S/S Lusitania |
Built by Brown & Co at Glasgow, Scotland, 1907 for the Cunard Line. 31,550 gross tons; 762 feet long; 87 feet wide. The Lusitania was one of only fourteen ever built four stackers. The machinery marked the Lusitania as a pioneer in maritime history. She had four direct acting steam turbines of the Parsons type, and had four propellers, with 3 blades each. The ship's quadruple screw propulsion unit was driven by direct drive steam turbines which developed some 68,000 IHP and, revolving at 180 rpm, which gave the ship a speed of 25 knots. 2,165 passengers (563 first class, 464 second class, 1,138 third class.)
She had seven decks for the use of passengers.
On May 1, 1915 the Lusitania departed from New York for Queenstown and Liverpool, carrying 1,959 passengers. Many of the passengers were American citizens going on visit to Europe. On May 7th, off the Old Head of Kinsale, the Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine, U-20. She sank in 18 minutes. 1,195 people drowned, 123 of them were American citizens. Germany had warned the Americans against taking passage on British ships, but the incident contributed to the rise of American sentiment in favor of entering WWI on the side of the Allies. |
