Probe the sunken luxury liner in a two-person mini-sub for clues to one of the century's most mysterious maritime tragedies.
Why did Germany torpedo the Lusitania, a civilian vessel? And why did such an enormous ship sink so fast? Now, take a high-tech plunge beneath the Irish Channel and relive one of the century's most mysterious maritime tragedies. The date is is May 7, 1915, just nine months into World War I. A German U-boat torpedoes the Lusitania – one of the largest and fastest luxury liners in the world. Of the 1,959 people aboard, including millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt, nearly two-thirds will die. Many are trapped inside the great ship as she sinks in just eighteen minutes.
Survivors recount a mysterious, massive second blast following the torpedo hit. Was the Lusitania carrying a secret cargo of high explosives from the neutral U.S. for Britain? Some think so, but explorer and scientist Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the R.M.S. Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck, has doubts. Join the great undersea detective on a classic National Geographic adventure, as he probes the sunken liner in a two-person mini-sub for clues that could rewrite history.
RMS Lusitania (named after the Roman province corresponding to modern Portugal and portions of western Spain) was a British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906. She was the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of the Mauretania three months later and was awarded the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing in 1908. The Lusitania was sunk on her 202nd trans-Atlantic crossing, on 7 May 1915 by a German U-boat 11 miles (18 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,197 passengers, crew and stowaways. The sinking occurred about two years before the United States declaration of war on Germany but significantly increased public support in the US for entering the war.
Overview
German shipping lines were Cunard's main competitors for the custom of Transatlantic passengers in the early 20th century, and Cunard responded by building two new 'ocean greyhounds': the Lusitania and the RMS Mauretania. Cunard used assistance from the British Admiralty to build both new ships, on the understanding that the ship would be available for military duty in time of war. During construction gun mounts for deck cannons were installed but no guns were ever fitted. Both the Lusitania and Mauretania were fitted with turbine engines that enabled them to maintain a service speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). They were equipped with lifts, wireless telegraph, and electric light, and provided 50 percent more passenger space than any other ship; the first-class decks were known for their sumptuous furnishings.: 45
A series of tit-for-tat moves intensified the naval portion of World War I. The Royal Navy had blockaded Germany at the start of the war; as a reprisal to German naval mining efforts, the UK then declared the North Sea a military area in the autumn of 1914 and mined the approaches. As their own reprisal, Germany had declared the seas around the United Kingdom a war zone, wherein all allied ships would be liable to be sunk without warning.
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