Dead Wake (57 page)

11
“My highest appreciation”: Ibid.

12
“by means of one torpedo”: Ibid.

13
Turner testified that by his own standards: Testimony, William Thomas Turner, June 15, 1915, 4, “Investigation.”

14
Carson let pass the fact: Bailey and Ryan,
Lusitania Disaster
, 143; telegram, Wesley Frost to William Jennings Bryan, May 9, 1915,
Foreign Relations
. In his telegram, Frost quotes a passenger’s statement, which began, “At 12 noon ship began to zigzag … off Irish coast.”

15
“I mean to say, we have the very great advantage”: Testimony, William Thomas Turner, June 15, 1915, 15, “Investigation.”

16
“exercised his judgment for the best”: Annex to the Report, Ministry of Transport Papers, MT 9/1326, “Investigation,” 9.

17
“still left the
Lusitania
a considerably faster ship”: Ibid., 7.

18
“He was very bitter”: Letter, Norman H. Turner to Adolf Hoehling, Sept. 18, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

19
“a damned dirty business”: Memorandum, Head of Naval Historical Branch, Oct. 25, 1972, Ministry of Defence Papers, DEFE/69/270, National Archives UK.

20
“one is left only with an unforgivable cock-up”: Beesly,
Room 40
, 121.

21
“As an Englishman”: Article and associated interview, Patrick Beesly, Misc. 162, Item 2491, Imperial War Museum.

22
“With regard to the question of convoy”: Memorandum, “ ‘Lusitania’—American Proceedings,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 1/8451/56, National Archives UK.

23
“Even one destroyer encircling the liner”:
Irish Independent
, May 7, 1955.

24
“The neglect to provide naval escort”: Bisset,
Commodore
, 46.

25
“It might … but it is one of those things one never knows”:
Liverpool Weekly Mercury
, May 15, 1915.

26
Testing done several years earlier: Bailey and Ryan,
Lusitania Disaster
, 101; Wood et al., “Sinking,” 179–80.

27
A more plausible theory: Ballard,
Exploring the Lusitania
, 194–95. Ballard’s book, by the way, has many compelling photographs (152–91) of what remains of the
Lusitania
at the bottom of the sea, taken during his exploration of the wreck in 1993.

28
Subsequent investigation by forensic engineers: Garzke et al.,
Titanic
,
260–61; Wood et al., “Sinking,” 181–83, 187. Also see Annex to the Report, Ministry of Transportation Papers, MT 9/1326, “Investigation.”

29
This was Turner’s theory: Preston,
Lusitania
, 453.

30
“to 50 pounds in a few seconds”: Deposition, George Little, May 15, 1915, “Depositions Removed from Trade Division Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK; Preston,
Lusitania
, 453.

31
Not only that, it struck precisely the right place: Garzke et al.,
Titanic
, 256–60, 263–67; Wood et al., “Sinking,” 174–78, 186, 188.

WASHINGTON; BERLIN; LONDON: THE LAST BLUNDER

1
“If I pondered”:
New York Times
, Nov. 15, 1921.

2
In fact, apart from a noisy pro-war faction: Resolution, May 16, 1915; Rush Medical College, Resolution, May 16, 1915; College of Dentistry, University of Illinois, Resolution, May 11, 1915; and Tennessee State Assembly, Resolution all in Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park; Cooper,
Vanity of Power
, 33–34; Cummins, “Indiana’s Reaction,” 13, 15, 17.
   And may I just say how refreshing it was to read the state of Louisiana’s resolution, in light of the rancor in American politics that prevailed at the time I completed this book:
   “Such a crisis as now confronts our country calls for coolness, deliberation, firmness and precision of mind on the part of those entrusted with the power of administration.
   “Under the providence of God this country has such a leader in Woodrow Wilson … who with his advisers has so signally shown the temper and courage and great humanity that reflects the sentiment of his loyal countrymen.” Resolution, May 20, 1915, Louisiana Legislature, Lusitania Papers, Microcopy 580, Roll 197, U.S. National Archives–College Park.

3
“the day which marked the end”:
Neue Preussische Zeitung
, May 10, 1915, translation, Foreign and German Press Analysis, Box 2, Bailey/Ryan Collection.

4
“America does not know what conditions are”: Telegram, Heer[illegible], New York, to
Evening News
, London, May 8, 1915, Churchill Papers, CHAR 13/64.

5
“There is such a thing”: Berg,
Wilson
, 364; Link,
Wilson: Struggle
, 382. Newspaper editor Oswald Garrison Villard, in his autobiography
Fighting Years
, claimed it was he who had planted the phrase “too proud to fight” in the president’s mind. He did so inadvertently, he wrote. He had discussed the concept with Wilson’s personal secretary, Tumulty, never thinking that Tumulty would pass it along to Wilson. Villard,
Fighting Years
, 256–57.

6
“probably the most unfortunate phrase”: Berg,
Wilson
, 364.

7
“I do not know just what I said”: Wilson to Galt, May 11, 1915, Wilson Papers.

8
“I have just put the final touches”: Wilson to Galt, May 12, 1915, Wilson Papers.
   Wilson understood that diplomatic notes were likely to have little effect in the short term but believed them valuable all the same. “They alter no facts,” he wrote, in a letter to Galt, dated Aug. 8, 1915; “they change no plans or purposes; they accomplish nothing immediate; but they
may
convey some thoughts that will, if only unconsciously, affect opinion, and set up a counter current. At least such is my hope; and it is also the only hope for these distracted English!”

9
“the sacred freedom of the seas”: Telegram, William Jennings Bryan to German Foreign Office, via U.S. Amb. James Gerard, May 13, 1915,
Foreign Relations
, 394; Berg,
Wilson
, 365–66.

10
“The Kaiser has awarded the Iron Cross”: Cummins, “Indiana’s Reaction,” 24.

11
Wilson himself described Bryan as a “traitor”: Wilson to Galt [undated], Wilson Papers. Wilson wrote: “For he is a traitor, though I can say so, as yet, only to you.”
   Bryan’s defection caused Wilson deep hurt. In a letter to Galt dated June 9, 1915, he wrote, “The impression upon my mind of Mr. Bryan’s retirement is a very painful one now. It is always painful to feel that any thinking man of disinterested motive, who has been your comrade and confidant, has turned away from you and set his hand against you; and it is hard to be fair and not think that the motive is something sinister.”
   To which Galt replied, “Hurrah! Old Bryan is out!”

12
“a figure in top hat, tailcoat”: Starling,
Starling
, 62.

13
“Were I the Captain of a U-boat”: Halpern,
Naval History
, 306.

14
“Dear Old Tirps”: Bailey and Ryan,
Lusitania Disaster
, 36.

15
“advantageous to the Allied cause”: Hall, Minute, Dec. 27, 1915, “Lusitania Various Papers,” Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/1058, National Archives UK.

16
Kapitänleutnant Schwieger did his part:
New York Times
, Sept. 9, 1915; “List of Tonnage Sunk by U-88,” Box 2, Bailey/Ryan Collection.

17
“Dear Kaiser: In spite of previous correspondence”: Cummins, “Indiana’s Reaction,” 30.

18
“Great excitement & activity”: “Capt. Hope’s Diary,” Nov. 5, 1916, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/4169, National Archives UK.

19
“will have to devote itself to one task”: Scheer,
Germany’s High Sea Fleet
, 194.

20
“every U-boat is of such importance”: Ibid.

21
“I guarantee upon my word”: Tuchman,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 141; Birnbaum,
Peace Moves
, 277. Tuchman notes that Holtzendorff’s memorandum, which ran to two hundred pages, included such fine-grained
details as the number of calories in a typical English breakfast and the amount of wool in skirts worn by Englishwomen.
   Koerver reports another example of delusional thinking within the German navy. Adm. Edouard von Capelle said, on Feb. 1, 1917, “From a military point of view I rate the effect of America coming on the side of our enemies as nil.” Tuchman,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 139; Koerver,
German Submarine Warfare
, xxxiii.

22
“d’you want to bring America into the war?”: The dialogue in this chapter is as reported by Hall in ch. 25, “Draft D,” of his unpublished autobiography, Hall Papers.

23
“Make war together”: Ibid.; Boghardt,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 106–7; Link,
Wilson: Campaigns
, 343.

24
“This may be a very big thing”: Hall, “Draft D.,” ch. 25, Hall Papers.

25
“Only actual overt acts on their part”: Tuchman,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 151.

26
Hall realized the time for action had come: Boghardt,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 78, 101, 105. My account here is necessarily abbreviated, for one could write an entire volume just on the Zimmermann telegram—as indeed other authors have done. For further reading, turn first to Tuchman, mainly for the sheer panache with which she tells the story. For the most up-to-date scholarship, however, see Boghardt’s
Zimmermann Telegram
(2012) and Gannon’s
Inside Room 40
(2010).

27
“By admitting the truth”: Beesly,
Room 40
, 223.

28
“All these papers had been ardently neutral”: Tuchman,
Zimmermann Telegram
, 185.

29
“The American people are at last ready”: Lansing, Private Memoranda, March 19, 1917, Lansing Papers.

30
“I must have spoken with vehemence”: Ibid., March 20, 1917.

31
“Germany is going to get Hell”: Link,
Wilson: Campaigns
, 421.

32
“stood in solemn splendor”: Sullivan,
Our Time
, 272–73.

33
“in effect nothing less than war”: The
New York Times
of April 3, 1917, published Wilson’s entire speech on the front page. See also Link,
Wilson: Campaigns
, 422–26.

34
“gravely, emphatically”:
New York Times
, April 3, 1917.

35
“What he did in April, 1917”: Churchill,
World Crisis
, 682–83. One early-twentieth-century British diarist, Lady Alice Thompson, did not think very highly of America’s restraint. On Feb. 27, 1917, after the sinking of a Cunard liner, the
Laconia
, she wrote, “The
contemptible
President of the U.S. may yet be ‘
kicked
’ into taking notice of this fresh German outrage. He is still masquerading at ‘considering the matter’—”
   After another sinking she wrote, on March 24, 1917: “I suspect Wilson will write
another
note
!! & then this new act of Barbarity will sink into oblivion. They are a wonderful nation of Big talk & little action—I leave them at that.” Diaries of Lady Alice Thompson, vols. 2 and 3, Doc. 15282, Imperial War Museum.

36
In Queenstown, U.S. consul Frost: Frost,
German Submarine Warfare
, 5.

37
“Briefly stated, I consider”: Sims,
Victory at Sea
, 43.

38
“Welcome to the American colors”: Ibid., 51.

39
On May 8, the destroyers: Halpern,
Naval History
, 359.

EPILOGUE: PERSONAL EFFECTS

1
“She looked so smeared and dirty”: Lawrence,
When the Ships Came In
, 131–32.

2
“horse storm”: Ibid., 132.

3
“His old blue uniform”: Ibid., 133.

4
“I told him there were no regrets”:
New York Times
, Nov. 21, 1915.

5
On January 1, 1917: Ramsay,
Lusitania
, 161; Hoehling and Hoehling,
Last Voyage
, 172.

6
“this great little man”: Letter, George Ball to Adolf Hoehling, July 22, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

7
“Capt. Turner felt the loss”: Letter, Mabel Every to Adolf Hoehling, May [4], 1955, Hoehling Papers; Ramsay,
Lusitania
, 161; letter, George Ball to Adolf Hoehling, July 22, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

8
“I grieve for all the poor innocent people”: Letter, William Thomas Turner to Miss Brayton, June 10, 1915, D42/PR13/29, Cunard Archive.

9
“He was far too strong a character”: Letter, George Ball to Adolf Hoehling, July 22, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

10
“I am satisfied that every precaution was taken”:
New York Times
, Nov. 21, 1915.

11
“Merriment and humor”: Letter, Geroge Ball to Adolf Hoehling, July 22, 1955, Hoehling Papers.

12
“He died as he had lived”: Ibid.

13
Room 40 recorded the loss: Ledger, Tactical Formation of Submarines: Summary of Submarine Cruises, Entry: Sept. 5, 1917, Admiralty Papers, ADM 137/4128, National Archives UK; Grant,
U-Boat Intelligence
, 73, 185.

14
They reside today: The museum is the Strandingsmuseum St. George, Thorsminde, Denmark, just a brief stroll from the North Sea. U-20’s conning tower stands on a lawn out front, stripped of all hatches and apparatus. Schwieger’s deck gun, once so accurate and deadly, stands inside the museum, opposite a cabinet that displays other pieces of the submarine. For more on the museum, see its website at
www.strandingsmuseet.dk/about-us