Well Preserved......... by neiwil
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
This is a rare souvenir, a 'lifebuoy' from the SS Lusitania.It was picked up by the skipper of a fishing boat, from Kinsale County Cork Ireland, who helped rescue survivors.The skipper gave it to fish merchant Arthur Miller, who happened to be in port at the time.Mr Miller displayed it for many years in his office in Passage East, Waterford.It is now on display in the Mersey Maritime Museum, kindly loaned by Mr Miller's Grandson, Dr A Neiland..
SS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank,Scotland.The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the lines heavily traveled passenger service between Liverpool and New York which included a port of call at Queenstown Ireland on westbound crossings and Fishguard Wales on eastbound crossings.The ship was named after the ancient Roman province of Lusitania,which is part of present day Portugal. During the First World War, as Germany waged submarine warfare against Britain, the ship was identified and torpedoed, by the German U-boat 'U-20', on 7 May 1915 and sank in just eighteen minutes.The vessel went down eleven miles off the Old Head of Kinsale,Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard,leaving 761 survivors. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany,and contributed greatly to the American entry into World War I and became an iconic symbol in military recruiting campaigns of why the war was being fought.
Lusitania was constructed as part of the competition between the Cunard Line and other shipping lines,principally from Germany,for the trans Atlantic passenger trade.Whichever company had the fastest and most luxurious ships had a commercial advantage.Lusitania and her sister Mauretania together provided a regular express service between Britain and the United States until the outbreak of the First World War.The two ships both held the Blue Riband speed record for a transatlantic crossing at different times in their careers.Mauretania was generally the slightly faster of the two and continued to hold the record after the war until 1929.
Comments (15)
coyoteviper
awesome piece of history.
auntietk
Yeah ... sinking a passenger liner ... bad call. A nice bit of history here!
Froggy
Nice one Neil - back to the classroom with these classic 'lessons'. The thing I learn't today? I didn't know Lusitania was a Roman province in Portugal! Cool :)
fly028
Always a great story. It's awesome!Thanks!
android65mar
Errie to think of someone clinging onto this lifebuoy as the they bob up and down in the Atlantic...
T.Rex
I recall reading several articles about the sinking of the Lusitania. Some authors believed the ship was a "gun runner" loaded with guns and munitions hidden in double ceilings or double decks. This is an absurdity, as it would require complete rebuilding of the ship. Loading the arms would require a long layover in port, as would the unloading. The most plausible reason for the Lusitania's fast demise is coal dust. Coal dust was a hazard in ALL coal fueled ships, just as it is in coal mines. As the coal bunkers are emptied during the voyage to keep the boilers going, a lot of coal dust accumulates in the air in the empty coal bunker. A spark is all that's needed to ignite it, with a violent explosion as the result (see explosions in coal mines). A torpedo hit ignited the coal dust, thereby blowing the ship apart from the inside. The wreck was discovered and photographed during the 1980s. The hull bulges outward, indicating a violent internal explosion, which most likely killed most people on board. This would be why so few survived (another case example - the internal explosion destroying the HMS Hood). Since the Lusitania was only hours from reaching its destination, the coal bunkers were nearly completely empty. Bunkers take a LOT of space, which is one reason why coal was replaced by oil. Other reasons were the manual labour to fill the bunkers, and the risk of internal explosion. Nice photo. I assume it's the model of the Titanic that's reflected in the glass. Keep up the good work! :-)
Maxidyne
A bit special this and real part of history. As android65mar points out it's unsettling to think of someone holding on to this for dear life. The sinking of this ship always makes me think of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and what he did. Shame more people in a position of privilege arn't like that these days in this age of everyone for themselves. Excellent find Neil.
debbielove
A good....and extremely rare post here Neil mate! Nice but sad one.. Great history to go with it.. Well down so quickly, must have been hit just at the right spot(s).. Sad.. Rob
Fidelity2
Superb! This one is so great. I thank you for it. 5+!
flavia49
great capture
weesel
Carrying passengers on a ship known to be used to transport munitions... really bad call. LUSITANIA was a legitimate target. The passengers were unwitting "human shields." Sort of what certain groups do now... Hmmm? The munitions and arms were recovered. Their presence aboard is proven by several manifests. Concur with the coal dust theory. That stuff is nasty. Also one of the fire rooms was closed to save fuel expenses. The ship was running slower than usual and the bunkers for that unused room were probably empty -- a floating bomb. Nice image which summarizes an all round sad happening.
angora
great image!!! THX for the info! and for the trip down memory lane, LOVE the south of Ireland!!! -and 'the rest' of Ireland too ;-D -
Briney
A sad day. I'll take the "legitimate" target label with a grain of salt. I'd say that the U-boat was in fact the only legitimate target present.... Its a simple choice. "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you..." or "Sow the seeds, and reap the whirlwind..." Clearly, the Kaiser never choose wisely.
preeder
Nice history lesson once again Neil.
kjer_99
More interesting history; although I'm very familiar with this particular one. Like you said, the Lusitania became a rallying cry to get America into the "Great War."