LOST LINER: RMS Lusitania (7 May 1915)

Описание: The RMS LUSITANIA is probably my favorite of Cunard's grand trio of express liners. She had sleeker lines than MAURETANIA or AQUITANIA and her interiors were of bright, white plaster instead of MAURETANIA's somber dark woods. Such a splendid ship deserved a long and happy career. Yet even Cunard's reputation for safety and reliability could not protect her from the dangers of global war. On 7 May 1915 she encountered a German U-boat off the Irish coast. After being hit by a torpedo on the starboard side she slid beneath the waves in a mere 18 minutes. This was due in part to her use of longitudinal (front to back) bulkheads in addition to the standard transverse (side to side) bulkheads. During the TITANIC inquiries it was made clear that the OLYMPIC-class used only transverse bulkheads to prevent a catastrophic loss of stability due to unequal flooding. What some perceived as a design flaw of the OLYMPIC-class was revealed to be a virtue by the LUSITANIA. A single wound to her bow caused her to rapidly keel over and sink in 18 minutes -- taking 1,198 souls with her. Unlike the bow of TITANIC, or the relatively pristine BRITANNIC, the wreck of the LUSITANIA lies collapsed, twisted, and broken on the ocean floor. Her prow still proudly bears the name L-U-S-I-T-A-N-I-A, but otherwise she is a sad shadow of her former self. Nevertheless, we can remember her as the impeccably decorated Ocean Greyhound she once was.