Anniversary of Lusitania Sinking – May 7, 1915

On this day in 1915 the British ocean liner R.M.S. Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine.

For those who might be interested, here is a piece I wrote about ocean liners and the Anglo-German rivalry in the years before World War I:

Public Symbols and Private Enterprise: Transatlantic Ocean Liners, 1897-1914

As I wrote in the introduction:

The famous transatlantic ocean liners of the early 20th century were important national symbols in the rivalry between Britain and Germany.

Or at least, that’s the traditional view.

But the construction and interior design of these ships indicate that their owners were actually more concerned with profits than with patriotism. While the shipping lines may have paid lip service to nationalism, especially when it helped them win public support and government subsidies, their real motivation was a simple desire to appeal to fare-paying passengers.

An examination of ships like the Mauretania, Lusitania, Olympic, Titanic, Imperator, Vaterland, and others reveal a striking dichotomy between the way the ships were described at the time and the way they were actually designed.

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Milan Zivancevic
Milan Zivancevic

No comments for this somewhat unusual (compared to others, that is) blog entry, so I’ll make one… would you recommend this Lusitania book: http://www.amazon.com/LUSITANIA-Illustrated-Biography-Kent-Layton/dp/1848688342 Sounds good: hardcover, over 400 pages, many previously unseen photos, 5 star reviews from customers. What says Dan the man? Thanks, Milan P.S. Are you alive?… Read more »