Dead Wake (56 page)

TELEGRAM

1
“S.O.S. from ‘Lusitania’ ”: Ledger, “Subs,” May 7, 1915, 2:26
P
.
M
., Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/4101, National Archives UK; also in Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

LUSITANIA: A QUEEN’S END

1
One woman, Margaret Gwyer: Morton,
Long Wake
, 108.

2
Two other passengers: Ramsay,
Lusitania
, 87; Morton,
Long Wake
, 108.

3
“a slow, almost stately, dive”: Morton,
Long Wake
, 108; For depth, see Ballard,
Exploring the Lusitania
, 10.

4
“plunged forward like a knife blade”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

5
“As she went under”: Lauriat,
Lusitania’s Last Voyage
, 85–87.

6
“never met anyone as ‘cool’ ”: Letter, Hugh Johnston to Adolf Hoehling, Sept. 25, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

7
“ ‘Lusitania’ sunk”: Telegram, Head of Kinsale to Admiralty, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

ALL POINTS: RUMOR

1
Frost walked to the windows: I decided to footnote this because it is precisely the kind of detail that is likely to cause a reader to pause a moment and ask him- or herself, Hmmm, how do you
know
he walked to
his windows? Answer: because he tells us so. Frost,
German Submarine Warfare
, 187.

2
“I hear there is some sort of street rumor”: Ibid., 188.

3
After hanging up, Frost paced his office: Again, we know this because Frost tells us, “I must have spent ten or fifteen minutes pacing the floor of the office.” Ibid.

4
“Urgent: Recall
Juno
”: Telegram, Admiralty to S.N.O. Queenstown, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

5
“I then received a telegram”: Letter, Vice-Admiral C. H. Coke to Admiralty, May 9, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

6
Each call brought fresh reports: Hendrick,
Life and Letters
, 2:1–2.

7
“We shall be at war”: Ibid., 2:2.

8
That morning, in New York: Jack Lawrence’s account, including dialogue, appears at Lawrence,
When the Ships Came In
, 134–39.

9
“I was pacing the streets”: Cooper,
Woodrow Wilson
, 286.

10
“Astern in the distance”: Schwieger, War Log.

LUSITANIA: ADRIFT

1
“I saw myself hundreds”: Letter, E. S. Heighway to Mrs. Prichard, June 25, 1915, Prichard Papers.

2
the killer was hypothermia: For a primer on hypothermia, see Weinberg, “Hypothermia.”

3
“The most frightful thing”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

4
“The cries for help”: Ibid.

5
“When I came to the surface”: Mackworth,
This Was My World
, 246.

6
“a little dazed”: Ibid., 247.

7
“so that one could inhale it”: Ibid., 248.

8
“an oasis in a desert of bodies”: Morton,
Long Wake
, 108

9
“We were picking people out of the water”: Testimony, Frederic J. Gauntlett, Petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, April 15, 1918, U.S. National Archives–New York, 123.

10
“Never have I heard”: Lauriat,
Lusitania’s Last Voyage
, 25.

11
“I would, old chap”: How delightful, frankly, that people actually did once upon a time use the phrase “old chap.” Ibid., 40.

12
Seaman Morton swam to get her: Morton,
Long Wake
, 108–9.

13
“The clothes were almost blown off”: Lauriat,
Lusitania’s Last Voyage
, 29.

14
“I heard a woman’s voice say”: Ibid.

15
“Come, Holy Ghost”: Henry Wood Simpson’s account in “Saved from the
Lusitania
,”
Church Family
, May 14, 1915, courtesy of Mike Poirier.

16
“I was fully expecting the submarine”: Mersey,
Report
, 1, account of George Bilbrough.

17
Here were the
Brock
: See a list of boats that participated in the rescue effort, enclosed within letter, Vice-Admiral C. H. Coke to Admiralty, May 9, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

18
“No news could be had”: Frost,
German Submarine Warfare
, 191.

19
“We did everything we could:” Ramsay,
Lusitania
, 25–26.

20
As they approached the vessel: Lauriat,
Lusitania’s Last Voyage
, 34.

21
“songs were being sung”: “Statement of Mr. A. J. Mitchell,” May 14, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

22
“She’s conscious”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.

U-20: PARTING SHOT

1
“All we thought of”: Hayden Talbot, “The Truth About the Lusitania,”
Answers
, Nov. 8, 1919, in “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

2
“Of course he couldn’t hear anything”: This is the phrase that makes her account seem credible. It is a subtle point that only submariners understood—the silence, even though what they see through their periscopes is fire and death.

3
Just five minutes: Schwieger, War Log.

4
The steamer Schwieger had fired upon: Hoehling and Hoehling,
Last Voyage
, 85, 147–48.

5
“We proceeded with all possible speed”: Telegram, Lands End Wireless Station to Chief Censor, May 7, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

LUSITANIA: SEAGULLS

1
“The whole ship”: Ramsay,
Lusitiana
, 274.

2
“I thought he had gone”:
New York Times
, Nov. 21, 1915.

3
“I noticed it because”: Ibid.

4
“he used to carry a .22 rifle”: Letter, Norman H. Turner to Adolf Hoehling, Sept. 18, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

5
“That’s better”: The dialogue here is as reported by Mackworth,
This Was My World
, 248–49.

6
They applauded: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

7
Charles Lauriat carried one man: Lauriat,
Lusitania’s Last Voyage
, 41. Mike Poirier provided McMurray’s identity.

8
“I saved the baby’s pictures”:
Boston Daily Globe
, May 11, 1915.

9
She found her father waiting: Mackworth,
This Was My World
, 251.

10
“She was still dressed in the neat fawn tweed”: Ibid., 254.

11
“and took a huge dose of whiskey”: Letter, Dwight Harris to Mother, May 10, 1915, Harris Papers.

12
“I was left on a lounge”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.

13
She arranged to send: Katz,
Dearest
, 120.

14
“All night I kept expecting Mr. Friend”: Letter, Pope to Ada Brooks Pope, June 28, 1915, Riddle Papers.

15
“You should be worrying”: Hoehling and Hoehling,
Last Voyage
, 161.

16
“appeared stunned”: Telegram, Tuchy, London to
New York World
, New York, May 9, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

17
Tears filled his eyes: Ibid.

QUEENSTOWN: THE LOST

1
Of the Lusitania’s 1,959 passengers and crew: As on so many points involving the
Lusitania
, there is disagreement as to just how many passengers and crew were aboard, how many died, and how many of the passengers were American. Here I’m using Cunard’s official tally. See “General Analysis of Passengers and Crew” and “Summary of Passengers’ Nationality,” both in R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside.

2
For days dozens of cables: Letter, Charles P. Sumner to General Manager’s Office, Cunard, May 18, 1915, D42/PR13/32, Cunard Archive. This letter alone provides a jarring portrait of the dimension of the disaster. Running thirteen pages, single-spaced, it lists scores of cables sent between Cunard’s headquarters and its New York office.

3
“Am saved, looking for Cliff”: Details of Leslie Morton’s search for his brother, including dialogue, are from Morton,
Long Wake
, 112–13.

4
One man’s body: The fragment of lifeboat resides at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

5
“There was a curious effacement”: Frost,
German Submarine Warfare
, 226–28.

6
The unimportant bodies: Ibid., 226.

7
Body No. 1: “Identified Remains, South Coast List,” R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside.

8
“Several weeks after the disaster”: Frost,
German Submarine Warfare
, 228.

9
“Much of the body was eaten away”: Telegram, July 15, 1915, “Male body washed ashore,” D42/PR13/1/226–250, Cunard Archives.

10
Frost offered an additional pound: Telegram, Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, May 13, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/16, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

11
His name was Leon C. Thrasher: Telegram, U.S. Consul General, London, to William Jennings Bryan, April 7, 1915,
Foreign Relations
.
   Thrasher is sometimes identified in news accounts as Thresher. I’ve chosen to use “Thrasher” because it is the spelling used in official U.S. diplomatic correspondence included in the
Foreign Relations
series.

12
Such was the case: Letter, Sgt. J. Regan to U.S. Consul Wesley Frost, Aug. 20, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/105, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

13
“Needless to say”: Details of the Shields autopsy may be found in letter, Wesley Frost to U.S. Secretary of State, July 27, 1915, and enclosure, “Autopsy on Remains of Victor E. Shields,” decimal file 341.111. L97/87, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

14
“My own personal loss”: Letter, Alfred A. Booth to Charles P. Sumner, May 8, 1915, D42/C1/1/66, Part 2 of 4, Cunard Archives.

15
“is sad beyond expression”: Letter, Charles P. Sumner to Alfred A. Booth, May 14, 1915, D42/C1/1/66, Part 2 of 4, Cunard Archives.

16
“a picture of peace”:
Washington Times
, May 10, 1915.

17
The family of Elizabeth A. Seccombe: “Identified Remains,” R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside; letter, Wesley Frost to U.S. Secretary of State, Sept. 17, 1915, decimal file 341.111L97/123-124, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

18
Of the 791 passengers: I computed these numbers on the basis of data provided in R.M.S. Lusitania: Record of Passengers & Crew, SAS/29/6/18, Merseyside.

19
“The place is alive”: Preston,
Lusitania
, 297.

20
“I can see his face”: Letter, Grace French to Mrs. Prichard, Sept. 10, 1915, Prichard Papers.

21
“I beg of you”: Letter, Theodate Pope to Mrs. Prichard, Feb. 4, 1916, Prichard Papers.

22
“I know you must be tempted”: Letter, Ruth M. Wordsworth to Prichard, July 9, 1915, Prichard Papers.

PART V: THE SEA OF SECRETS

LONDON: BLAME

1
“We sh’d pursue the Captain”: Annotation to telegram, Richard Webb to Cecil Spring-Rice, May 11, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

2
“a brave but unlucky man”: Horgan,
Parnell to Pearse
, 274.

3
“willful and wholesale murder”: Ibid., 273.

4
“That august body”: Ibid., 275.

5
“proceeded along the usual trade route”: “Memorandum as to Master’s Actions,” May 8, 1915, Admiralty Papers, ADM 1/8451/56, National Archives UK.

6
“appears to have displayed”: Telegram, Richard Webb to Cecil Spring-Rice, May 11, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

7
“Bare facts only”: Letter, Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, May
11, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

8
“I was struck by the fact”: Memorandum, “Statement of Captain W. A. Castle,” May 14, 1915, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

9
“Merchant traffic must look after itself”:
Independent
, May 24, 1915.

10
“Have sunk off the South Coast of Ireland”: Images of the actual handwritten decodes may be found in the papers of the Ministry of Defence, DEFE/69/270, National Archives UK.