The Lusitania
The Royal Mail Steamship, RMS Lusitania, was built following an agreement, signed in 1903, between the Cunard Line and the British Admiralty. The British Government provided a loan of £2.6 million and an increase in mail subsidies to allow Cunard to built two new ships, Lusitania and Mauretania, which would be able to compete with their German transatlantic competitors, such as the Deutschland and Kaiser Wilhelm II, as well as being available as Navy Cruisers in the event of war. Construction of the hull of RMS Lusitania began in March 1905 and she was officially launched, on Thursday, 7th June 1906.
On May 1st 1915, Captain Turner left Pier 54, in New York harbour, sailing to Liverpool with 1959 passengers and crew on board. On the morning of Friday 7th May, as Captain Turner brought Lusitania out of a heavy fog west of the Fastnet Lighthouse and entered the war-zone around the British Isles, he began receiving a series of vague signals from the British Admiralty based in Queenstown (now Cobh in Cork harbour). One such Admiralty instruction was to maintain at least ten miles between his ship and the south coast of Ireland.
Just before 2.10 pm, Lusitania was struck by a single torpedo, fired by the German U-boat, U-20. The torpedo strike, at a point somewhere in the vicinity of the Bridge, was followed, almost instantly, by a second massive explosion which caused the bow of the ship to immediately list to starboard at an alarming rate. At the instant of impact Lusitania was fourteen miles off the Old Head of Kinsale. Captain Turner put the helm to land immediately. Lusitania travelled a further two and three-quarter miles before finally disappearing beneath the waves in a terror-inducing 18 minutes, at which time Lusitania was almost due south of the Old Head and approximately twelve nautical miles distant.
No satisfactory explanation has ever been offered as to why the Juno, out of Queenstown, was withdrawn as an escort for the Lusitania. Furthermore, no satisfactory explanation has been offered as to why the Juno was recalled from Roches point when she was on her way to the rescue of any possible survivors.
The Royal Mail Steamship, RMS Lusitania, was built following an agreement, signed in 1903, between the Cunard Line and the British Admiralty. The British Government provided a loan of £2.6 million and an increase in mail subsidies to allow Cunard to built two new ships, Lusitania and Mauretania, which would be able to compete with their German transatlantic competitors, such as the Deutschland and Kaiser Wilhelm II, as well as being available as Navy Cruisers in the event of war. Construction of the hull of RMS Lusitania began in March 1905 and she was officially launched, on Thursday, 7th June 1906.
On May 1st 1915, Captain Turner left Pier 54, in New York harbour, sailing to Liverpool with 1959 passengers and crew on board. On the morning of Friday 7th May, as Captain Turner brought Lusitania out of a heavy fog west of the Fastnet Lighthouse and entered the war-zone around the British Isles, he began receiving a series of vague signals from the British Admiralty based in Queenstown (now Cobh in Cork harbour). One such Admiralty instruction was to maintain at least ten miles between his ship and the south coast of Ireland.
Just before 2.10 pm, Lusitania was struck by a single torpedo, fired by the German U-boat, U-20. The torpedo strike, at a point somewhere in the vicinity of the Bridge, was followed, almost instantly, by a second massive explosion which caused the bow of the ship to immediately list to starboard at an alarming rate. At the instant of impact Lusitania was fourteen miles off the Old Head of Kinsale. Captain Turner put the helm to land immediately. Lusitania travelled a further two and three-quarter miles before finally disappearing beneath the waves in a terror-inducing 18 minutes, at which time Lusitania was almost due south of the Old Head and approximately twelve nautical miles distant.
No satisfactory explanation has ever been offered as to why the Juno, out of Queenstown, was withdrawn as an escort for the Lusitania. Furthermore, no satisfactory explanation has been offered as to why the Juno was recalled from Roches point when she was on her way to the rescue of any possible survivors.
