Lusitania
charmed everyone who
stepped aboard from the first moment. Cunard had gone to great
length to make the passenger forget that they were at sea. Atleast
while indoors, obviously. Glorifying European, and in particular
British, design, Lucy was adorned with the finest woods,
drawn from the oldest forests in England and France. Exquisitely
wrought iron rails and bronze work was mixed with the finely
carved oak and cedars to reproduce some of the most lavish decor
styles, ranging from French Renaissance to English country.
Lounges, smoking rooms, libraries, salons, private parlors and
a beautiful palm court all treated the traveler to a cross section
of European style, culture and atmosphere. Lavish accouterments
were to be found throughout the ship. In First Class, for example,
all the bathroom fixtures were silver plated!
First
Class cabins aboard Lusitania sold for as much as $4,000
for a one-way trip in one of the Regal Suites. This at a time
when the average man earned $20 a week! The Regal Suites featured
two bedrooms, a parlor, a bathroom, plus a dining room and a
separate pantry for private meals. The delectable decor of these
lavish suites ranged in style to satisfy the fickle tastes of
the aristocratic traveler, though I have no doubt there were
those who could simply not be pleased. First Class passengers
also enjoyed the use of an elevator as well as a covered promenade
for outdoor walks in inclement weather. The First Class Dining
Room was an elaborate space two decks high and topped by a huge
ornate dome. Corinthian columns, potted palms and a menu to
temp even the most discriminating palate made the First Class
Dining Room a favorite among its affluent occupants. Competing
with the Dining Room in elegance was the First Class Lounge.
Heavy oaks and carved plaster joined with an arcing stained-glass
ceiling featuring skylights that filled the room with natural
light by day while electric lights and chandeliers provided
an intimate atmosphere at night. Similar to the Lounge was the
First Class Smoking Room. This was an exclusive den of manhood,
as was the ship's barbershop. These rooms were no doubt the
setting for scathing remarks concerning the finances or personal
affairs of the various aristocrats on board at the time by their
contemporaries. One can almost imagine a group of stodgy old
men standing around with cigars and brandy chuckling about Lord
So-and-So's stock portfolio. How droll. The women had their
own room, to be sure. The First Class Reading and Writing Room,
a quiet and brightly lit room featuring tables and chairs where
one could write a note on Lusitania stationary. In the
Verandah Café, wicker chairs and tables flanked by palms
gave a tropical care free atmosphere. One side of the Café
could be opened up completely in warmer weather to give the
air of a sidewalk café at sea! Although the ship was
designed to seem more like a grand hotel than a ship, the elements
that would give rise to the "resort" atmosphere aboard
a modern cruise ship can be seen rooting themselves in Lusitania's
Verandah Café.
Second
Class passengers usually came in the form of teachers and lawyers;
or some other professional with the time and/or need to travel.
Second Class accommodations were superior to First Class digs
on other vessels. The last-minute gutting and rebuild of the
Second Class section of the ship in the stern had cleverly and
skillfully integrated the bracing, support columns and other
modifications into the decor. A typical Second Class cabin for
four featured two bunks with two wash basins between them along
with a comfortable amount of room so as not to crowd anyone.
The Second Class Dining Room echoed the layout of it's First
Class counterpart, but was far more simplistic in it's styling.
Decorative plaster was used and in covering the support braces
mentioned earlier gave the room a nice pillared look. And open
well over the center of the room made it feel much larger than
it was. The menu, while certainly not as lavish as the First
Class menu, featured dishes like Fried Whiting, Smoked Herrings
and Broiled Whiltshire Bacon for breakfast and Curried Mutton
with Rice, Corned Pork with Vegetables and Boiled Chicken with
Parsley Sauce for dinner. With full stomachs, the Second Class
passenger could retire to the Lounge located on top deck of
the aftermost deck house. There a panoramic view of the sea
and finely crafted wood columns gave again a cozy and intimate
air. Just outside the Lounge was the Second Class Promenade,
an open-air escape on the stern. Here one could enjoy the brisk
sea air, though this section was most prone to be covered by
soot and debris from the funnels, which were far forward on
the superstructure of the ship.
Third
Class passengers were not meant to feel as if they were visiting
their country getaway for the weekend. They had no doubt whatsoever
that they were aboard a ship. Accomdations were Spartan and
designed for heavy use and easy upkeep. Everywhere the Steerage
passnger looked, exposed bulkheads and rivets reminded them
that they were not there to enjoy themselves. Stark white walls
and brightly lit passages further enhanced the utlitarian atmostphere.
Third Class cabins were small and deep within the ship. Four
metal bunks looked more like hospital beds than anything. A
steel wash basin, a single porthole (on outside cabins) and
a small closet were the only other features in a Third Class
room. Access to the open decks was restricted to First and Second
Class passengers. The Second Class Smoking Room featured benaches
and a few swiveling chairs. In the large Third Class Dining
Hall, one would be fed a simple but no doubt above average meal.
Breakfast typically consisted of oatmeal, porridge and millk,
steak and onions, corned beef, curried veal or an omelette.
Dinner menus featured items like roast beef or pork, fish or
steak with a side or vegetables, rice and bread. Available meals
varied by day and season.
A
typical crossing aboard Lusitania required, simply for
the entrees, enough to stock and English estate. 130 pigs, 40
oxen, 10 calves, 80 sheep, 60 lambs, 150 turkeys, 350 ducks,
90 geese, 200 pheasants, 400 pigeons, along with nearly 4,000
other assorted birds and fowl all met their demise to stock
Lucy for a single Atlantic voyage. Mass consumption did
not stop there. The trip from England to the US (and vice versa)
required no less than 6,000 tons of coal (1,000 tons a day!).
The coal required 22 coal trains of 30 trucks each, each truck
weighing approximately 10 tons each, to reach the dock. Once
there was loaded into the bumkers via hatches on the hull. It
was a dirty process that covered nearly everything on deck and
in many cases below decks with coal dust that had to be wiped,
washed or hosed off before passengers boarded. Her massive steam
turbines required 65,000 gallons of water per minute for cooling
purposes. I can only assume seawater, cold and readily available,
was used for this purpose, though I imagine it would have to
be purified as salt is extremely corrosive. Anyone with knowledge
about this matter feel free to contact me.
The
crew of nearly 900 saw to the operations of the ship, from actually
navigating the vessel from the bridge, shoveling coal into the
furnaces that pressurized the boilers or tending to individual
passengers' needs and tasks. The sailing department; seamen,
officers and such numbered around 70. There were 390 engineers,
more than nearly 400 stewards, 50 cooks and an assortment of
others such as band members, telegraph operators, lift attendants,
printers, etc. From the Captain himself to the lowest of bell
hops, the ship was home. So it was for nearly 8 years. Lusitania
enjoyed popularity and prosperity. Comfort was assured by the
ship's own luxury and the crew's dedication to the passengers.
Safety was always assumed, though perhaps questioned after the
1912 sinking of White Star Line's Titanic in a tragedy
that shook the shipping industry at its foundation by exposing
the severely lacking saftey standards that governed British
shipping on the whole.
When
war was declared in August 1914, Lusitania continued
sailing as a commercial liner. She was believed to be far too
fast for German submarines and as a civilian vessel was, to
a certain degree, safe from military attack. Or so it seemed.
On May 1st, 1915 Lusitania set sail from New York with
1,918 people aboard. In command was William Turner, an experienced
Cunard Captain. At 59 years old, Turner was a man of the ocean.
At the tender age of 13 he left home and put to sea. Luck, an
eagerness to learn and honest hard work took him far. Turner
understood the sea. His reverence for it was matched only by
his willingness to obey it when it was less forgiving. William
Turner was a smart captain, and took his job as master of one
of the world's finest liners very seriously, if not with a grain
of salt. Of no concern to Turner were the various celebrities
and aristocrats that often crossed aboard his ship. He loathed
his duties as a "Cunard Embassador" to the rich, politically
powerful or artistic types. As the master of the vessel, he
was obligated to give his attention, when possible, to the passengers
whose influence could positively (or negatively) effect Cunard's
reputation. This encompassed nearly all of First Class on any
given voyage. Turner found foul weather to be a savior as it
kept him on the bridge, away from the annoyances of pointless
questions about the ship's functions or petty compaints about
the sauce served with the previous evening's meal.
Also
low on the Captain's list of priorities was the danger of submarine
attack. Although Lusitania was steaming out from the
relative safety of American waters, the thought of a passenger
liner falling attack to a German U-boat was unthinkable. Besides,
Turner reasoned, a ship of Lusitania's caliber could
outrun a submarine even with six of her boilers shut down. In
wartime, coal was an expensive commodity. Despite the reduction
in speed, Lucy was more than capable of leaving a sub
far behind her. And if all else failed, Turner was of the mind
that any ship with a strong bow and good high-speed turning
capability could quickly bear down on a sub, ramming it and
slicing it wide open. Skippers like Turner looked at submariners
as sneaky, nasty vermin. Though a sub could quickly begin to
submerge
at the first sign of trouble, a
large vessel like Lusitania carried 20 - 30 feet of her
hull under the waves. If a sub didn't submerge quickly enough,
the liner's keel would rip it to shreds and send it to the bottom.
Needless
to say Turner was confident in his ability to safely deliver
passengers, crew and cargo to their destination. So it was as
Lusitania steamed out of New York harbor and into the
pages of history as the focal point of one of the world's most
horrific maritime tragedies...
