overlook the Titanic and the unsuitable commercialism and thin emotional-ism the debacle keep on to enthuse
Not like the loss of the Titanic, the dipping three years later of the just as well-appointed Cunard trans-Atlantic liner RMS Lusitania, with a similar loss of life, can rightly be called an event that tainted the world.
The sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, early in the First World War, by the Ger-man submarine U-20 off the south coast of Ireland had pro-found effects on the course of the 20th century, effects that continue to resonate
today.
The attack and sinking with-out warning of the liner, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people on board, in defiance of inter-national law supported British claims of the barbarism of the German military and led to the United States entering the war on the side of the British and French. American public opinion was swayed by British propaganda and the reality there were 139 U.S. citizens aboard the Lusitania, of whom 128 died. The arrival of American troops at the front broke the stalemate in Europe and resulted in the allied victory in November 1918.
The attack and sinking with-out warning of the liner, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people on board, in defiance of inter-national law supported British claims of the barbarism of the German military and led to the United States entering the war on the side of the British and French. American public opinion was swayed by British propaganda and the reality there were 139 U.S. citizens aboard the Lusitania, of whom 128 died. The arrival of American troops at the front broke the stalemate in Europe and resulted in the allied victory in November 1918.
The American intervention also signalled the beginning of the handover of global super-power status from Britain to the U.S.
America's evident rising power allowed president Woodrow Wilson to dominate the peace negotiations in Paris over the winter of 1918-1919, Washington's first outing as an unchallenged arbiter of inter-national affairs.
The passing of the imperial torch was accepted and often encouraged by generations of British statesmen, an attitude that cemented the relationship between Washington and Lon-don for the entire 20th century. This kinship made it almost inevitable that the U.S. would join the Second World War and that it would come in on the side of the allies against the German, Italian and Japanese Axis alliance.
Indeed, the continuation of this Anglo-U.S. bond can be seen in the alacrity with which then-British prime minister Tony Blair joined president George W. Bush in the escapade to invade Iraq in 2003.
It is only in very recent years, with no evident chemistry in the relationship between Barack Obama and David Cameron, and Britain's importance increasingly insignificant beside the European Union, that the Lusitania effect seems to be wearing off.
The Lusitania was built at the John Brown and Co. yard on Clydebank in Scotland and launched in August 1907 with the specific purpose of trying to break the increasing domination of German liners of the transatlantic passenger market.
So the Lusitania and her sister ship, the Mauretania, launched a few months later, were designed to lure passengers by providing the height of luxury and a high-speed service between Liverpool and New York.
On her second voyage, in October 1907, the Lusitania won the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing, making the trip in four days, 19 hours and 53 minutes. In all the Lusitania made 202 crossings, including her fateful last voyage when she left New York's Pier 54 on May 1, 1915, to return to Liverpool.
German submarines began attacking merchant shipping early in 1915, but usually followed established rules of war that said the crew should be taken off or allowed to take to lifeboats before the ship was sunk.
However, in February 1915, Germany declared the seas around Britain a war zone and said merchant shipping might be sunk without warning.
There was also a specific threat against the Lusitania in late April, when the German embassy in the U.S. published in scores of American news-papers a warning that anyone taking passage on the liner did so at their own peril.
British naval intelligence had been tracking U-20, commanded by Capt.-Lieut. Walther Schwieger since he left port in Borkum on April 30, but it remains unclear how much information was passed on to British captains.
U-20 sailed over northern Scotland and down the west coast of Ireland and on May 5, started to attack British merchant ships off Ireland's south coast.
That day and on May 6, Schwieger sank three merchant ships after ensuring the safety of the crews.
However, when Schwieger spotted the Lusitania at about 13: 20 on May 7, he immediately positioned his boat for an attack without warning and fired one torpedo at 14: 10.
The torpedo struck the Lusitania below the waterline and midships.
That explosion was soon followed by another, which has been the subject of much conjecture over the years. It is almost certain the second explosion was the result of a buildup of pressure in one of the steam boilers powering the ship's turbine engines.
The damage was massive and the Lusitania sank in 18 minutes.
Unlike the Titanic, the Lusitania carried more than enough lifeboats for the passengers and crew, but the ship heeled over so quickly and sank so rapidly that only six lifeboats could be launched.
Like the Titanic, the list of those killed contains the names of many of the rich and famous of the time, among them Mary Ryerson, wife of the founder of the Canadian Red Cross, George Ryerson; Josephine Burnside, daughter of department store founder Timothy Eaton; and Montreal socialite Frances Stephens.
Historians still debate whether it was coincidence or purposeful, but when the allies finally presented Germany with the terms of its surrender, it was on the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania: May 7, 1919.
However, in February 1915, Germany declared the seas around Britain a war zone and said merchant shipping might be sunk without warning.
There was also a specific threat against the Lusitania in late April, when the German embassy in the U.S. published in scores of American news-papers a warning that anyone taking passage on the liner did so at their own peril.
British naval intelligence had been tracking U-20, commanded by Capt.-Lieut. Walther Schwieger since he left port in Borkum on April 30, but it remains unclear how much information was passed on to British captains.
U-20 sailed over northern Scotland and down the west coast of Ireland and on May 5, started to attack British merchant ships off Ireland's south coast.
That day and on May 6, Schwieger sank three merchant ships after ensuring the safety of the crews.
However, when Schwieger spotted the Lusitania at about 13: 20 on May 7, he immediately positioned his boat for an attack without warning and fired one torpedo at 14: 10.
The torpedo struck the Lusitania below the waterline and midships.
That explosion was soon followed by another, which has been the subject of much conjecture over the years. It is almost certain the second explosion was the result of a buildup of pressure in one of the steam boilers powering the ship's turbine engines.
The damage was massive and the Lusitania sank in 18 minutes.
Unlike the Titanic, the Lusitania carried more than enough lifeboats for the passengers and crew, but the ship heeled over so quickly and sank so rapidly that only six lifeboats could be launched.
Like the Titanic, the list of those killed contains the names of many of the rich and famous of the time, among them Mary Ryerson, wife of the founder of the Canadian Red Cross, George Ryerson; Josephine Burnside, daughter of department store founder Timothy Eaton; and Montreal socialite Frances Stephens.
Historians still debate whether it was coincidence or purposeful, but when the allies finally presented Germany with the terms of its surrender, it was on the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania: May 7, 1919.
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1 comments:
Superb Well Written Article on Titanic,, Thanks For the Detail