Lusitania

Between election results and fiddles galore, I'm taking a moment for the Lusitania, torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale this day in 1915 (also a Friday). She sank in under 20 minutes. Figures vary slightly, but of the 1961 aboard, it's likely that 1197 died: crew, passengers, and the three stowaways who snuck aboard in New York and were confined below deck.

After a morning of warning and rising anxiety about U-Boats off the South Irish coast, the Lusitania received another Admiralty message: "SUBMARINE FIVE MILES SOUTH OF CAPE CLEAR, PROCEEDING WEST WHEN SIGHTED AT 10 AM." They thought they had come through the worst. When the torpedo hit the starboard side, it made a noise like the slamming of a door.


(Lusitania in New York, 1907, having completed her maiden voyage from Liverpool)

I was reading through some of the Lusitania sites; fascinating to learn that some of her lifeboats survived, and ended up on the Isle of Man, where they were used as viking boats from the 1970s onwards. One was rowed over to Strangford Loch to raise funds in the International Year of the Child: the same boat still helping to save, albeit in an utterly different capacity. Of the 129 children aboard the Lusitania, 94 died in the sinking.

Okay then! On that somewhat sombre note, wishing all a lovely weekend X