Captain William Turner was confident she could outrun any U-boat. The Lusitania had been built for speed, the fastest ship of its time. Before she sailed from New York, the Germans had threatened they would attack the Lusitania, but the passengers weren’t particularly anxious. Larson starts with a prologue about the evening before the attack. Larson tells the story of the last voyage of the Lusitania, its passengers and crew, and the wider political situation that gave rise to the circumstances in which the ship was left unprotected in waters in which it was known U-boats were operating. It was 7 th May 1915 Europe was engulfed in war while the USA was desperately maintaining its position of neutrality. On a day which had earlier been foggy but was now clear and calm, some passengers aboard the Lusitania stood on deck and watched the ‘dead wake’ of a German U-boat torpedo heading towards the bow of the ship.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |