OT - Remember Today, May 7, 1915, Lusitania 97 Years
magikbilly
Posts: 6,780 ✭
Hi All,
Take a moment to remember today. The sinking in wartime of the Cunard R.M.S. Lusitania, May 7, 1915, off the Old Head of Kinsale (shown below in subsequent post) near Queenstown (now Cobh, last port of call for Titanic). Oh, 1,198 were lost - among them 100 children. One of my friends used to know a man who had the following story to tell.....
"The Old Head of Kinsale is a fine place for a picnic. Its high cliffs offer spectacular views out across the Irish Sea. On May 7th 1915, a young lad called George Henderson and his family, were eating their sandwiches and admiring a huge liner with four funnels as it steamed majestically eastwards, clearly bound from America towards Liverpool, then suddenly everything went surreal. A plume of water and smoke burst sky deep (?), the liner’s bow started to sink, its stern reared up into the air, and in less than twenty minutes it had disappeared beneath the waves. Seventy years later, George Henderson still hadn’t forgotten witnessing the death plunge of the Lusitania.
“As a six-year old boy, it is something which has stuck in my mind for the rest of my life. Although time fades and the grey cells wear out, I can still sit here now and see that great liner just sliding below the waves." - George Henderson C. 1990 - capesoral.pbworks.com/f/24-lusitania.doc
Scarce Cunard R.M.S. Lusitania scarce photo-card, Maiden Voyage, afternoon of September 13th, 1907, Pier 54, New York, EKL Collections
Very scarce wreck fragment of watertight door hand gear, possibly Shelter Deck (legally obtained), May 7, 1915, with sterling provenance from preeminent author/researcher who dove with Ballard on this wreck in 1993, recovered Aug./Sept. 1982 by Oceaneering International, EKL Collections
Best wishes,
Eric
Take a moment to remember today. The sinking in wartime of the Cunard R.M.S. Lusitania, May 7, 1915, off the Old Head of Kinsale (shown below in subsequent post) near Queenstown (now Cobh, last port of call for Titanic). Oh, 1,198 were lost - among them 100 children. One of my friends used to know a man who had the following story to tell.....
"The Old Head of Kinsale is a fine place for a picnic. Its high cliffs offer spectacular views out across the Irish Sea. On May 7th 1915, a young lad called George Henderson and his family, were eating their sandwiches and admiring a huge liner with four funnels as it steamed majestically eastwards, clearly bound from America towards Liverpool, then suddenly everything went surreal. A plume of water and smoke burst sky deep (?), the liner’s bow started to sink, its stern reared up into the air, and in less than twenty minutes it had disappeared beneath the waves. Seventy years later, George Henderson still hadn’t forgotten witnessing the death plunge of the Lusitania.
“As a six-year old boy, it is something which has stuck in my mind for the rest of my life. Although time fades and the grey cells wear out, I can still sit here now and see that great liner just sliding below the waves." - George Henderson C. 1990 - capesoral.pbworks.com/f/24-lusitania.doc
Scarce Cunard R.M.S. Lusitania scarce photo-card, Maiden Voyage, afternoon of September 13th, 1907, Pier 54, New York, EKL Collections
Very scarce wreck fragment of watertight door hand gear, possibly Shelter Deck (legally obtained), May 7, 1915, with sterling provenance from preeminent author/researcher who dove with Ballard on this wreck in 1993, recovered Aug./Sept. 1982 by Oceaneering International, EKL Collections
Best wishes,
Eric
0
Comments
Original 1908 photo:
Original newspaper ad for the final voyage, with German embassy notice:
Postcard of the Lusitania passing the Head of Kinsale on an earlier voyage- it would be sunk here in 1915:
Another photo:
Wow! Those are really superb! The photo of her rounding the tip of Manhattan (? I think that is near Pier 40) I have never seen before. The Old Head of Kinsale card below kindly posted by Cmerlo1 shows her pre-Titanic lifeboat arrangement and she is in the vicinity she would be sunk from 4 years later. George Henderson's family picnic was i this cliff by the lighthouse. Last photo is Pier 56? If you look near the triple chime whistle on #1 funnel, she is being touched up there as well. That is a Eureka coal barge loading Pennsylvanian anthracite. It is these Cunard Piers, at the end of 13th and 14th street (54 and 56), where the Titanics' surviving passengers were dropped off in 1912 that rainy evening. The Titanic lifeboats went first to 59 or 61 IIRC. An amazing photograph that yellowish image. Many thanks for posting these! This pier is now closing - it was feared it would collapse during the 100th anniversary of Titanic's loss. I still remember the original green sheds, those were demolished C. 1992/3 to make way for a forgotten "improvement" project. Now you can see "architectural fragments" (haphazard broken chunks) of this once great pink Bauhaus structure lining the bike path and park along West Side drive. The bitts and all are slowly being removed to locations unknown.
Best wishes,
Eric
Does anyone else have interest in and/or items from this liner??
Best,
Eric
Best wishes,
Eric
<< <i>This is one of the most interesting OT threads I can recall......great images guys. >>
And now not so OT with the Goetz medal
Eric
I forgot the
<< <i>Bush's fault! >>
Not this time , although various high profile mistakes were in place allowing this to happen.
<< <i>Bush's fault!
I forgot the
I'm sure his Grandfather probably had something to do with it. though.
Ron
I saw your post quoted below and, as I know there are so many varieties, I thought I'd round up some data for you
<< <i>I've always been more interested in photographs and ephemera pertaining to Lusitania. I don't own the Goetz medal, but it's on my radar... there's one at an antique mall here with box and papers, but the price is a little high. One of these days I'm going to make an offer on it. - Cmerlo1 >>
"The original, German medal, is the rarest and most valuable. These do not come in boxes, or with leaflets.
Briefly, Karl Goetz struck the original medals to commemorate a famous German victory, but when the German government saw the negative worldwide reaction to the sinking, they ordered the medals be destroyed.
The story goes that one or more of the medals made their way to England, and seeing an opportunity for anti-German propaganda, Lord Sainsbury had over 300,000 copies made. The copies were sold in little boxes, with an explanatory leaflet, encouraging people to pass on the leaflet to spread the word about how inhuman the germans were in striking a medal to celebrate the slaughter of so many innocent lives. Proceeds from the sale of these copies went to St. Dunstan's Blinded Soldiers and Sailors Hostel.
Most people will tell you that genuine, original German medals are rare, and are mostly in museums or private collections. They would command high prices if offered for sale. I very much doubt if original medals come up for sale on eBay or anywhere else, despite they being advertised. I have two of the English copies, complete with boxes and leaflets, and I know a number of people who have similar copies, but to my knowledge I have never seen an original German one.
The English copies are made of iron. I do not know what the original German medals were made from. There were also French and Swedish commemorative medals struck, but these were made in small numbers and are extremely rare as far as I can tell.
To conclude, in my opinion genuine German medals are so rare, the chances of aquiring one are slim. Your best bet is one of the English copies. Some medals state the date of the sinking as being May 5 or Mai 5, others May 7 or Mai 7. English or German. I recall finding a detailed account of Karl Goetz on some website which will give you further information if you can find it." - Peter Kelley
"...the original Goetz medals are usually in bronze, though there are other alloys (iron and silver specifically). There are two varieties of the Goetz original, one dated 5 MAI and the other 7 MAI. The 5 MAI is the scarcer of the two.
The British varieties (there are several distinct varieties) are always in iron. The commonest is dated 5 MAY, and a scarcer variety uses 5 MAI (the easiest distinction to the scarcer genuine Goetz is the lack of serifs on the letters of MAI). So both spellings are used on various British copies.
There is also a USA copy that uses 5 MAI, and that one has a particularly distinctive pumpkin-headed skeleton. He has quite a goofy grin, and there are other diagnostics that are unmistakable for this one, too, chiefly the alloy. It's a pewter like alloy with a specific gravity around 10 or 11.
By the way, Peter, I understood that it was Gordon Selfridge who undertook the production of the British medals..." - Greg Burns
Goetz Medal additional information
Do you have any interest in her sister Mauretania?
Farewell to the Tyne: Photographs and Memories of the Mauretania Leaving North Shields
If you really love liners I can "navigate" you to many books and Titanic Historical Society articles I have assisted with or illustrated over the years.
Here is another bit: One of My Proudest Moments
Best wishes Cmerlo1,
Eric
Here is another from my collection - same day - forgot I had it until I started going through my scan files:
Scare Cunard R.M.S. Lusitania, Maiden Voyage, afternoon of September 13th, 1907, Pier 54, New York, original cyanotype print (true cyan aka "blueprint blue" - added benefit of being unable to fade), EKL Collections
Best wishes,
Eric
gene2393
"Gescheft Uber Alles" Business over everything.
This is a Goetz medal. He made 180 pieces (Mai instead of MAY), but the British made hundreds of thousands of copies (May instead of MAI) for sale as propaganda.
The RMS Lusitania was on her final voyage, due to be refitted as a warship.
Jim
<< <i>"Gescheft Uber Alles" Business over everything.
This is a Goetz medal. He made 180 pieces (Mai instead of MAY), but the British made hundreds of thousands of copies (May instead of MAI) for sale as propaganda.
The RMS Lusitania was on her final voyage, due to be refitted as a warship. >>
Hi Rick,
Lovely medal. Both Lusi and Maury were built with a loan from the Admiralty for just such a purpose. The Aquitania was actually armed before war officially broke out. Both Lusi and Maury had gun mounting platforms but they were never used on the Lusitania. Her sister Mauretania had already been called up for service at this time, she was released very soon after. The feasibility of 900-1000 lbs of coal a day quickly became a problem and most of the large liners spent 1916/1917 laid up in various Lochs. Mauretania did brief service as a hospital ship in the Dardanelles in 1915/1916 and again as a transport in 1918/1919 - she did evade a torpedo by some 5 feet as she was one fast ship. Britannic was lost in 1916; the Aquitania I believe saw most service but again, mostly as a hospital ship. Of the nearly 80,000 people the Mauretania carried in WW1, she never lost a single life.
I'm glad this thread "caught on" - it is an interesting subject and one to remember.
Best wishes an thanks for the medal,
Eric