Lusitania liner. The mystery of the death of the passenger liner "Lusitania. "A large English liner with Americans on board may be sunk"
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The Lusitania project was developed by Cunard Line designer Leonard Peskett. In 1902, Peskett built a large model of the liners being developed, which was a three-pipe steamer. In 1904, it was decided to install additional boilers, to remove the exhaust from which a fourth pipe was added to the project. Before the widespread use of turbine power plant The Cunard Line installed a smaller version of the turbine on their ship the Carmania in 1905 to see if the technology could be used.
The keel of the Lusitania was laid down at the John Brown & Co. shipyard in Clydebank at number 367 on June 16, 1904. She was launched and christened Lady Mary Inverclyde on June 7, 1906.
In October 1907, the Lusitania won the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, taking it from the German liner Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Lusitania went with average speed at 23.99 knots (44.43 km/h) going west and 23.61 knots (43.73 km/h) going east.
With the commissioning of "Mauritania" in November 1907, "Lusitania" and "Mauritania" repeatedly took away from each other " blue ribbon Atlantic". The Lusitania made her fastest westward journey at an average speed of 25.85 knots (47.87 km/h) in 1909. In September of the same year, she lost the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic forever to the Mauritania, which set a record of 26.06 knots. This record was surpassed only in 1929 .
War
The Lusitania's construction and operating costs were subsidized by the British government, with the proviso that the ship could be converted into an armed auxiliary cruiser (AAC) if necessary. When did the first World War, The British government expected to requisition it, and the Lusitania was included in the official list of the VVK. However, then similar big liners were deemed unsuitable for use in this capacity due to the high consumption of coal. However, the Lusitania remained on the official list of the VVK and was listed as an auxiliary cruiser.
Many large liners were used as troop transports or as hospital ships. The Mauritania became a troop transport while the Lusitania worked for the Cunard Line as a luxury liner carrying people from the UK to the US and back. The new Aquitania was converted into a hospital ship while the White Star Line and Mauritania Olympic were moving troops into the Mediterranean. However, the Cunard Line continued to draw the attention of the Admiralty, stating that the Lusitania could be requisitioned at any time if hostilities escalated. In order to reduce operating costs for crossing the Atlantic, the Lusitania had reduced monthly flights and sealed 4 boilers. Max speed has now been reduced to 21 knots (39 km/h). But even in this mode of operation, the Lusitania was the fastest commercial passenger liner in the North Atlantic and 10 knots (19 km / h) faster than any submarine. However, the Lusitania has undergone many changes:
- the ship's name was painted over,
- a compass platform has been added to the roof of the bridge,
- the pipes of the Lusitania were painted black instead of the colors of the Cunard Line,
- a second compass platform was added between the first and second pipes,
- two additional baggage cranes were installed in the aft deckhouse,
- during his last trip she did not raise any standards.
"Lusitania" among the largest maritime disasters
Pattern: Largest maritime disasters
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"Range 700, bearing 90, nose number ... pli!"
Without taking his eyes off the periscope, V. Schwieger, the commander of the German submarine U-20, commanded. Thus began the tragedy, which was equated with the death in 1912, after a collision with an iceberg, of the English steamer Titanic, which carried 1,430 people to the bottom of the Atlantic. The comparison is all the more justified, since we are talking about the English liner Lusitania.
... There was the first world war. Having lost hope of achieving dominance at sea after the defeat of the English fleet in a pitched battle, Germany launched a merciless struggle against enemy shipping, hoping to force the island empire to seek peace on terms dictated from Berlin. German submariners sank any ships, but especially hunted for large-capacity passenger liners. The fact is that each of them is easy to turn into a high-speed, roomy military transport, and the UK had plenty of such ships. Now let's interrupt our story to be transported to the end of the 19th century.
Then the English Parliament passed a law according to which any commercial vessel, designed for a speed of more than 17 knots, should be designed and built under the supervision of the Admiralty, which reserved the right to use it in wartime. In turn, it undertook to help the shipping companies with finances.
In 1907, Cunard added to its fleet the same type of turbine steamers Lusitania and Mauritania, built by John Brown and Swan Hunter. The Admiralty covered part of the cost of these liners, which had a distinctive, straight stem, well-sighted stern, long, low superstructure, and four slightly sloping chimneys that gave them a graceful, swift appearance. The requirements of the military were taken into account - the full speed was 24 knots, on upper deck there were foundations for 150-mm guns. In addition, Kunard undertook not to accept foreigners for command positions, but to recruit 75% of the crew from British subjects.
Both ships have gone down in history. "Mauritania" in 1909 crossed the ocean in 4 days, 10 hours and 51 minutes, winning the honorary "Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic" and managing to keep it for 22 years! And the Lusitania...
With the outbreak of war, the Admiralty changed plans for the Cunard liners. "Mauritania" made several voyages as a hospital ship and got laid up for better safety. The Lusitania continued to operate on the Liverpool - New York line.
On May 1, 1915, she left the American port with 1,257 passengers and 702 sailors. And a few days later southwest coast Ireland appeared German submarine which sank two ships there. On the evening of May 6, the captain of the liner, W. Turner, learned from a radio message that
"V southern waters Ireland's submarines have stepped up their operations."
Turner did not receive any recommendations, although the directors of the company and the Admiralty knew that the liner was heading for this area. Turner ordered the boats to be lowered to the level of the promenade deck, so that in which case the passengers would quickly get into them.
Story
Design, construction, and testing
Launching
The Lusitania project was developed by Cunard Line designer Leonard Peskett. In 1902, Peskett built a large model of the liners being developed, which was a three-pipe steamer. In 1904, it was decided to install additional boilers, to remove the exhaust from which a fourth pipe was added to the project. Before the widespread use of turbine propulsion, the Cunard Line installed a smaller version of the turbine in their Carmania in 1905 to see if the technology could be used.
The keel of the Lusitania was laid down at the John Brown & Co. shipyard in Clydebank at number 367 on June 16, 1904. She was launched and christened Lady Mary Inverclyde on June 7, 1906.
In October 1907, the Lusitania won the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, taking it from the German liner Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Lusitania sailed at an average speed of 23.99 knots (44.43 km/h) going west and 23.61 knots (43.73 km/h) going east.
With the commissioning of Mauritania in November 1907, the Lusitania and Mauritania repeatedly took away the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic from each other. The Lusitania made her fastest westbound journey at an average speed of 25.85 knots (47.87 km/h) between 8 and 12 August 1909. In September of the same year, she lost the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic forever to the Mauritania, which set a record of 26.06 knots. This record was surpassed only in 1929 .
War
German-declared submarine war zone, February 1915. Ships in this zone could be searched or attacked.
The Lusitania's construction and operating costs were subsidized by the British government, with the proviso that the ship could be converted into an armed auxiliary cruiser (AAC) if necessary. When the First World War began, the British government expected to requisition it, and the Lusitania was included in the official list of the VVK. However, then such large liners were found unsuitable for use in this capacity due to the high consumption of coal. However, the Lusitania remained on the official list of the VVK and was listed as an auxiliary cruiser.
Many large liners were used as troop transports or as hospital ships. The Mauritania became a troop transport while the Lusitania worked for the Cunard Line as a luxury liner carrying people from the UK to the US and back. The new Aquitania was converted into a hospital ship while the White Star Line and Mauritania Olympic were moving troops into the Mediterranean. However, the Cunard Line continued to draw the attention of the Admiralty, stating that the Lusitania could be requisitioned at any time if hostilities escalated. In order to reduce operating costs for crossing the Atlantic, the Lusitania had reduced monthly flights and sealed 4 boilers. The maximum speed has now been reduced to 21 knots (39 km/h). But even in this mode of operation, the Lusitania was the fastest commercial passenger liner in the North Atlantic and 10 knots (19 km / h) faster than any submarine. However, the Lusitania has undergone many changes:
- the ship's name was painted over,
- a compass platform has been added to the roof of the bridge,
- the pipes of the Lusitania were painted black instead of the colors of the Cunard Line,
- a second compass platform was added between the first and second pipes,
- two additional baggage cranes were installed in the aft deckhouse,
- during her last journey she did not raise any standards.
On May 5 and 6, U-20 sank three ships, and the Royal Navy sent a warning to all British ships: "Submarines active off south coast Ireland". Captain William Turner On May 6, I received this message twice and took all precautions: watertight doors were closed, all windows were battened down, the number of observers was doubled, all boats were uncovered and thrown overboard to speed up the evacuation of passengers in case of danger.
On Friday 7 May at 11:00 the Admiralty transmitted another message and Turner corrected course. He probably thought that the submarines should be on the open sea and would not come from the coast, and the Lusitania would be protected by proximity to land.
At 13:00, one of the sailors of the German submarine U-20 noticed a large four-tube vessel ahead. He reported to Captain Walter Schwieger that he had spotted a large four-tube ship traveling at about 18 knots. By that time, U-20 had used up a significant part of the fuel, two torpedoes remained on board, and the commander had the decision to abandon the advance towards Liverpool. Schwieger intended to linger in the northern part of the Celtic Sea and attack ships heading towards Bristol Bay, then, when 3/5 of the fuel supply remained, return to base, bypassing Ireland from the east side. But here on U-20 they noticed that the Lusitania was slowly turning to starboard towards the boat.
Doom
The death of the Lusitania
The Lusitania was about 30 miles (48 km) off the Irish coast when she hit fog and reduced her speed to 18 knots. She sailed to the port of Queenstown - now Cobh - in Ireland, which was 43 miles (70 km) away.
The second catastrophe of the century - the death in 1915 of the giant English liner "Lusitania", which occurred under strange and still not clear circumstances. This catastrophe was called one of the most tragic and mysterious events of the First World War. Many details of this catastrophe are still considered secret for some reason. Meanwhile, at first glance, there should not be anything particularly mysterious in this story.
The Lusitania was the pride of the English shipping company Cunard Line. Built in 1907 when the German transatlantic companies launched a particularly active struggle for a "place in the sun", she had to remind everyone that Great Britain is still the mistress of the seas. In addition, Parliament and the Admiralty pinned special hopes on the Lusitania as a potential warship. On the liner, if necessary, it was possible to install twelve rapid-fire guns. So, not without reason, the German transatlantic companies saw the Lusitania as a powerful rival, and the German authorities accused the British government of using the liner to transport weapons and other contraband across the Atlantic. On a medal cast by Munich craftsmen in August 1915, the Lusitania is depicted with a military aircraft and a gun on deck under the satirical comment "No smuggling." The reverse side shows a skeleton selling tickets, and on the top is the inscription "Business First", hinting that Cunard Line deliberately puts at risk for its enrichment civilians. Be that as it may, the economic and military interests of the German elite coincided, and a real hunt was arranged for the Lusitania.
The chronicle of events is as follows.
On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, on a New York-Liverpool voyage, was attacked by the German submarine U-20 Walter Schwieger off the south coast of Ireland. From a distance of seven hundred and fifty yards, he sent a single torpedo. It happened at 2:10 in the afternoon. The huge liner disappeared into the waves in just 18 minutes, leaving a mess of people, deck chairs, oars and a mass of debris on the surface. Looking at this picture from his submarine, even Schwieger was shocked. He later said that it was the worst sight he had ever seen. Then he made the following entry in the logbook: “Obviously, the ship will not stay afloat for long. I dive to a depth of twenty-four meters and go into the sea. I could not fire a second torpedo into this crowd of living people trying to escape.
Of the 1,959 people aboard the ship, 1,198 died.
A German submarine torpedoed and sank a passenger ship...But over time, other hypotheses began to emerge. So, according to the testimony of the English journalist K. Simpson, who became interested in the “Lusitania case”, official version contains "significant omissions and obvious inaccuracies", as well as an abundance of carefully fabricated and manipulated data. Documents found in the archives of the British steamship company Cunard Lines, as well as in the US government archives, make us look at this story a little differently.
So, in the early morning of May 1, 1915, the assistant captain of the Lusitania traditionally met passengers at the gangway. But then reporters came up to him and showed him the morning issue of the New York Tribune, which featured an ominous warning from the German embassy among the paid advertisements. It strongly advised the Americans not to use the services of British passenger liners because of the possibility of an attack by German submarines. The passengers got excited. However, a representative of the Kunard company hastened to reassure everyone: “The liner of our company has been and remains the most fast ship in the Atlantic. And no German warship or submarine will be able to catch up with the Lusitania.” And in the afternoon, exactly on schedule, the Lusitania left the pier in the port of New York ...
During the First World War, English civilian sailors had to obey the orders of the officers of the Admiralty. It was the military who determined the course of trade and passenger ships, informed the captains of information about German submarines. Knowing the secret radio codes of the German fleet, British military radio stations intercepted the radio signals of German submariners at sea and determined their location.
The captain of the Lusitania, Turner, did not receive any warning before going to sea. Only on the evening of May 6 did a radiogram arrive on the liner: a German submarine was spotted off the southern coast of Ireland. Moreover, the radiogram was transmitted not by the naval command, but by the commander of the anti-submarine flotilla, Admiral Coke, who, having received reports of the death of two small steamers, determined the area of \u200b\u200boperation of the submarine.The radiogram came when the liner approached the Strait of St. George. It was there that enemy submariners most often lay in wait for prey. But the captain could not change the ship's course without the order of an Admiralty officer or, in extreme cases, without instructions from the commander of the warship. Therefore, Captain Turner went down to the salon, casually informed the passengers about the possibility of the appearance of enemy submarines and reassured everyone by saying that the liner was under the protection of the Royal Navy. These were not empty words, since at Cape Fastnet Rock, Atlantic liners were usually escorted by English cruisers. But on that day, May 7, not a single warship For some reason, the Royal Navy was not around. And no one prevented the German submarine from attacking the Lusitania, which sank after the very first torpedo...
Already after the end of the war, many historians were interested in the question: why so big ship sunk so fast? According to the British version, this happened because not one, but two torpedoes were fired at the ship. However, even the government commission could not really explain why even two torpedoes caused such catastrophic damage on the ship ...
In 1926 the famous English historian navy Wilson tried to clarify the situation by noting that among the Lusitania's cargo were "boxes of rifle cartridges and unfilled, empty blanks for shrapnel shells." A total of 3800 boxes lined with canvas - a cargo marked for greater secrecy in the ship's documents as packages of cheese. According to the same documents, US citizen A. Fraser was listed as the sender of this mysterious cargo. But, as the audit showed, at that moment Fraser was an insolvent debtor and could not afford to send such a large consignment across the ocean.
Based on this fact, K. Simpson suggested that Fraser was a figurehead, with the help of which the British processed the export of military materials from the United States produced at the factories of the DuPont company.In Germany, it has become generally accepted version that the torpedo explosion caused the detonation of a significant amount of ammunition that was in the hold near the coal bunkers. It was for this reason that the decks and superstructures of the sinking Lusitania were destroyed, the former Minister of the German Navy Tirpitz noted in his memoirs.
The same version was indirectly confirmed by the passenger of the Lusitania, Canadian professor J. Marechal, who claimed that after the explosion of the torpedo he heard a second explosion, which was the sound of exploding ammunition. The professor could not be mistaken, because during the years of military service he gained certain experience.
In light of all this, even the Chairman of the Royal Commission, Lord Mersey, subsequently recognized the “Lusitania affair” as a “dirty story” ...And the attempt to shed the light of truth on it much later also turned out to be fruitless. When in April 1982 the Scottish ship "Merwig" approached the place of the sinking of the Lusitania and a small, remote-controlled submarine was launched from the ship, underwater television cameras showed that the bow compartments of the sunken liner were cleared of debris, and the cargo hatch cover was torn off. When the cameras "looked" into the hold, an image of the ship's inner plating appeared with deep longitudinal grooves that the bucket could leave for lifting sunken objects and cargo.
Someone obviously tried to cover all traces...At 2:10 pm on May 7, 1915, the first war crime of the early 20th century was committed on one of the largest ocean liners in the world, the Lusitania. In 18 minutes, 1,198 men, women and children died. Disputes about his death still do not stop.
On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, the pearl of the Cunard Line, was completing her voyage from New York to Liverpool when, unexpectedly, a German submarine hit her with just one torpedo. After a powerful and completely inexplicable second explosion, the Lusitania sank. After the tragedy, the world will never be the same again, and the mystery of that catastrophe has been worrying many people for days, the disclosure of which has not yet been succeeded by anyone. But still, one of the many scientific expeditions in 2011 was on the verge of discovering the cause of the death of the Lusitania.
So, in 1965, 50 years after the disaster, archival records of interviews with people who still managed to survive in the steamer disaster were found. They were shocking because these people were one step away from death. The death of the Lusitania radically changed the course of the war. Like the attacks of September 11, 2001, almost a hundred years later, this attack dealt a devastating blow to conventional morality. When the torpedo left the torpedo shaft, the concept of "civilians" no longer mattered. This marked the beginning of discussions about morality and morality, which continue to this day.
At the time of the disaster, two explosions occurred - the first from a torpedo, followed by a second, after which, according to eyewitnesses, there were devastating consequences. Many believe that it was the second explosion that sealed the fate of the passenger ship, claiming many lives, and giving the tragedy the status of a war crime.
In the summer of 2011, the desire to find answers turned into a scientific expedition, and also became the culmination of forty years of work for the man who was the owner of the Lusitania. At that time he was 83 years old. It was businessman Gregg Bemis who purchased one-third of the Lusitania in 1967. Since then, he has become a well-known figure in the Irish diving community. In 1982, Gregg Bemis became the sole owner of the Lusitania, and he planned to salvage the ship, which sank just 20 kilometers off the coast of Ireland. The Lusitania rests at a depth of 90 meters. In 1995, the government declared the remains of the liner a national heritage, so research required government permission.
underwater suit Triton
Having allocated several hundred thousand dollars, businessman Gregg Bemis equipped an expedition, the cost of spending one day at sea was more than 90 thousand dollars. The success of the expedition also depended on the efficient operation of high-tech equipment and the experience of specialists. A special underwater suit appeared at the disposal of divers, with the help of which they could spend several hours under water. The researchers also have a maneuverable two-man mini submarine, with the ability to dive up to 600 m. The underwater vehicle is equipped with a remote-controlled camera capable of penetrating into places inaccessible to a diver, as well as a cutter system that works on the principle of a sandblaster.
Over the years, there have been many expeditions to study the Lusitania, but never before have so many high-tech devices been used, and no one has tried to cut the hull to study the consequences of the explosion.
British ocean liner"RMS Lusitania"
What today looks like a pile of rubble was once the cutting edge of modern civilization. In 1906, when the Lusitania was launched, it became the largest vehicle ever created by mankind. More than 2.5 football fields long, the passenger ship became the first ship to cross Atlantic Ocean in less than 5 days. 25 boiler houses separated from each other produced energy for 4 steam turbines with a capacity of 68 thousand hp, however, the Lusitania was not just a passenger one. The four-tube ship was rebuilt as an auxiliary cruiser in case of war, that is, to meet all military requirements, where all vehicles and equipment should be below the waterline, as a protective measure against enemy shells. However, no one thought what could happen after a torpedo hit below the waterline.
When the passenger ship was preparing to go, an announcement was made in the newspapers that Germany was at war with Great Britain and its allies, and travelers who set off for sea cruise swim at your own risk. But few knew that the ship was carrying about four million 3.03mm rounds for the British Army. Early in the morning, the passenger ship left New York Port and headed east towards the coast of Ireland, where the German submarines were.
The German submarine that sank the Lusitania side number U-20. It was built in 1913. The submarine was equipped with diesel engines and had 4 torpedo silos - two in the stern and two in the bow. On April 30, 1915, the day before the sailing of the ocean-going U-20, she left the base in Keele and went to patrol the waters, first off the north of Scotland, and then moved into St. George's Bay. Her mission was simple, to patrol the war zone around British Isles and drown all who came to Liverpool and left it. The submarine had 7 G-6 torpedoes 6 meters long and 533 mm in diameter, equipped with 160 kg of explosive. This weapon developed a speed of more than 70 kilometers per hour. Two counter-rotating propellers allowed the torpedo to maintain a straight course. The person who decided to launch a torpedo at the Lusitania was 30-year-old captain Walter Schwieger, who had already sunk ships with a total displacement of 45,000 tons in three voyages. He was a conscientious and conscientious commander.
On the evening of May 6, the captain of the Lusitania, William Turner, received a message that a German submarine had been sighted off the coast of Ireland. Tension was building on board the passenger ship, some passengers even spent the night right on the decks. They were too scared to sleep in their cabins. Morning has come. The steamer Lusitania was approaching the war zone and the submarine U-20 waiting for her.
On the morning of May 7, Captain Turner discovered dense fog directly ahead. If the fog had not cleared in a few hours, the story of the Lusitania might have turned out differently, but the fog disappeared, and the passenger ship became visible from all sides. It was then that the captain made a decision that became life-changing. Under British maritime regulations, all ships in the war zone were ordered to zigzag, but in order to know the exact location of the ship, the captain decided to steer parallel to the coast, thus being vulnerable to a submarine located only 700 m from the ship. The situation was not long in coming and the submarine commander gave the order to attack the ship with one torpedo.
May 7, 1915 at 2:10 p.m. At this point the Lusitania had finished serving dinner. And a few meters away, the torpedo left the compartment, and after 35 seconds it hit the target, dooming 1198 people to death.
Exploration of the Lusitania continued for several days. The divers cleaned the fossilized remains of the ship's hull in the place where the cut should have been. Ebb and flow constantly interfered with the study, but work continued. Soon a man in a special suit descended to the bottom of the Lusitania, who made a hole in the skin of the ship's hull and tore it off the side with the help of magnets. In the resulting hole, the researchers sent a so-called "video beam", a combination of a video camera fixed on a submersible and a searchlight for underwater work. Soon, a cargo hold appeared in front of the eyes of the researchers, which was strewn with many 3.03 mm caliber cartridges. Among the many debris, it was quite difficult to recognize anything, but in order to establish the true causes of the explosion, the searchers had to take one sample of the cartridge.
After the expedition at sea, the research moved to the Lawrence National Explosives Institute in upstate California. This laboratory was created for research in the field of nuclear weapons. In a specialized laboratory, scientists conducted experiments that could confirm one of the theories of the origin of the second explosion on the ship.
The researchers put forward four versions of the explosion: the explosion of the boiler, the ignition of coal dust, aluminum powder or gunpowder ammunition.
The version of the aluminum powder igniting immediately disappeared, because the explosion on the ship was not so bright, and none of the eyewitness accounts mention flashes during the explosion.
Experiments with coal dust showed that an explosion of this origin also could not cause such damage to the ship.
most probable version explosion about the ignition of gunpowder for ammunition, which was secretly transported in cargo holds, scientists denied. The fact is that the ignition of gunpowder should have occurred immediately after the torpedo hit, and the second explosion on the Lusitania thundered 30 seconds later.
And so, with the help of computer technology, which is based on physics and thermodynamics, scientists determined that a torpedo could cause damage and cause a hole in the hull from 6 to 9 meters, through which more than 800 tons of cold sea water instantly fell on a heated boiler with 23 tons of high temperature water. This, according to scientists, could be the main cause of the explosion that caused the destruction.
But whatever the answer, the tragedy of the Lusitania will live forever in the memory of people, even in the most unexpected places. In 1982, three propellers of a passenger ship were raised from the bottom of the sea. Soon one of them ended up outside a hospital in Dallas, Texas, not far from where US President George F. Kennedy was assassinated. Like the controversy over the causes of the sinking of the Lusitania, the controversy of this crime will never stop. The events of May 7, 1915 abolished the generally accepted rules of warfare. And today, the Lusitania zealously keeps its secrets, which will soon completely disappear into oblivion, never allowing history to reveal them.
