, lookout LeslieMorton, stationed at the bow, spotted
the telltale white streak of atorpedo in the water.
He shouted, torpedoes comingon the starboard side.
Seaman Thomas Quinn in thecrew's nest echoed the warning.
And Captain Turner rushed tothe starboard side of the bridge.
But there was no time for evasive.
(17:49):
Action in the U boat.
Captain Schweiger watched whathappened through his periscope.
In the entry to his war diaryfor that day, he wrote a chillingly
detached record stating,quote, clear bow shot at 700 meters.
Shot struck starboard sideclose behind the bridge.
And an extraordinarily heavydetonation followed with a very large
(18:11):
cloud of smoke far above thefront tunnel.
End quote.
The time was 2:10pm the impactwas devastating.
Passengers at lunch reporteda, quote, penetrating thrust.
Theodore Pope, who was at thetime on the B deck promenade, heard
a dull explosion as water andtimbers flew past.
(18:32):
A column of water and debrisfrom the impact actually knocked
lifeboat number five overboard.
And then, Michael, came theevent that sealed the Lusitania's
fate and has fueled debateever since.
A second more powerfulexplosion just seconds after the
torpedo hit.
Schweiger himself noted in his log.
He wrote that a secondExplosion must have followed that
(18:54):
of the torpedo.
But his question marks at theend of the log suggest he wasn't
actually sure what caused it.
Survivors attested the secondblast felt different, more muffled
and internal and.
And far more violent.
It sent a cloud of chokingsteam and dust swirling around the
bridge.
This second explosion is thecrux of so many Lusitania controversies.
(19:18):
What caused it?
The evidence here is murky,but as we'll discuss in a few minutes,
the second explosion makes alittle more sense if you consider
the possibility of undeclaredexplosives being on board the Lusitania.
Perhaps the Lusitania wasn'tjust a passenger ship solely carrying
people like it suggested.
Maybe it had some hidden cargothat was intended to help the British
(19:42):
war effort in World War I.
That would certainly changethe narrative.
It moves the sinking of theLusitania from a simple act of war
against a passenger liner toone where the liner itself was a
floating powder keg, knowinglyor unknowingly to its passengers.
And if it's true, it becomes acrucial piece of evidence pointing
(20:03):
towards deception.
After the second explosion,the Lusitania began to list heavily
to starboard.
Captain Turner ordered theship to turn around towards the Irish
coast, hoping to breach her.
But the hydraulics had failedand she would not respond.
He then ordered the enginesastern to slow her down.
But ruptured steam lines meantthe engines were dead.
(20:28):
The list was severe, quicklyreaching 15 degrees, then over 20.
This is where a criticaldesign aspect of the Lusitania played
a fatal role.
Her longitudinal bulkheads,particularly around the coal bunkers,
were meant to contain damage.
Instead, they prevented waterfrom cross flooding and balancing
(20:48):
the ship, concentrating allthe flooding on the starboard side
and exacerbating the list.
A tragic irony, a safetyfeature contributing to the disaster.
This extreme list madelaunching the lifeboats an absolute
nightmare.
Those on the port side, whichwas high up in the air at this point,
swung inboard, crushing anyonebeneath and making them impossible
(21:11):
to launch.
In contrast, on the starboardside, the lifeboat swung far out,
reaching a terrifying 60 footgap between the deck and the boats.
Captain Turner ordered womenand children into the boats first.
But many boats capsized during lowering.
They were damaged or spilled.
Their occupants, some accountssuggest crew were inexperienced and
(21:33):
passenger confusion may haveadded to the chaos.
Of the 48 lifeboats, only sixwere successfully launched.
Just six?
Yikes.
The personal stories are heartbreaking.
The millionaire AlfredVanderbilt was last seen helping
others into lifeboats ingiving his own life jacket to a mother
(21:54):
with a child, knowing that hehimself couldn't swim and he perished.
A witness saw Albert and AliceHubbard link arms and walk into an
open cabin on the top deck,closing the door behind them, choosing
to meet their end togetherrather than be separated in the water.
The Pope, after a harrowingexperience trying to get into a lifeboat,
(22:17):
jumped into the sea with hermaiden friend, only to be separated
and later rescued unconscious.
She recalled the water beingfilled with, quote, hundreds of frantic,
screaming, shouting humans andthe children.
Of the 39 infants on board, 35were lost.
Overall, 94 of the 124children perished.
(22:39):
Many died from exhaustionafter immersion in the cold water.
The sheer speed of the sinkinggave them little chance.
Captain Turner remained on thebridge until the ship went down under
him.
He survived, clinging to anoar or a chair before being picked
up.
For those who found themselvesin the water, Michael, it was an
unimaginable hell.
(23:00):
The sea off Ireland in earlyMay is frigid.
Hundreds were pitched intothat cold, churning chaos.
Charles Lariat, the Bostonbookseller, described the sound of
over a thousand people in thewater as, quote, a long, lingering
moan, end quote.
He managed to get into acollapsible boat with lookout Leslie
(23:21):
Morton and others pulling inmore survivors until the boat was
almost swamped.
Theodore Pope's account is terrifying.
Sucked down with the ship,trapped momentarily between decks,
then surfacing to what shecalled a gray and watery inferno.
She lost consciousnessmultiple times before being found
clinging to an ore.
(23:42):
Initially mistaken for dead,she later mentioned that the trauma
of the event was so severethat her hair began to fall out.
Afterwards, another survivor,Robert Timmis, a British cotton trader
traveling first class, wasdragged down.
But being a strong swimmer, hemanaged to surface after what he
estimated was 32 strokes.
(24:02):
Believing he'd been pulleddown roughly 60ft, he was eventually
rescued by the ship'scarpenter, Neil Robertson.
These.
These individual stories,collected by historians from letters
and diaries, paint such avivid picture of the personal tragedy.
And the psychological scarsmust have been immense.
First class passenger, theBritish lady Margaret Mackworth Bluebell.
(24:27):
And hearing another survivor,Beatrice Witherbee, who had lost
her baby and her mother to thewater, vehemently berating Captain
Turner, the grief and angerwere palpable.
While the official response tothe sinking of the Lusitania was
being mobilized, the firstheroes on the scene were local Irish
fishermen and boatmen.
It took about two hours forthe first rescue vessels to reach
(24:50):
the site 11 miles offshore.
The fishing boat, the Wandererof Peel, skippered by William Ball,
was one of the very first.
They reportedly picked uparound 160 to 200 survivors and towed
lifeboats despite the dangerof being swamped themselves.
Skipper Ball later wrote,quote, we were the only boat there
(25:11):
for two hours and it was anawful thing to see her sinking and
to see the plight of thesepeople, end quote.
Another crewman from the samefishing ship, Harry Costin, said,
I never want to see the like again.
There were four babies aboutthree months old, and some of the
people were almost naked.
End quote.
The spontaneous heroism fromordinary civilians is incredibly
(25:34):
moving.
They face the horror head on.
Despite the U boat potentiallystill being in the area.
A lifeboat from another ship,the Quetzia Gwilt, apparently launched
promptly, but with no wind.
The crew had to row the entire12 nautical miles to the scene of
the sinking.
They arrived about three and ahalf hours later, tragically too
(25:55):
late to save lives.
Their log entry is heartbreaking.
If we had wind or any motorpower, our boat would have certainly
been first on the scene.
It was a harrowing sight to witness.
The sea was strewn with dead bodies.
Eventually, other navalvessels arrived and began coordinating
the larger rescue and recovery effort.
(26:16):
Survivors and bodies wereprimarily brought to Queenstown on
the southern coast of Ireland,where the local community rallied
to provide aid, setting up amakeshift hospitals and morgues.
While figures vary slightlyacross sources, the consensus is
that somewhere between1193-1199 people perished.
(26:38):
Only about 760 survived.
The American losses wereparticularly significant, at least
politically.
128 US citizens died and as aresult, the sinking of the Lusitania
became a key factor in inshifting American public opinion
against Germany.
Fewer than 300 bodies wereever recovered.
(27:01):
The rest were lost to the Atlantic.
In Queenstown, 173 victimswere buried in mass graves in the
old church cemetery, 80 ofthem unidentified.
(27:29):
The news of the sinking of theLusitania hit the world like a thunderclap.
In the United States, initialheadlines were a mix of shock and
a demand for facts.
The New York Times on May 8ran with, quote, divergent views
of the sinking of theLusitania, end quote.
But that restraint didn't last long.
Soon American papers werecalling the attack a massacre, villainous,
(27:52):
barbaric and ghastly.
The focus was squarely on theAmerican lives lost and the perceived
brutality of Germany.
In the uk, as you wouldexpect, condemnation, was swift and
furious.
Papers like the Surrey Mirrorand the Newcastle Journal carried
extensive reports.
The sinking of Britain'spremier liner with such loss of civilian
(28:14):
life became a potent symbol ofGerman wartime aggression.
German newspapers, however,largely toed the official line.
They justified the sinking,claiming the Lusitania was actually
an auxiliary cruiser, that shewas carrying munitions and that ample
warning had been given to passengers.
Our listeners will recall allof the ads placed in newspapers and
(28:37):
other such warnings thatpassengers had received prior to
the sailing.
In fact, one German artist,Carl Goetz, actually created a commemorative
medal of the event.
On the medal he depicted theLusitania laden with war materials,
under the caption, nocontraband goods.
And on the reverse, a skeletonselling tickets at the ship company
(28:59):
office with the words businessabove all, this really captured the
German public sentiment thatthe ship company and Britain more
generally were, were to blamefor risking passenger lives.
It's clear the sinkingimmediately became a propaganda battlefield.
Each nation framed the eventto suit its wartime narrative.
(29:19):
The truth was almost secondaryto how the story could be spun.
This manipulation ofinformation, Michael, is a key part
of why this event remains sucha contentious crime.
So the Lusitania is at thebottom of The Atlantic, nearly 1200
souls lost.
The immediate question beyondthe horror was why?
And who was to blame?
(29:41):
Was it simply a German atrocity?
Or Michael, was theresomething more sinister at play?
We have a ship that wasallegedly laden with undeclared explosives,
a captain accused of criticalerrors, and whispers from historians
that the British Admiralty,perhaps even Winston Churchill himself,
(30:02):
let the Lusitania sail into adeath trap in order to lure the United
States into the war.
This is where the story movesfrom tragedy to a potential crime
of unimaginable cynicism.
This is one of the mostenduring controversies of the whole
story.
The official manifest listeditems like 4.2 million rounds of
(30:24):
Remington bullets, almost5,000 shrapnel shell casings, about
female, 50 tons worth, and 18cases of non explosive artillery
fuses.
These were openly declared andunder US law at the time considered,
quote, non explosive in bulk.
And it was permissible onpassenger ships, even those heading
(30:44):
to belligerent nations.
But the real firestorm is overwhat wasn't declared.
Some sources allege a far moredangerous undeclared cargo, specifically
a large consignment of guncotton, a highly volatile explosive.
And those shrapnel shellcasings that were officially listed.
(31:05):
The claim is that many wereactually about 1200 cases of 3 inch
shrapnel shells filled withgunpowder, live and ready for the
Royal Artillery to use againstGerman forces.
So to be clear, the Lusitaniawas a passenger ship that was already
risking it by sailing intotroubled waters.
But in addition totransporting passengers, it was also
(31:27):
clearly carrying hidden, veryexplosive ammunition and weapons
to get them past Germansubmarines into England.
That's correct.
The German ambassador, CountBernstorff, even presented evidence
to President Wilson claimingthe shrapnel consignment was 5,000
filled shells weighing over100,000 pounds, deliberately mislabeled
(31:48):
as non explosive shrapnel.
Now, if this is true, thiswasn't just contraband, it was a
massive safety hazard thatcould explain that catastrophic second
explosion.
The distinction here is crucial.
Declared rifle cartridges wereone thing, arguably legal under the
loose neutrality laws of the time.
(32:08):
Undeclared gun cotton and liveartillery shells were something else
entirely.
That shifts the blamesignificantly towards the British
authorities for recklesslyendangering their passengers, which,
regardless of the German actions.
In the aftermath, CaptainWilliam Turner himself was found
in the crosshairs.
He faced a barrage ofcriticism for not zigzagging in a
(32:31):
known submarine zone, for hisreduced speeds of 18 knots when the
ship was capable of 24 or 25,for sailing too close to Headlands
and for alleged poor crewtraining for lifeboat deployment.
The British Admiralty actuallybrought charges against him.
Turner defended himself,stating he was following instructions
(32:52):
as he understood them, thatboiler conditions limited his speed
and that the fog had been afactor earlier as well.
Ultimately, Captain Turner was exonerated.
British authorities famouslyconcluded that the blame lay squarely
with, quote, those who orderedthe crime and those who committed
a end quote, meaning theGerman government and the U boat
(33:14):
crew.
But was Turner being set up asa scapegoat?
Some historians suggest thatFirst Lord of the Admiralty, Winston
Churchill and other Britishofficials were quick to pin as much
blame on Turner as possible,even allegedly backdating Admiralty
orders and distortinggeography to make him look culpable.
The Admiralty's eagerness topoint the finger at Turner certainly
(33:36):
raises eyebrows.
The reality is that if itcould be shown that British authorities
had failed in their duty toprotect such a high profile liner,
the political fallout wouldhave been immense.
Shifting blame to the captainwould be a convenient way to deflect
their own responsibility.
And this brings us to thedarkest conspiracy of them all, Elena.
(33:57):
That the British Admiraltyunder Winston Churchill deliberately
endangered the Lusitania tocreate an incident so horrific that
it would have to drag theUnited States into the war.
Proponents of this theorypoint to a couple of factors.
First, that the Lusitaniasailing orders led her directly into
danger.
And second, that a crucialnaval escort that would have helped
(34:20):
protect the ship wasinexplicably withdrawn as the Lusitania
was sailing across the Atlantic.
One supporter of this theory,Patrick Beasley, who worked in Naval
Intelligence during World WarII and wrote extensively about Britain's
naval code breaking unit inWorld War I, was, quote, reluctantly
driven to the conclusion thatthere was a conspiracy deliberately
(34:43):
to put the Lusitania at risk,and that such a plot could not have
been put into effect withoutWinston Churchill's express permission
and approval.
End quote.
British code breakers hadalready broken German naval codes
and knew that CaptainSchweiger's submarine was operating
off the Irish coast.
The question is, was theintelligence used effectively to
(35:03):
protect the Lusitania?
But frankly, most mainstreamhistorians strongly rebut these conspiracy
claims.
They argue that there's noconcrete evidence of a plot and that
Churchill was actually inParis in the days immediately preceding
the sinking.
The Admiralty did send generalwarnings about U boat activity, even
if it wasn't as effective asthey hoped.
(35:25):
And Captain Turner's ownnavigational decisions, as we've
discussed, played asignificant role.
There's also the practicalargument that Britain lacked the
resources to escort everysingle liner, and the Lusitania was,
in theory, much faster thanany available escort.
And yet there's still somequestionable evidence.
(35:45):
For example, in a letter fromChurchill to Walter Runciman, President
of the Board and trade, datedFebruary 12, 1915, he stated, for
our part, we want the traffic,the more the better, and if some
of it gets into trouble,better still.
This was seen by some as asmoking gun, indicating a willingness
(36:06):
to see an incident occur thatmight embroil the United States.
Others argue it was simplyChurchill wanting trade to continue
despite the known risks,knowing that any German aggression
against neutral ships would bediplomatically damaging to Germany.
The allure of the conspiracyis also fueled by claims of missing
(36:26):
Admiralty documents from theperiod when official records are
incomplete.
It naturally breeds suspicionthat something is being hidden.
Whether this is due to wartimesecrecy, bureaucratic bungling or
an actual cover up is, ofcourse, debatable.
Churchill was undeniably apragmatic and sometimes ruthless
wartime leader.
(36:46):
That February 1915 lettercertainly reveals a mindset willing
to countenance high risk forstrategic gain.
It doesn't prove he plotted tosink the Lusitania, though, but it
helps explain why he becamesuch a central figure in these enduring
and disturbing theories.
The sinking of The Lusitania,with 128American lives lost, sent
(37:11):
shock waves across theAtlantic and landed squarely on President
Woodrow Wilson's desk.
American public opinion, whileinitially calling for facts, quickly
turned to outrage.
Wilson was in a tough spot.
He had campaigned on keepingAmerica out of the war.
Yet here was a blatant attackthat killed American civilians.
(37:31):
Former President TheodoreRoosevelt was Scathing, demanding
military reprisal andcriticizing Wilson's cautious approach.
Wilson opted for diplomacy, atleast initially.
The US government sent aseries of strongly worded diplomatic
notes to Germany.
The first, on May 13, 1915,demanded that Germany disavow the
(37:53):
sinking, make reparations andtake immediate steps to prevent reoccurrence.
It stated that the USGovernment cannot admit that the
adoption of such measures orsuch a warning of danger to operate
is in any degree anabbreviation of the rights of American
shipmasters or of Americancitizens bound on lawful errands.
(38:15):
End quote.
Germany's initial response was defiant.
They argued the Lusitania wascarrying munitions, which, as we've
seen, was at least partially true.
And they argued that theLusitania was listed as an auxiliary
cruiser, making her alegitimate target.
They also pointed to thenewspaper warnings.
The diplomatic back and forthcontinued for months.
(38:37):
Wilson, Secretary of StateWilliam Jennings Bryan actually resigned
in June of 1915, believingWilson's notes were too provocative
and might lead to war.
Wilson's third note on July21, 1915, warned Germany that any
future infringement of U.S.
rights would be deemeddeliberately unfriendly, which was
(38:58):
strong diplomatic language.
It's clear Wilson was tryingto walk a tightrope.
He was attempting to upholdAmerican rights and honor, pacify
public anger, but but alsoavoid being dragged into a massive
European conflict.
This was a monumental task.
While Wilson engaged indiplomacy, the propaganda machines
(39:18):
went into overdrive.
In Britain and America, thesinking became a powerful symbol
of German barbarity.
The loss of innocent lives,especially women and children, was
heavily emphasized.
The phrase Remember theLusitania became a public, potent
rallying cry, much likeremember the main had been in the
(39:39):
Spanish American war that wecovered in a previous episode.
Recruitment posters featuredimages of a sinking Lusitania or
drowning mothers and childrendesigned to stir outrage and encourage
enlistment.
One particularly effectivepiece of British propaganda was their
reproduction of the GermanCarl Getz medal.
(40:00):
Getz had actually incorrectlydated the sinking as May 5, which
was two days earlier, on hisoriginal satirical medal.
And the British seized on thismass produced copies and sold them,
claiming the incorrect datewas proof the Germans had premeditated
the attack on that specific day.
A clever, if deceitful pieceof psychological warfare.
(40:22):
The Germans, of course, hadtheir own propaganda, emphasizing
the Lusitania's alleged roleas an armed auxiliary carrying war
supplies and the Lusitaniaowner company as a reckless company.
But in the court of Alliedpublic opinion, and especially in
America, the image of Germanyas the aggressor ruthlessly sinking
(40:42):
a Passenger ship took firm hold.
The sheer volume of Americancasualties, including prominent figures
like Alfred Vanderbilt,ensured constant press coverage and
kept the tragedy in the public consciousness.
It solidified anti Germansentiment even if it didn't immediately
lead to war.
That's right.
See, the sinking of theLusitania wouldn't be the reason
(41:04):
the United States would enterWorld War I.
But the Lusitania crisis didlead to a temporary shift in German
policy and public opinion.
After further incidentsresulting in German submarines sinking
innocent Americans or Alliedships, Germany, fearing American
intervention, issued theSussex Pledge on May 4, 1916.
(41:28):
Under this pledge, Germanypromised to stop the indiscriminate
sinking of non military ships.
Merchant ships would besearched and sunk only if they were
found to be carryingcontraband and only after safe passage
had been provided for crew and passengers.
This somewhat eased tensionswith the United States for a while
while, but it.
(41:49):
Was only a temporary reprieve.
By early 1917, Germany,desperate to break the British blockade
and win the war, made thefateful decision to once again resume
unrestricted submarinewarfare, fully aware that it would
likely bring the United Statesinto the conflict.
That, coupled with theZimmerman telegram on March 1st of
(42:10):
1917, was the final straw.
This telegram, discovered byBritish code breakers, was a secret
German proposal of an alliancewith Mexico against the United States.
On April 6, 1917, nearly twoyears after the Lusitania went down,
the United States formallydeclared war on Germany and its allies.
(42:31):
So while the Lusitania wasn'tthe sole cause of America's entry
into the war, it wasundeniably a pivotal event.
And it exposed the brutalityof modern warfare, galvanized public
opinion, and set the stage forAmerica's eventual and decisive involvement.
And what of the Lusitania herself?
She still lies in about 300ftof water 11 miles off the Irish coast.
(42:55):
The wreck is in poorcondition, with the ship lying on
her starboard side, largelyflattened by time and strong currents.
The sinking of the Lusitaniawas a tragedy born of war, hubris,
and perhaps deliberatecalculation, and played a crucial
role in shaping the course ofthe 20th century.
A crime of war?
(43:16):
Undoubtedly.
But was it also a crime ofconspiracy, of a nation sacrificing
its own to achieve a greaterstrategic aim?
The jury of history, it seems,is still out on at least some of
those charges.
Thank you for joining us todayon history's greatest crimes.
I'm Elena.
And I'm Michael.
Until next time, stay curious.
(43:36):
Curious.
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