The smoke from ships and the exhalations of the river left a haze that blurred the world and made the big liner seem even bigger, less the product of human endeavor than an escarpment rising from a plain.The hull was black; seagulls flew past in slashes of white, pretty now, not yet the objects of horror they would become, later, for the man standing on the ship's bridge, seven stories above the wharf.
While many of us may have vague knowledge of the (spoiler alert) sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania in 1915, how many can say exactly what lead up to this event, what people were involved, and what impact this had on World War I? Who can name any famous person aboard on that fateful trip? Why was the Lusitania such an important vessel to the Americans, British, and Germans alike? And finally what happened to its passengers, crew, captain, and even the German U-Boat commander after the Lusitania went down?
Each of these interesting questions is answered in Erik Larson's newest non-fiction historical work, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. Using diaries, interviews, newspaper accounts, and de-coded radio messages from Germans and British, Larson tells the details of the people (American, British, and German alike) and events leading up to the voyage, the sinking, and the aftereffects of that ship's disaster.
Dead Wake consists of three intertwined stories: the last voyage of the Lusitania with its crew and passengers; the German U-Boat 20 and its commander and crew; and the personal trials of President Woodrow Wilson who had recently experienced the death of his wife and was plagued by uncertainty about the War. Moving smoothly between these three perspectives, Dead Wake continually fascinates as it reveals motivations and actions of each story until they collide one fateful day.
On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania set out from New York for London carrying 1,265 passengers, including 123 Americans. Captained by William Turner, she was the greatest ship of her time according to one passenger:
No one aboard, including Turner, felt the voyage would be anything but uneventful. Despite warnings from Kaiser Wilhelm himself to the shipbuilders not to travel into wartime waters, the passengers and crew of the Lusitania were confident that, at 25 knots, the Lusitania could outrun or ram any enemy submarine which dared attack a fully-loaded passenger liner, an action they deemed "beyond rational consideration." Although the crew practiced lifeboat drills and watched for tell-tale submarine periscope wakes, the wealthy passengers were not to be disturbed by mandatory participation in such activities.
Meanwhile, aboard the German submarine U-boat 20, Captain Walther Schwieger had complete freedom to roam the waters around England and sink whatever ship he desired in order to break the British blockage and stop the flow of troops and supplies to England. Even ships flying neutral country flags were targeted since false colors often were used by enemies in hopes of fooling U-boats. Larson follows Schwieger and his crew in their life aboard U-boat 20 as they sink ship after ship with neither the traditional warning to abandon ship nor assistance to survivors.
The events Larson reveals leading up to the deadly meeting between U-20 and the Lusitania are fascinating, including:
Each of these interesting questions is answered in Erik Larson's newest non-fiction historical work, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. Using diaries, interviews, newspaper accounts, and de-coded radio messages from Germans and British, Larson tells the details of the people (American, British, and German alike) and events leading up to the voyage, the sinking, and the aftereffects of that ship's disaster.
Dead Wake consists of three intertwined stories: the last voyage of the Lusitania with its crew and passengers; the German U-Boat 20 and its commander and crew; and the personal trials of President Woodrow Wilson who had recently experienced the death of his wife and was plagued by uncertainty about the War. Moving smoothly between these three perspectives, Dead Wake continually fascinates as it reveals motivations and actions of each story until they collide one fateful day.
On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania set out from New York for London carrying 1,265 passengers, including 123 Americans. Captained by William Turner, she was the greatest ship of her time according to one passenger:
The Lusitania...is in itself a perfect epitome of all that man knows or has discovered or invented up to this moment of time.
No one aboard, including Turner, felt the voyage would be anything but uneventful. Despite warnings from Kaiser Wilhelm himself to the shipbuilders not to travel into wartime waters, the passengers and crew of the Lusitania were confident that, at 25 knots, the Lusitania could outrun or ram any enemy submarine which dared attack a fully-loaded passenger liner, an action they deemed "beyond rational consideration." Although the crew practiced lifeboat drills and watched for tell-tale submarine periscope wakes, the wealthy passengers were not to be disturbed by mandatory participation in such activities.
Meanwhile, aboard the German submarine U-boat 20, Captain Walther Schwieger had complete freedom to roam the waters around England and sink whatever ship he desired in order to break the British blockage and stop the flow of troops and supplies to England. Even ships flying neutral country flags were targeted since false colors often were used by enemies in hopes of fooling U-boats. Larson follows Schwieger and his crew in their life aboard U-boat 20 as they sink ship after ship with neither the traditional warning to abandon ship nor assistance to survivors.
The events Larson reveals leading up to the deadly meeting between U-20 and the Lusitania are fascinating, including:
- Part of the cargo for the Lusitania included 157 barrels of candy, oil paintings of Rubens, Monet, Titian, and Rembrandt worth $92 million today, and 1,250 cases of shrapnel-laden artillery shells and powder bound for the British army;
- The British Admiralty and their ultra-secret Room 40 division of code-breakers actually had a copy of the German code book and were able to read German correspondence from U-boats to German command headquarters. They knew where U-boats were, but were reluctant to act on this information to protect ships and reveal they had broken the German codes;
- The Lusitania shut down one of its four engine throughout the voyage to conserve coal, thus reducing its overall speed and placing it near U-20 on the fated day rather than arriving in London two days earlier before the submarine was in the area;
- Evasive maneuvers by the Lusitania were avoided because "subjecting passengers, many of them prominent souls in first class, to the hard and irregular turns of a zigzag course were beyond contemplation;"
- Although the sinking of the Lusitania supposedly pushed the US from a neutral position to actually entering into World War I, it actually was over two years between those two events.
The actual sinking is transfixing to read. Using personal accounts of survivors and official reports, Larson presents eye-witness details that recall passengers calmly watching the torpedo approach the Lusitania, the swiftness of the boat going down due to open portholes (filling interiors with "an estimated 260 tons of water per minute"), heroes who helped passengers correctly put on life jackets (many drowned due to wearing mis-adjusted preservers), and the tearful reunification of separated survivors.
Riveting, exciting, breath-taking, sorrowful, eye-opening ... what other words can I use to describe the feeling when reading this page-turning account? Highly recommended for its clarifying history of events, its writing, and the captivating details of life in the early twentieth century of the wealthy class, the naval forces, and warring governments during this period. Wonderful!
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Hochschild, Adam. To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918
In-depth research brings this non-fiction account of the origins, daily workings, social conditions, and conclusions about World War I to vivid life. Great insight into the major and minor people of this war from military to political to social figures. Highly recommended. (previously reviewed here)
Larson, Erik. Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Powerful, all-encompassing read about the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, intertwined with the development of the new downtown Chicago skyline at that time and the architect who designed it. But also lurking is the true account of the grisly murders that took place at the same time just outside the fair. As always, Larson is the master of detail and personalities, weaving them together with his smooth writing to make a reader feel he/she is actually a part of the fair, the murders, and the investigation of that era.
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