THE LUSITANIA

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 29, 29 October 1928, Page 11

THE LUSITANIA

SUNK “BY CHANCE” RATHER THAN BY SPECIFIC GERMAN ORDERS STORY OF COMMANDER OF SUBMARINE According to the account of the captain of tile German submarine U2O, which torpedoed the Lusitania, the liner was sunk “by chance,” rather than by specific orders, but his story is contradicted by the evidence at subsequent inquiries. (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Australian Press Assn. —United Service.) New York, October 2. The liner Lusitania was sunk during the war “by chance” rather than by specific German orders, according to an account by Commander Walther Schwieger, captain of submarine U2O, in Lowell Thomas’s book “Sea Raiders,” published to-day. Commander Schwieger’s story is given as follows:—“I sighted on the horizon a forest of masts and stacks, and at first thought there were several ships. I perceived one coming on and dived immediately for a shot. at the ship, which changed its course when two miles distant, making a perfect target. I ran fast and waited a short time. I had only two inferior bronzes remaining, but at 400 yards I gave the order to fire. . The torpedo hit the ship and we approached closer. The pilot, peering through the periscope, yelled', ‘My God, it’s the. Lusitania.’ I took my place at the periscope and saw the ship sinking almost unbelievably rapidly. There was a terrible panic on deck, the most terrible sight I have ever seen, but it was impossible to give any help.” On returning to Germany, writes Lovell Thomas, Commander Schwieger was appalled at the anger of an outraged. humanity. He was reprimanded by the ex-Kaiser as well as by his brother officers, but the consensus of opinion, according to Lovell Thomas, was that Commander Schwieger. merely carried out his orders to sink any ship in blockaded waters. SUNK WITHOUT WARNING

EVIDENCE AT OFFICIAL INQUIRIES The Canard liner Lusitania, a sister ship of the famous Mauretania, was torpedoed and sunk without warning a few miles off the coast of Ireland, on May 7, 1915, by the German submarine, U2O, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander W. Schweiger. All the evidence goes to show that this appalling outrage was deliberately planned, and as deliberately carried out. In support of this view is the evidence recorded at the official in?uiry in Britain, presided over by the.late .ord Mersey, and the independent inquiry held in the United States. The stand taken by the United States Government, in its exchange of notes with the German Government on" the subject, clearly indicates that the former had no doubts concerning the deliberate nature of the attack on the unarmed ship. German Threats. Since in the early days of the war the Lusitania had been returned to the Cunard Company by the Admiralty as unsuitable for an auxiliary cruiser, she had been running as a passenger ship, and though her boiler power had been reduced enough to make tlie venture cover expenses, she still remained the fastest ship on the Atlantic. In,, this way, she had already made five round voyages with impunity, but by this time the Germans were openly threatening to sink her. On the eve of her leaving New York, warnings, subsequently traced to the German Government, were issued, advising travellers not to take passage in her, but seeing that she carried over 1250 passengers, of whom 159 were Americans, it was scarcely credible that the threat would be put in force. ** At the end of April, and on May 1, 1915, the following advertisement appeared in many leading American newspapers : — Notice.—Travellers intending to embark on Atlantic voyages are reminded that the state of war exists between Germany and her Allies and Great Britain and her Allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal . notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain or any of her allies are liable to destruction in those waters; and that travellers sailing in the war zone in ships of Great Britain or her Allies do so at their own risk. —Imperial German Embassy, Washington, D.C., April 22, 1915. Apalling Loss of Life. Few intending passengers of any nationality believed that such a threat as had been made could be meant seriously, or would ever be carried out. When the Lusiatania left New York on May 1, she carried 1959 people, including 440 women and children. The crew on tins voyage numbered 702, instead of the usual 750. Off the Irish coast, at 8 a.m. on May 7, the Lusitania reduced speed from 21 knots to 18 knots, so as to reach Liverpool at daybreak next morning. Nothing was in sight but the motor-boat patrol off the Old Head of Kinsale, when, at 2.15 p.m., as the passengers were coming on deck after luncheon, the track of a torpedo was seen to starboard. It took the great liner amidships, and exploded with deafening violence; another following immediately, hit her well aft; there was a second explosion, and she began at once to take a heavy list. Some on board declared that a third torpedo was then fired from the port side. If this was so, it missed, possibly because the ship’s helm had been put hard over to head her for the land, but the huge ship had already had enough. Her engines stopped, and in twenty minutes from the first explosion she plunged down bow foremost,, and was The loss of life was appalling. Of her company of 1959 there perished of men. women, and children, no fewer than 11.18. “Never had there been such a war loss on the sea; never one which so violently .outraged the laws of war and the dictates of humanity.”

U Boat Commander’s Version.

The Germans denied that a second torpedo was fired. In a publication by Kapi-tan-Lieuteuant A. Gayer (vol. 11, page 26), it is stated:. “On May 7, between 2 and 3 p.m., Schwieger sighted, in fine, clear weather, on the south const of Ireland, near the Old Head of Kinsale, so many masts and funnels that he thought at first he had before him a first-rate destroyer flotilla proceeding in line ahead. But it soon appeared that "all belonged to one steamer only.” Gayer goes on to say that' Schweiger was not able to make sure that it was the Lusitania before the shot had already hit; and that, although the sinking of the ship was doubtful at first, he did not allow the second torpedo, “which was all ready,” to be fired,

as he saw that there was an immense crowd of passengers to be saved. Gayer further remarks that, as though he had a foreboding of the tragedy which lay in his sucoess, Schweiger went with his boat to a depth of twenty metres, ‘moved by mixed feelings.”

German Allegations Disproved.

It' was afterwards alleged by the German Government that the Lusitania was equipped with guns, trained gunners, and special ammunition, that she was transporting Canadian troops, and that she was violating the laws of the United States. The inquiry held by Lord Mersey proved that all these statements were untrue. Judge Mayer, of the Federal District Court of New York, in his judgment on August 24, 1918, held that "the capitain was fully justified in sailing on the appointed day from a neutral port with many neutral and non-combatant passengers. . . . And so the Lusitania sailed undisguised, with her four funnels, and a figure so familiar ns to be readily discernible not only by naval officers and mariners, but by the ocean-going public generally.” Judge Mayer also found that “the Lusitania did carry some 18 fuse cases and 125 shrapnel cases, consisting merely of empty shells, without any powder charges, 4200 cases of safety cartridges, mid 189 cases of infantry equipment, such as leather fittings, pouches, and the like. None of these munitions could be exploded by setting them on fire in mass or in bulk, nor by subjecting them to impact.” Commander Schwieger met his end on September 17. 1917, when in command of the submarine USS. which was. attacked and sunk by the British Q ship Stonecrop.