Chapter One: Losses and Gains – Fighting at Sea, 1915

15GW003 The German armoured cruiser SMS Blücher was sunk in spectacular fashion on 24 January 1915 at the Battle of Dogger Bank.

15GW005 British ‘bluejackets’ loading a torpedo into its launching tube aboard a Royal Navy cruiser.

The year 1915 began with a shocking bang for the Royal Navy: it was in the early hours of the morning, 1 January, when a torpedo struck HMS Formidable, a pre-dreadnaught battleship. Part of the 5th Battle Squadron carrying out gunnery exercises off Portland, she was supported by the light cruisers Topaze and Diamond. Submarine activity had been reported in the area. Formidable was steaming at the rear of the squadron when a torpedo from U-24 struck the port side. The captain, Noel Loxley, gave the order to abandon ship. At about 03:05, Formidable was struck by a second torpedo on the starboard side. The two light cruisers came alongside and managed to pick up eighty men in the deteriorating weather. At 04:45 she rolled over onto men in the water and sank quickly. Captain Loxley remained on the bridge overseeing the evacuation of the ship. Loss of life was 35 officers (including Captain Loxley) and 512 men from a complement of 780. The Court of Inquiry found against Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayley, who had been in command of the squadron, as he had not taken precautions against the possibility of submarine attack. He was relieved of his command.

15GW006 HMS Formidable was sunk on the first day of January 1915 with the loss 512 men from a complement of 780. U-24 commander was Rudolf Schneider.

15GW007 Captain Noel Loxley, captain of the Formidable, stayed on the bridge and directed the evacuation of his crew. He went down with his ship.

15GW008 Some of the crew of the Formidable photographed after a coaling session.

15GW009 The original ‘Lassie’, who inspired films and a TV series, was a mongrel who saved the life of a sailor from HMS Formidable. Part collie, Lassie was owned by the landlord of a pub in Lyme Regis. On New Year’s Day in 1915 the Royal Navy battleship Formidable was torpedoed by U-24 off Start Point with heavy loss of life. A life raft containing bodies was swept along the coast to Lyme Regis. The corpses were retrieved and lodged in the pub cellar. Lassie made her way into the temporary mortuary, where she sought out and began to lick the face of one of the victims, Able Seaman John Cowan. She stayed beside him for more than half an hour, nuzzling him and keeping him warm with her body. Suddenly it was noted what she was doing and it was discerned that the ‘dead’ sailor was stirring. He was rushed to hospital and went on to make a full recovery. Cowan returned to thank all who saved his life -especially Lassie, who had sensed there was still life in him and worked hard to bring him back from the brink of death.

The sinking of the ship was a blow to Britain during these early years of the war and when it became known what Lassie had done, that inspirational and heartwarming story of Cowan’s rescue was told again and again to any reporter who would listen. Hollywood eventually got a hold of the story and the rest is history.

15GW010 Loading a torpedo into the hold of a Royal Navy battleship.

15GW011 Kapitänleutnant Schneider. He was killed on 13 October 1917, in the North Sea.

15GW012 A German submarine, U-21, labouring through rough seas. It was conditions such as these off Portland on 1 January, that caused Admiral Sir Lewis Bayley to conclude there would be no likelihood of an attack by submarine. Two torpedos sank HMS Formidable.

15GW013 While sailing to join the 10th Cruiser Squadron, HMS Viknor, a requisitioned holiday cruiser, intercepted a Norwegian steamer carrying eight German passengers from the United States. These Germans were removed for internment in England. Viknor set a course for Liverpool to drop off the Germans and take on coal. She simply disappeared with all on board; twenty two officers, 237 ratings and the eight German nationals.

15GW015 Diagram showing the Dogger Bank action. Note the minefields defending Britain’s East Coast.

15GW018 Artist’s impression of the towing of the disabled HMS Lion by HMS Indomitable. Commissioned by The Sphere magazine and painted by Montague Dawson.

15GW014 Leading the attack on the German cruisers was HMS Lion. She was hit fourteen times and had taken aboard some water which gave her a list of ten degrees to port and reduced her speed. Shortly afterwards her port engine broke down and her speed dropped to 15 knots. Following the action, HMS Indomitable towed Lion back to port.

On 24 January a naval battle was fought near the Dogger Bank (a sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea, about sixty miles off the east coast of England) between squadrons of the German High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet. From decoded radio messages the British learned that a German raiding squadron was sailing for Dogger Bank. The British dispatched a force to intercept it. The Germans were caught by surprise and a chase lasting several hours ensued. The British caught up and engaged the slower moving Germans with long-range gunfire. The rear German ship, SMS Blücher, was hit but the British flagship, HMS Lion, was also hit and put out of action. Due to a signalling mixup, the remaining British ships broke off pursuit of the fleeing force to concentrate on sinking the Blücher and the German squadron escaped. The British flagship Lion made it back to port but was severely damaged. The action was considered a British victory, since they lost no ships and suffered few casualties, whereas the Germans lost a ship with most of its crew.

Both Britain and Germany replaced commanders who were thought to have shown poor judgement. Also numerous changes were made to procedures and equipment because of problems highlighted during the action.

15GW016 Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty.

15GW017 Franz Ritter von Hipper.

15GW019 SMS Blücher was at the rear of the German cruiser squadron at Dogger Bank and was caught by some long distance shooting by the British ships and was sunk.

15GW024 Royal Navy battle cruisers during the Battle of Dogger Bank receiving counter fire from the German ships. The photograph was taken from aboard one of the German ships.

15GW021 German sailors rescued from the Blücher marching to imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle.

15GW022 Capitain Alexander Karl Erdmann. SMS Blücher.

15GW020 SMS Blücher beginning the heel over. An impression of the event painted by an artist of The Sphere magazine.

15GW004 German sailors scramble for their lives as SMS Blücher rolls over before sinking.

15GW023 The funeral procession of Capitain Alexander Karl Erdmann of SMS Blücher. Following his rescue he died in Edinburgh Castle Hospital on 16 February 1915 and was given a funeral with full military honours. His flag-draped coffin, born on a gun carriage, is seen here proceeding to Dewington Cemetery. A guard of honour was provided by men of the 4th Battalion, the Royal Scots. There were some who questioned the arrangements, seeing as how Erdmann had taken part in the bombardment of the unfortified resort of Scarborough a few weeks’ earlier.

15GW025 HMS Lion led the line in the chase after the German squadron at Dogger Bank. She was heavily damaged in an exchange of fire with SMS Derfflinger and had to be towed back to the base at Rosyth in Scotland.

15GW026 HMS Princess Royal, sister ship to the Lion, was launched at Barrow in 1911 and completed the following year. The photograph was taken during speed trials.

15GW027 HMS Indomitable, launched at Govan in 1907, was the first of her class of fast fighting ships which became known as ‘battlecruisers’.

15GW028 HMS Tiger, clearly showing her tripod mast with housing for the fire-control instuments; the highest station on the ship is the Fire Directing position.

15GW031 Captain AEM Chatfield HMS Lion.

15GW033 Captain HB Pelly HMS Tiger.

15GW032 Captain O de B Brock HMS Princess Royal.

15GW030 Captain Lionel Halsey HMS New Zealand.

15GW034 Commodore R Tyrwhitt Destroyer flotilla.

15GW029 HMS New Zealand, built on the Clyde and launched in 1911, financed by a gift from the people of New Zealand.

15GW035 Officers of HMS Lion with Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty in the second row, seated, fifth from left. The Lion served as Vice Admiral Beatty’s flagship at the Battle of Dogger Bank.

15GW036 The Signalling deck on HMS Hampshire. The semi-circle grid on the deck is to indicate the course the rest of the fleet is taking.

15GW037 The British Grand Fleet steaming in the North Sea, keeping guard on the East Coast.

15GW038 HMS Bayano, an armed merchant cruiser requisitioned from the Elders & Fyffes Line at the outbreak of war, was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Scotland, 11 March 1915, by U-27, with the loss of 196 men.

15GW039 British and French warships at the entrance to the Straits of the Dardanelles.

On 20 February 1915 the Secretary of the Admiralty made the following statements:

Yesterday [Friday] at 8 am a British fleet of battle-ships and battle-cruisers accompanied by flotillas, and aided by a strong French squadron, the whole under command of Vice-Admiral Sackville H Carden, began an attack upon the forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles. This was followed five days later by a further statement:

The weather moderating, the bombardments of the out forts of the Dardanelles was renewed at 8 am this morning, 25 February. After a period of long-range fire, a squadron of battleships attacked at close range. All the forts at the entrance of the Straits have been successfully reduced.

Grand Duke Nicholas, commanding the Russian armies, had requested help against the Turks and the allied governments agreed to assist by attacking Turkey and by so doing relieve pressure on the Russians on the Caucasus front. The Dardanelles was selected as the place and a combined naval and military operation was planned. At first it was decided to attempt to force the straits by naval action alone, however, on 16 February the decision was modified, as it was agreed that the shores of the Dardanelles would have to be held. For this purpose a large military force under General Sir Ian Hamilton was assembled in Egypt. The French government also provided a military and naval contingent.

The planned naval bombardment began on the 16 February but was halted due to poor weather conditions and not resumed until over a week later. Demolition parties of marines landed almost unopposed, but bad weather again intervened. On 18 March the bombardment was continued. However, after three battleships had been sunk and three others damaged, the allied navies abandoned the attack, concluding that the fleet could not succeed without military help.

15GW041 Vice-Admiral Sir Sackville Hamilton Carden. He commanded the British fleet at the Dardanelles during the opening attack on the Turkish forts.

15GW050 Loading naval shells for British cruisers.

15GW052 A British battle cruiser taking on shells for its main armament.

15GW047 The French battleship Bouvet steaming towards the Straits of the Dardanelles with other French ships of the squadron. After bombarding the forts she struck a mine while turning away. Out of her crew of 630 just sixty four were saved.

15GW051 A British battle cruiser taking on shells for its secondary armament.

15GW076 Taking ammuntion on board HMS Agamemnon for the Dardanelles fighting. The cylindrical containers hold cordite cartridges for the ship’s 12-inch and 10-inch guns.

15GW070 The French cruiser Henri IV.

15GW046 A Royal Navy bluejacket and a French sailor, allies during the Dardanelles campaign.

15GW071 The Russian cruiser Askold joined the British and French fleets in the Dardanelles in a demonstration of Allied unity.

15GW072 An artist’s impression of the Dardanelles. From end to end the water way (Strait) stretched for forty-five miles. Forts on both sides and minefields protected the Turkish territory where it formed a division between Asia and Europe.

15GW075 Entrance to the Straits of the Dardanelles with Turkish forts along both sides of the forty-five mile length – plus minefields.

15GW078 The Turkish town of Kilid Bahr where forts guarded the entrance to the Narrows fifteen miles into the Dardanelles.

15GW073 Commander of the British fleet engaged in forcing the Dardanelles, Vice Admiral Sackville Hamilton Carden, with his Flag-Lieutenant Lionel S. Ormsby-Johnson, strikes a commanding pose for the camera in front of Admiralty House, Malta.

Vice Admiral Sackville Hamilton Carden’s plan for the naval action required the systematic destruction of Turkish fortifications along the Dardanelles while advancing slowly up the strait, with minesweepers leading the way. Carden was successful in early offensives against the Turkish defenses from February until early March, when he was relieved of command due to his failing health and replaced by Admiral John de Robeck.

15GW074 Admiral Sir John de Robeck.

15GW054 A street scene in the Ottoman town of Dardanelle from which the Straits take their name.

15GW055 Turkish troops

15GW079 A Turkish fort protecting the Straits of the Dardanelles shortly before the Allied bombardment.

15GW080 Turkish battery of German supplied 77 mm field guns overlooking the Straits of the Dardanelles.

15GW081 A Turkish fort protecting the Dardanelles shortly before the Allied bombardment, March 1915.

15GW083 Ottoman artillery observers spotting for the field guns supporting the static defences of the Dardanelles forts.

15GW086 British cruisers heading towards the Turkish homeland with a view to forcing the Dardanelles and reaching Constantinople (Istanbul). The intention was to knock Turkey out of the war by capturing the capital city.

15GW077 Decks cleared for action on a British cruiser: bulwark rails have been lowered; all deck gear has been removed and the decks sluiced with water.

15GW053 HMS Triumph steaming in line into the Dardanelle Straits with other Allied warships prior to the bombardment of Turkish forts.

15GW087 Stokers work hard at feeding the ship’s boilers on a Royal Navy cruiser.

15GW056 British and French cruisers shelling the Turkish forts.

15GW043 HMS Cornwallis bombarding the Ottoman forts on 18 March 1915.

On 19 February 1915 two British destroyers were sent to probe the defences of the Dardanelles. The Ottomans opened fire from Kumkale with the Orhaniye Tepe battery’s 240 mm (9.4 in) Krupp guns at 07.58. The battleships HMS Cornwallis and Vengeance moved in to engage the forts and the first British shots of the campaign proper were fired at 09.51 by the Cornwallis.

15GW042, 15GW058, 15GW059 British and French cruisers shelling Turkish forts with their main armament and secondary armaments.

15GW049 Smoke arising from the Ottoman forts as shells from bombarding allied ships explode on target.

15GW088 French cruiser Bouvet ran onto a mine as she was leaving the firing line during the bombardment of the Ottoman forts and sank very quickly.

15GW089 French cruiser Suffren took part in the bombardment of the Ottoman batteries at Suandere and Mount Dardanos.

15GW090 French cruiser Gaulois took part in the bombardment of the Ottoman batteries at Suandere and Mount Dardanos.

15GW091 The French cruiser Bouvet ran onto a mine during course changes while shelling the Ottoman forts and sank very quickly with a high loss of life.

15GW092 HMS Irresistible one of four British battleships chosen to take part in the attempt to force the narrows on 18 March 1915 (along with Ocean, Vengeance, Albion and Irresistible). She was taking part in a bombardment of Turkish forts at a distance of 11,000 yards. She was drifting with her engines stopped and ran onto a mine. The engine room flooded and only three men escaped. The pressure of in-running water created pressure that broke down the midship bulkhead and the port engine-room also flooded. The ship was listing at seven degrees, with her stern down and the engine gone. She then came under heavy Turkish fire. Captain Dent ordered the crew to abandon ship. Despite being under heavy fire, the destroyer HMS Wear rescued 28 officers and 582 men from the Irresistible. An attempt to get her under tow by HMS Ocean failed and she was abandoned. After that she drifted back under the guns of the Turkish forts and was sunk by gunfire.

15GW044 HMS Irresistible, sinking after coming under shell fire from Turkish forts. The destroyer Ocean took off 610 officers and men. She was continually pounded until sunk, providing excellent target practice for the defending Turkish gunners.

The Turkish forces defending the sea approaches to their capital city Constantinople and entrance to the Black Sea, must have been elated when they had a grandstand view of three attacking cruisers going to the bottom in quick succession.

15GW093 HMS Ocean was one of the bombarding ships targeting the Ottoman forts in the Dardanelles when, after assisting the stricken Irresistible, she also struck a mine and, after receiving shell fire from the land batteries, sank. Her crew was saved.

15GW095 On board a British warship off the Dardanelles. A party of sailors about to set off for the bombarded Turkish coast forts; a party of Marines, on the left, prepare to give support.

15GW098 Turkey’s gallant defence – the minelayer Nusret sowed mines with great effectiveness in defending the approaches to Istanbul.

15GW094 HMS Amethyst, a British Light Cruiser, managed to cruise the length of the narrows as far as the town of Nagara. She came under sustained fire along the way. The number of her crew killed amounted to twenty eight with thirty wounded.

15GW065 A British shore party makes an unopposed landing in the Dardanelles. It was inevitable that Sedd-el Bahr, positioned at the gateway to the Dardanelles Straits, would be attacked at the outset. After intense shelling, sailors and marines landed on 26 February 1915 to finish what the ships’ guns had started, using demolition charges.

Royal Marine landing parties found wrecked Turkish forts and streets, which gave evidence of the ferocious barrage unleashed from French and British warships off shore.

15GW067 The Fortress at Sedd-el Bahr reduced by the guns of HMS Queen Elizabeth.

15GW066 A marine sentry guards a broken gate in the Turkish defences.

15GW060 The streets of Sedd-el Bahr cleared of rubble after the naval shelling.

15GW061 A destroyed Turkish gun, put out of action during the bombardment.

15GW062 Big guns of this fort were rendered useless by shells blowing them out of their carriage.

15GW063 A painted slogan calling upon Allah for his favour decorates this gun equipment.

15GW064 A Turkish howitzer blown

15GW137 British marines taking cover during their landings on Turkish soil and operations against the villages of Sedd-el Bahr, Kum Kale and Yeni Shehr.

15GW148 Royal Marines, part of the Dardanelles landing party, try out firing positions in a Turkish fort.

15GW149 British marines passing through the streets of a Turkish village.

15GW152 British marines ashore on the island of Tenedos.

15GW150 Marines at drill by the Turkish fort at Sedd-ul-Bahr and seemingly making a mess of performing ‘right shoulder arms’ in front of some locals.

15GW153 Royal Marines keeping guard over a Turkish town and its obsolete fortress. The fortress is surrounded by sea on three sides and by a moat on the landward approaches

15GW102 His Majesty’s Submarine E1, the first of its class.

The E15 was the first British submarine to attempt a passage of the Dardanelles. It got caught in a cross current and ran aground near Kephez Point on the Asian shore under the guns of a Turkish shore battery. The Captain, Commander Brodie, was killed in the coning tower and six others died of chlorine poisoning inside the submarine. The rest of the crew became prisoners of war. The E15 was one of the latest British submarines and the Royal Navy went to great lengths to stop it remaining intact in enemy hands. After numerous attempts to destroy it by the Royal Navy, HMS Majestic finally succeeded.

15GW097 Inside the British submarine E15. It was one of the latest British underwater craft and was operating in the Dardanelles when it ran aground.

Royal Navy submarine E14, off Lemnos, Greece, 1915. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Edward Boyle, it made three sorties through the defences of the Dardanelles in 1915. During one of them he sank a Turkish minelayer, a gunboat, a transport ship and damaged another transport. On 18 May, Boyle brought the submarine back safely through the Dardanelles.

15GW099 Navy submarine E14, somewhere at sea near Gallipoli in May 1915. For his successful patrol of the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmora in April-May 1915, Boyle was awarded the Victoria Cross. His VC citation reads: For most conspicuous bravery in command of Submarine E14, when he dived his vessel under enemy minefields and entered the Sea of Marmara on 27 April, 1915. In spite of great navigational difficulties from strong currents, of the continual neighbourhood of hostile patrols, and of the hourly danger of attack from the enemy, he continued to operate in the narrow waters of the Straits and succeeded in sinking two Turkish gunboats and one large military transport. [The London Gazette, 21 May 1915]

15GW105 Crew of the Royal Australian Navy’s Submarine AE2. In April 1915, on the day of the landings at Gallipoli, the AE2 entered the Sea of Marmara but was spotted by a Turkish torpedo boat, the Sultan Hisa, and attacked. Lieutenant Henry Stoker, AE2’s captain, scuttled the submarine when it became uncontrollable. There was no loss of life and the crew became prisoners of war in Turkey.

15GW096 On 17 April 1915, submarine E15, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Theodore Brodie, ran aground under the guns of a Turkish shore battery. The E15 is seen here being inspected by Turkish soldiers and sailors. The submarine was eventually destroyed by gunfire from HMS Majestic to avoid its further examination and possible future use by the Central Powers.

15GW100 Lieutenant Commander Edward Boyle VC, on the deck of the E14, somewhere in the Mediterranean.

15GW101 Lieutenant Commander Edward Boyle VC.

15GW104 Turkish postcard commemorating the victory of the Sultan Hisa over the Australian submarine AE2.

15GW103 The AE2; Lieutenant Henry Stoker, AE2’s captain, scuttled her when the boat became uncontrollable during evasive action.

On 12-13 May, HMS Goliath was anchored in Morto Bay off Cape Helles when, an hour after midnight, the Turkish torpedo boat Muâvenet-i Millîye, eluded the destroyers HMS Beagle and HMS Bulldog and closed in on the battleship. Muâvenet-i Millîye fired two torpedoes that struck Goliath close to her fore turret and abeam the fore funnel, causing a massive explosion. Goliath began to capsize when a third torpedo struck near the after turret. She then rolled over completely and began to sink by the bows, taking 570 of the 750-strong crew down, including her captain, Thomas Lawrie Shelford. The torpedo boat slipped away without being spotted by the two defending destroyers.

15GW106 HMS Goliath; with the Gallipoli landings being carried out on the Turkish mainland, Royal Navy and French major ships were involved in a constant bombardment of the shore in support of the attacks.

5GW108 HMS Triumph, with her anti-submarine torpedo nets in place. These failed to prevent a torpedo striking the battleship amidship. The periscope of the German submarine had been spotted and was fired upon. The escorting destroyer, HMS Chelmer, tried to ram the submarine but failed, and despite watertight doors on the battleship being closed the ship gradually rolled over and after thirty minutes sank. HMS Chelmer managed to lift many of the crew off before Triumph sank. Over seventy men went down with the ship.

15GW110 HMS Majestic begins to roll over after a torpedo passed through the protective screen of netting and exploded amidship.

15GW112 Kapitänleutnant Otto Hersing, commander of U-21, sank two Royal Navy battleships in a matter of a few days.

15GW107 HMS Triumph was engaged in shore bombardment off Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli, when the German submarine U.21, under the command of Captain Hersing, launched a torpedo, striking her amidship. Seventy-three officers and men died.

15GW109 HMS Majestic was stationed off W Beach at Cape Helles when she became the third battleship to be torpedoed off the Gallipoli peninsula in two weeks. On 27 May 1915, at 0645 hours, Commander Otto Hersing of U-21 fired a single torpedo through the screen of destroyers and torpedo nets, killing 49 men.

15GW113 Inside a German submarine, an officer using the boat’s periscope.

15GW114 Looking towards the aft torpedo tube in a German World War One submarine.

15GW111 German submarine U-21.

15GW1120 RMS Lusitania under attack from U-20 as depicted on a German postcard. The German submarine went on to sink another liner, RMS Hesperian.

15GW1121 The liner RMS Hesperian was sunk by U-20 shortly after the Lusitania.

15GW1122 Torpedo tubes on the U-20 type German submarine.

15GW1123 Artist’s impression of the U-20 type receiving a salute from some capitol ships of the German High Seas Fleet.

15GW117 RMS Lusitania was launched on 7 June 1906.

15GW115 RMS Lusitania, sailing into New York, was the holder of the Blue Riband and briefly the world’s biggest ship.

15GW119 Lusitania at the end of the first leg of her maiden voyage, New York City, September 1907.

15GW120 Lusitania arriving at Liverpool and completing her maiden voyage.

15GW116 First Class Dining room aboard the Lusitania.

15GW118 RMS Lusitania entering New York Harbour under the control of tug boats.

15GW121 RMS Lusitania heading into the Atlantic under full steam. She was fitted with revolutionary new turbine engines, able to maintain a speed of 25 knots. Equipped with lifts, wireless telegraph and electric light, she provided 50% more passenger space than any other ship, whilst the first class decks were noted for their sumptuous furnishings.

15GW122 Captain of the Lusitania, William Turner ‘Bowler Bill’, was one the Cunard Line’s most respected captains. He stayed at his post throughout the sinking and stayed with the ship until she sank under him.

15GW124 RMS Lusitania docking and being greeted by crowds.

15GW129 and 138a RMS Lusitania receiving a grey paint job to her funnels and bridge to make her less conspicuouse to prowling German submarines.

15GW130 RMS Lusitania heads out into the Atlantic ocean and her meeting with destiny.

15GW126 On the afternoon of 7 May, Lusitania was torpedoed by a submarine eleven miles off the southern coast of Ireland. She sank in eighteen minutes.

15GW123 On April 22, 1915, the German Embassy had issued a warning to Great Britain and her allies travelling overseas.

Germany had declared the seas around the United Kingdom to be a war zone, and the German embassy in the United States had placed a newspaper advertisement warning people not to sail on the Lusitania. On the afternoon of 7 May, Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine, eleven miles off the southern coast of Ireland and inside the declared ‘zone of war’. A second internal explosion sent her to the bottom in eighteen minutes.

In firing on a non-military ship without warning, the Germans had breached the international laws known as the Cruiser Rules. However, the Germans had reasons for treating Lusitania as a naval vessel, the ship was carrying war munitions and the British had also been breaching the Cruiser Rules. The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States and influenced the decision by the US to declare war in 1917.

15GW131 Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger commander of U-20 which sank the Lusitania.

15GW125 German propaganda postcard celebrating the sinking of the Lusitania.

15GW132/15GW142a/15GW142b Survivors from the sinking of the Lusitania.

15GW143a A survivor, still wearing his life-preserver, was labelled a ‘cripple’ on the original caption.

15GW143d Two brothers named Gardener who survived the sinking; the youngest is being helped by a hotel porter and supported by his elder brother.

15GW143b This young couple, Miss B William and Mr J Lane, have just stepped from the rescue boat. They have been provided with warm, over-sized top coats.

15GW139 Five of the ship’s lifeboats which landed survivors from the Lusitania at Queenstown Harbour. Some local children seize the opportunity to explore the boats. One can be seen trying on a life preservrr.

15GW141 A dead American citizen, killed when the German submarine U-20 attacked and sank the Lusitania, is carried through the streets of the Irish port of Queensland. It was hoped that images such as this would influence American public opinion and prompt President Wilson to declare war on Germany.

15GW142c Captain of the RMS Lusitania, William Thomas Turner, OBE, RNR (October 23, 1856 – June 23, 1933) was rescued from the sea.

15GW127 A propaganda opportunity for home and foreign press. The main staged ingredients were: a baby, a dead parent; and the heavily painted name on the lifeboat. Compare the latter with the lettering on the lifeboats opposite.

15GW142d A funeral procession at Queensland, Ireland, for victims of the RMS Lusitania, 10 May, 1915.

15GW142e A mass grave at Queensland, Ireland, for victims of the RMS Lusitania.