Lusitania

The Lusitania Attack and the Violation of Naval Traditions (Vanity Fair Magazine, 1915)

Attached is a Vanity Fair article printed a few months after the Lusitania sinking in which the journalist listed the many and myriad explanations as to why this event was such a departure from the traditions of naval warfare set in place by John Paul Jones, Admirals Nelson and Dewey.


Click here to read read a 1919 German condemnation of Admiral Von Tirpitz.

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Lusitania Torpedoed (NY Times, 1915)

A short column from the front page of The New York Times dated May 6, 1915 in which one of the Lusitania survivors recalled that famous submarine attack and it’s immediate aftermath:

…Immediately we both saw the track of a torpedo followed almost instantly by an explosion. Portions of splintered hull were sent flying into the air, and then another torpedo struck. The ship began to list to starboard.

In 2008 Mr. Gregg Bemis, the American who is the owner of Lusitania, and sole possessor of all salvaging rights, examined the remains of the great ship where it rested some eight miles off Ireland’s South-West coast and provided proof-positive that the ship was indeed hauling armaments.


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Lusitania and the Laws of the Sea (Harper’s Weekly, 1915)

Attached is a two column article pertaining to neutral states and the international laws of war as agreed upon at the Hague Convention of 1899.


This piece appeared three months prior to the infamous submarine attack on the ship and alludes to a little known matter involving Lusitania and the masquerade of flying the flags of non-combatant nations while crossing the Atlantic.

The ruse by which the Lusitania escaped the possible danger of submarines, the use of the American flag, has been resorted to over and over again in modern naval wars.

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