Lusitania Online is a product of the Lusitania Historical Society, and (according to the opening page) it is “the definitive site for information on the RMS Lusitania and her last master, Captain W.T. Turner”. This Web site describes the ship RMS Lusitania and its fateful encounter with a German U‐Boat. The authors are not academic historians, rather they are three taxi drivers and a retired carpenter.
In May 1915 the German submarine U‐20 torpedoed the Cunard liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. Subsequent to the first torpedo striking the ship, there was a second explosion on board the ship. The ship sank in only 18 minutes, and the number of lives lost was enormous. On board were 1,959 persons, including passengers and crew.
Of these, some 1,198 died. Included in the drowned victims, were 270 women and 94 children. Although the liner was British owned, there were 197 American passengers, of whom 128 died. Britain was at war with Germany, but the USA was not. Consequently, the American reaction was harsh, and some Americans demanded war with Germany. War between the US and Germany was not a direct result, but American sympathy for Germany declined. The US did declare war some two years later, after repeated German submarine attacks on shipping.
Shipwrecks and sea stories are popular with the public. The sinking of the Titanic looms large in public consciousness due to various feature films (e.g. Roy Ward Baker’s 1958 film A Night to Remember, and James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic), Broadway musicals (e.g. Maury Yeston’s 1997 musical Titanic, and Meredith Willson’s 1960 musical Unsinkable Molly Brown) and numerous books, magazine pieces, scholarly articles and other materials. Compared to the Titanic, the Lusitania disaster has received much less attention in the realm of popular culture. Winsor McKay’s animated film The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918) is a notable exception. Because of its historical significance, the Lusitania has received attention from journalists, historians, novelists, and other writers.
The World Wide Web is becoming a primary source for information for many people, so this Web site is welcome. How well does the Lusitania Online perform this reference service? It is an appealing work in many respects containing a chronology of events associated with the Lusitania, information on the sinking and the German submarine, details of the Lusitania’s owners (Cunard Line), a listing of the ship’s captains, memorabilia associated with the ship, an illustrated tour of the ship, and other aspects of the vessel and its history. The use of illustrative material is a great strength of the site. For example, the illustrated tour includes original artwork by one of the site’s owners, John Gray. These colour illustrations add a more personal feel to the site, helping to illustrate the era and the surroundings of the ship. The section on the U‐20 has illustrations and photographs of the submarine and its captain, Kapitan‐Leutnant Walther Schwieger.
Over the years, the Lusitania disaster has remained controversial, and there have been various conspiratorial allegations. Allegedly, the British Admiralty and Winston Churchill failed to notify Captain Turner of the true level of danger of U‐boats, as the Lusitania neared the Irish Coast. Another allegation is that the British government hoped the sinking of Lusitania would lead to American involvement in the War. According to some conspiracy theories, the Lusitania carried a large amount of munitions. The second explosion’s cause was the igniting of these. Other controversy focuses on Captain Turner and his navigation decisions and other actions. The authors resist the temptation to include wild speculation and conspiracy theories in their site; instead they stay with established facts and evidence.
Navigating through the site is easy. There are no methods to search for text or illustrations, however. The authors have included links to other shipwreck and sea disaster sites.
In reviewing the contents of Lusitania Online I kept considering the word “definitive” as the authors use it to describe their site. We live in an age of advertising and exalted claims. In describing their research, the authors state that their information comes “from the painstaking research we have done for our books at various Public Records Offices, the Cunard Archives, the National Maritime Museum, Imperial War Museum, Merseyside Maritime Museum, and multitude of books, papers and various other sources. There is nothing contained on this Web site that has not been verified by sight of documentary evidence”. I have no doubt that the information is valid, but it is disconcerting that the authors do not provide footnotes, bibliography, or other forms of references for their site.
For those librarians who fear that the World Wide Web will render libraries, librarians, and the codex superfluous, this site will be of ironic comfort for them. The authors have two books that they sell (Peeke et al., 2001, 2002) and they use the Web site to advertise them. It is almost as if they are asserting the superiority of the codex over the Internet. This site may indeed be a “definitive” Web site of the Lusitania, but it is not the definitive source on the Lusitania. Although serious scholars may find the information here basic, high school students, and others who need a brief introduction and overview to this significant incident of the First World War will find the site quite helpful.
