Worldwide shipwreck
7 May 1915, the British superliner "Lusitania" was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off the coast of Ireland. This tragedy played in stories far greater role than the death of "Titanic", but its century, oddly enough, missed. The death of "Lusitania" was the reason for joining the First World USA, which before that had only shorn coupons from the war. In foreign policy, America began to move from isolationism to messianism. And, perhaps, it was from that day that sacrificing civilians to achieve military goals became the norm.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Germans took the lead in passenger traffic across the Atlantic. One by one, their ships took the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic prize, awarded to the fastest ship. However, in 1906, the British company Cunard Line launched two ships of the same type: first Lusitania, and a few months later Mauritania. First, the leadership in speed captured "Lusitania". In 1907-1909, she owned the Blue Ribbon, updating the record several times and eventually raising it to an 25,65 node (47,50 km / h). In 1909, the championship was intercepted by Mauritania, its record - the 26,06 node (48,26 km / h) - lasted until the year 1929.
It should be said that after the start of the war, the Lusitania and Mauritania were not converted into auxiliary cruisers, although it was with this condition that the Cunard Line received a colossal loan of £ 2,6 million for their construction at that time. Apparently, the government simply did not think then - due to its size (length of 240 meters, displacement of 38 ths. Tons) and enormous fuel consumption, liners were not very suitable for this role. Anyway, at the beginning of World War I, the popular Lusitania and Mauritania continued to sail across the Atlantic as passenger liners.
1 of May 1915 of the year went to its last flight, Lusitania.
Far in the rear
America is often perceived as a natural ally of Britain; meanwhile, this is not quite the case. Among Americans, there are more descendants of Germans and Irish than Anglo-Saxons, who are in third place. Yes, the Germans were quickly assimilated, and already the second generation usually forgot about its roots, but this cannot be said about the Irish. Hatred of the British, who in fact repeatedly subjected them to starvation genocide, they carried through the centuries. I say it confidently as a man, since I almost got rid of the Irish pub in New York for too clean British pronunciation. What can we say about the beginning of the XX century, when Ireland had not yet gained independence?
But the rest of the population was not eager to fight in Europe. America of that time still professed isolationism as the state political religion, and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) and Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), who considered this approach provincial, could do nothing about it. There were volunteers who independently went overseas, but for the most part Americans didn’t care about European military fun. At the same time, the United States extracted enormous benefits from this slaughterhouse, supplying weapon and ammunition, as well as giving loans.
In 1910, the US national debt amounted to $ 2,6 billion, by 1914, it became even larger. Debts, like everything else, can be considered differently, and the maximum figure here reaches $ 7,2 billion. And after the war, America had all former allies. How much? Usually, a sum of about $ 10 billion appears. By June 1919, debt together with interest reached $ 24,262 billion. During the war years, the US national wealth increased by 40%, its share in world production exceeded 50%, and finally, half of the world’s gold reserves, and the dollar became the main currency. Never before has the world seen such a rapid enrichment of a single state. But Europe was on the verge of bankruptcy, which concerned both the vanquished and the winners.
In 1915, things on the fronts of the First World War were far from being brilliant for the Entente countries. Germany and Austria-Hungary, especially the first, confidently fought off the superior forces of Russia, France and England. Entente desperately needed a new powerful ally. It is clear that only the USA could be such. European diplomacy, primarily British, did everything possible to get America to participate in the war more actively, but America was not “forced” to some time, she felt fine and so. President Woodrow Wilson, one of the founders of American messianism, wanted more visible intervention in European affairs, but at that time it looked absolutely impossible.
Military passenger lines
22 April 1915, the following announcement was published in 50 American newspapers:
"Attention!
Travelers who intend to cross the Atlantic are reminded that Germany and its allies are at war with Britain and its allies; that the zone of hostilities includes waters adjacent to the British Isles, and that, in accordance with the official notification issued by the Imperial Government of Germany, ships flying the flag of Great Britain or its allies are subject to destruction in these waters, and travelers sailing through the zone of military operations on ships of Great Britain and its allies do so at their own peril and risk.
Imperial Embassy of Germany
Washington, DC, April 22 1915 of the year "
It so happened that in some newspapers this ad was placed directly under the announcement of the next Lusitania flight from New York to Liverpool.
From the very beginning of the war, Germany made it clear to the world that it would revise any rules if they did not accept it. The Germans were the first to use the submarine fleet on a strategic scale and drowned everything that turned out in the vicinity of Great Britain, and not just warships. Submariners quickly turned into a kind of extreme sportsmen, ready to send even the Noah's Ark to the bottom if it would take them to the first place in the “rating”. Each captain knew where in the prestigious list is now located, and was ready for anything to climb at least another step.
Submarines were relatively slow. 15 nodes (27,8 km / h) were a good indicator on the surface, and 9 (16,7 km / h) under water. And many believed that the submarines are not afraid of ships going at speeds over 20 nodes. The fact that the boats are not chasing anyone, but are sitting in ambush in the marine "coal ears", which are not passing, few knew, and those who knew believed that if a high-speed ship goes anti-submarine (it constantly changes course), it will not allow the submarine to go to the shock position. The fact that German submarines were sinking more and more ships did not convince anyone of anything. Similarly, before the "Titanic" belonged to icebergs. And by the spring of 1915, a ship like the Titanic had never been a trophy of a submarine.
It is worth mentioning that the war had a negative impact on passenger traffic across the Atlantic. So, 3 class tickets for the ill-fated Luzitania flight were sold off by a third. To make ends meet, Cunard Line cut the team. For example, the remaining firemen could serve only 19 steam boilers from 25. Accordingly, the coal supply was reduced from 7 to 6 thousand tons. This meant that on a Lusitania flight it would be able to reach speeds of no more than 21 knots (38,9 km / h). Thus, the company exposed its passengers to additional danger, although it was hardly itself fully aware of this.
As often happens before a catastrophe, there were people who either had a premonition, or were simply afraid more than others. Someone Edward B. Bowen, a large shoe dealer, at the last moment refused to sail in the “Lusitania”, many of those who boarded had anxiety on their souls. When one of such anxious people spoke several times in the sense that it would be nice for sailors to conduct a training session on launching lifeboats into the water, other passengers asked to stop these conversations so as not to irritate the ladies. The unknown danger frightens less than the known. Here iceberg is yes. It's clear. And what is a submarine? Yes, she only sink trawlers when they pull the network.
7 May passengers and the Lusitania team finally saw the ground. It was Ireland. Everyone felt relieved: to the coast - a little more than 20 km. People on board would be much less calm if they knew that since 1 in May, when Lusitania left New York, German submarines had sunk in the 23 area of the ship. The most interesting thing is that this was not reported to Captain William Turner. On the other hand, the wrong ones were reported, knowing from which ceiling the coordinates of the nearest submarine were taken. Meanwhile, the boat was much closer to the “Lusitania” than expected.
One of those who hunted in these waters was a thirty-year captain-lieutenant Walter Schwiger, a typical ambitious athlete-submarine for that time — the commander of the U-20 boat. Over the past few days he has sunk a small sailboat and three steamboats - he did not disdain trifles. Another ship left him at high speed, and the British cruiser "Juno" avoided a torpedo strike, using anti-submarine zigzag. In general, Schwieger has not had any bright victories yet. When he saw the approaching “Lusitania” from a distance, he didn’t believe his eyes - at first he decided that these were two steamboats sailing nearby.
At some point, Captain Turner changed course, turning away from the shoal, - Walter Schwieger had already decided that he would not have time to intercept, but then "Lusitania" got on the straight course. There were three reasons for this. First, as already mentioned, the captain of the Lusitania was convinced that there were no submarines nearby. Secondly, he believed that it was worth zigzagging only when you had already seen the boat. Thirdly, just at that moment, the captain was engaged in determining the exact location of the ship, and for this it would take some time to go straight ahead, without changing speed. No need to blame Captain Turner. In May 1915, he did not have the knowledge and experience that resulted from the death of his ship.
Meanwhile, U-20 with a speed of 9 nodes (16,7 km / h) went under water to intercept the "Lusitania". When the distance was reduced to 700 meters, Schwierr launched a torpedo. After 45 seconds, she hit Lusitania.
Catastrophe
The torpedo was noticed when it was no longer possible to turn the 240-meter vessel away from it. The strike hit the starboard side - two explosions rang out one after the other. The ship immediately began to bury its nose and, what was much worse, fell heavily to the starboard - the launch of the boats from the port side was impossible. On top of all the misfortunes, the division of the team, which was responsible for launching the boats, was just where the torpedo hit - almost all were killed. Boats began to descend hastily and ineptly. As a result, they walked down their noses, who astern, people from them fell into the water ... But still, some of the boats managed to be lowered safely.
Passengers behaved differently, many - surprisingly worthy. The one hundred millionth owner (about $ 2 billion on the current price scale), a representative of the famous American family Alfred Gwynn Vanderbilt, a great lover of women and fox hunting, in his free time driving a horse-drawn carriage races with a locomotive, gave his lifejacket to a woman with a child and personally fixed it so that they survived together. At the same time, Alfred himself could not swim. His body was not found.
A well-known journalist, writer and philosopher Elbert Hubbard in 1912 wrote a heart-breaking article according to eyewitnesses about how elderly spouses Isidore and Ida Straus on the sinking Titanic gave up their places in the boat and remained to die on the ship. Now Hubbard was aboard the Lusitania. In the midst of insanity he and his wife Alice went to the cabin, holding hands.
A prominent theater producer Charles Frohman could not jump into the boat, as his leg was crippled and he could hardly move with a cane. According to actress Rita Jolive, who survived the crash, Frohman, like Alfred Vanderbilt, helped women put on life jackets. Finally, shortly before he fell into the water, Charles Froman said that death is the most fascinating adventure in life and should not be afraid of it.
In the XIX century, many writers gained fame great psychologists, describing in detail a variety of misfortunes. Here they would be expanse. Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes. The water temperature was 11 degrees, people clung to everything, including each other. Drowned in hundreds. Cries for help merged with the screech of a crumbling ship. Many did not have vests, others were wearing them wrong, and they too choked. One woman, floating on a board, began to give birth; the musicians who were in one of the boats were singing church hymns ...
When the ship was still afloat, the captain of the submarine, Walter Schwieger, who was watching the periscope, abandoned the intention to release another torpedo for allegiance, which he later recorded in the ship's log. Neither then nor later did he have any doubts about this story. He was the son of his time and his country, a German soldier of the 1915 model of the year, and not of the 1942 model.
The depth of the sea at the crash site is small, almost three times less than the length of the "Lusitania", and when it rested its nose on the ground, the food still stuck above the water. As soon as the ship finally went under water, a giant funnel was formed, into which many were sucked in, but some managed to swim. Separate funnels formed chimneys. One woman was first dragged into a pipe — and immediately thrown upstairs. Then her, all covered with soot, picked up one of the boats.
As already mentioned, the tragedy occurred very close to the shore, it was perfectly visible. However, the help arrived only in a few hours. We managed to save a few. Of the 1959 people on board, 1198 died, only three hundred fewer than on the Titanic. Sources indicate a different number of dead citizens of the United States - from 124 to 135, but in any case they were enough for this prosperous country to be shocked. Someone else's war still came to the Americans in the house.
Coercion to war
In the German embassy, reporters were met with such fear, as if it were a gang of shooters from the Wild West. The Counselor of the Embassy, Prince von Gatzfeld, is actually not at all an idiot, commented on the actions of the German submariners with the mind-blowing foolishness that went down in history: "They did not want to kill anyone."
Former President Theodore Roosevelt said that the German submariners had surpassed the cruelty of all the pirates of past times, and finally stated the following: "We cannot refrain from actions, because we must undertake them in the name of humanity ... to maintain our national dignity." These words reflected the general mood in the USA - at that moment it became clear that the country would enter the war. American isolationism cracked, which has only increased since then, until it finally collapsed during World War II.
President Woodrow Wilson at first was not so harsh in his statements. Unlike Roosevelt, who was in opposition, he had to answer for his words, but, having studied the reaction of the public, he became bolder and made statements more and more militant. America bore to war, like a log that fell into the river into the sea. The last stronghold of isolationism in the American government fell - Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned. It only needed a reason to get involved in the war as it should, and Kaiser Germany gave it.
11 January 1917 German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman sent a curious telegram to the German ambassador to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. It reported that Germany is starting an unlimited underwater war, but at the same time wants the US to remain neutral. But in the event that the United States did enter the war, Mexico was asked to establish allied relations with Germany and start a war for the return of its former territories occupied by the United States. One can only guess in which twilight the state of the imperial government was, if hatched such plans.
The telegram was intercepted by British intelligence and handed over to the Americans. Proponents of the war finally got everything they needed, and on April 6, the United States declared war on Germany. After the tragedy of "Lusitania" almost two years passed.
Soviet textbooks loved to reduce the role of America in the First World War to almost zero - they say, the US lost only 120 thousand people in it. But for America, not accustomed to calculating human losses to the accuracy of five million, these were tremendous casualties. The 1861-1865 civil war, considered monstrously bloody, claimed a total of about half a million lives, and here in a little over a year 120 thousand. However, the country first felt that it was ready to pay such a price for an active foreign policy. American isolationism took the position of messianism, which, by the way, helped the USSR well when the USA sent troops to Europe in World War II, despite the fact that they had already fought with Japan in the Far East.
Double bottom lusitania
In connection with the death of "Lusitania" many questions arose. For example, why the ship sank so quickly, why did such a strong roll on the starboard form? After all, when the “Titanic” died, representatives of the “Cunard Line” claimed that “Lusitania” and “Mauritania” would remain afloat after such a collision with an iceberg. With a roll sorted out quickly. Unlike the Titanic, Lusitania had not only transverse, but also longitudinal watertight bulkheads. The torpedo pierced the starboard, but did not pass through. As a result, several compartments to the right filled with water - hence the roll. Before the "Lusitania" went to the bottom, the water squeezed out the same longitudinal bulkheads, and the vessel leveled off for just a minute.
However, there were things and more interesting. Both the survivors from Lusitania and Walter Schwierr indicated that there were two explosions, while the German captain claimed that he had fired only one torpedo. In the ship's log, he wrote that the cause of the second explosion could be "a boiler, coal or gunpowder." Here, for the British Admiralty, trouble began, because its representatives insisted that there were two torpedoes. The fact that the Lusitania was carrying 4,2 million rifle cartridges, as well as some parts of ammunition, could not be hidden. So, maybe this detonated the cartridges? Or something else that exploded - that they decided to deliver to Europe using a passenger ship.
In general, strange things happened with passenger liners in the war. In 1916, the Britannik liner converted to a floating hospital was blown up by a mine. It was a ship of the same type with the Titanic, but built later, with the elimination of the shortcomings of the latter’s construction. Nevertheless, the “Titanic” sank for an hour and a half, and the “Britannic” - for less than an hour, despite the fact that its damage should have been less serious. At that time, it was also suggested that Britannic carried not only patients. In the case of the Lusitania, the Germans always insisted that it was carrying a military cargo, and the point is that it was not they who sank the passenger ship with particular cruelty, but the British cynically covered the military cargo with passengers.
During the trial, the surviving Lusitania captain William Turner (Admiral John Fisher and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill tried to make him a scapegoat) first said that there was one torpedo, then two. After many years, he admitted that the torpedo was still alone. At the trial, attempts were made to find out what was still in the holds of the “Lusitania”, but they were harshly suppressed by Judge John Bigman. Shortly after the trial, he resigned and called the case "Lusitania" damn dirty. Captain Turner was acquitted. There was a feeling that the authorities were hiding something; on the other hand, the fact that passenger ships often carried military cargo during the war was a secret to Polichinel.
From the very beginning, everyone was even more interested in how such a ship as Lusitania could have entered the area without any escort, where the Germans sank the ship 23 in a few days? A theory was immediately born that was immediately called a conspiracy: the British allegedly put the Lusitania under attack in order to draw America into the war. At the same time, Churchill’s statement that Britain did not have destroyers to accompany passenger ships convinced few people.
In fact, conspiracy is not so much. If someone says that the British admirals called Walter Schwiger on the prehistoric mobile phone and took him to the target, then yes, this is, of course, nonsense. But you can act much thinner. And it was easier not to act at all.
Arthur Conan Doyle has a novel called Girdleston Trading House. Shameless business operations carried out by John Gordleston and his son Ezra, including the transport of goods on shabby ships, are mentioned there. From the context it is clear that old Girdleston is just waiting for them to go to the bottom to get an insurance premium. Not so hypocritical Ezra incites his father to hire someone and drown at least one of these vessels, but the father objects - this is already a crime, but there is nothing wrong with not interfering with the natural course of things.
So, maybe the Admiralty, too, just did not interfere with the course of things, in which it was vitally interested? As you know, in the last century in the war, some division commander could condemn hundreds of people to certain death in order to distract the enemy from the direction of the main attack - as in the story of Yuri Bondarev "The battalions ask for fire." The Admiralty lords could decide that for the sake of full-scale US involvement in a world war, it is perfectly acceptable to sacrifice a few hundred lives — even if we are talking about civilians. Especially since for this purpose it was just necessary to do nothing.
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