In May 1915 the Cunard ocean liner RMS Lusitania was steaming off the Irish coast when she was attacked by a German submarine. The ensuing chain of events led to the ship's loss and a horrifying final plunge that saw hundreds of people fighting for their very lives. In today's episode we'll bear witness to Lusitania's last minutes and see how her passengers survived or perished in the span of mere minutes.
Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels- from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines!
To be trapped in a stuck elevator on a sinking ship ... just ... pure horror.
It happened on the Costa Concordia too. Never use the elevator on a sinking ship!
@@richardnevillewalker672I totally agree. Just like how in a public building they tell you do NOT use the elevator in the event of a fire and that's the reason why. Same goes for a sinking ship. I'd be using the emergency stairways if I were on a sinking ship
I‘m honest with you guys I am so afraid of getting stuck I always try to use staircases. I don’t trust in elevators!
The sadder part of the Concorida is that the lifts (13 people) got stuck and killed at that part where the power ran out, sometime after the hit of the skull island. One of them had gone back to retrieve his precious violyn. The other, a life jacket they forgot.
Considering how many elevators my anime convention escapades have broken, I don't blame anyone for having a fear of elevators. One hotel had only four elevators and two of them (south) were used for the vast majority of the guest rooms. One north elevator accessed the other guest rooms which were reserved for convention staff, and the fourth was for hotel staff. One of the south elevators went all the way up to floor 22. Of course, our attendees broke both south elevators. Everyone was fine, nobody was stuck for long thankfully, but I felt terrible for the tabletop gaming staff and the maid café because they had to go allllllll the way up on the 22nd floor since that's where we had those events. Then the attendees had to go alllllll the way up to their rooms. They couldn't use the north elevator because it only went up to floor 6 and some idiot didn't think to connect the north floor 6 with south floor 6 so they couldn't get where they were going anyway. The north and south were only connected on the first couple floors. (we also made the Subway run out of bread all three days we were there) I can't imagine using an elevator on a ship, much less a sinking ship, I would be WAY too nervous. No matter how many elevators we broke at conventions, it was always a non-issue because help was right there and the emergency brakes were there if needed. I don't like the idea of getting on a boat NOW never mind the early 20th century.
Crazy that this video is longer than the sinking of Lusitania
I noticed that too.
I wonder if there have been studies made about who survived. Were they people whose careers let them understand instinctively they had to get off the ship in 10 minutes? Like don't even go back to your cabin for your passport.
Especially with ads interrupting every three minutes.
@@canuckprogressive.3435 The video is 24 minutes long, regardless of ads. Although I guess no one should expect it to be exactly the same, since the begining is extra.
@@canuckprogressive.3435pay premium problem solved.
I'm old enough (70) to remember the 50th anniversary of the Lusitania's sinking. There was a TV documentary at the time and featured was a woman who was a survivor (in her 20's in 1915) and remembered seeing people trapped in one of the ships elevators. With the power gone they had no way out. "I just turned away and tried to save myself, there was nothing else to be done. But I've never forgotten those poor souls in that elevator."
There's another movie on Lusitania but was made for TV. It was very very well acted and made. I think it was made in 2016-2017, I recommend it
Wow
Wow, you're old enough to remember an anniversary… What a fucking weird thing to flex on… Who goes on a video about a disaster in his like I'm old enough to remember when they were remembering this when I was a kid… Congratulations on being old apparently that's the greatest achievement some of you motherfuckers have done.
Had to been so horrible for those people could not imagine what they went through ugh
Our government wants war with Iran and right now they are trying to figure out a way to manipulate the American public into wanting it too. Ever since the creation of the Federal Reserve they have created an event to successfully get America into a war. Sinking of the RMS Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, Babies ripped out of incubators, Saddam has WMDs, and 9/11. The government was directly or indirectly involved in all of these events that led us into war. They create the conditions to be attacked, then let it happen to create a desired response. Let's not forget about all of their false flags to gain public support for war that failed. The Lavon Affair, Bay of Pigs Invasion, USS Liberty, Assad using "chemical weapons", and the Nordstream Pipeline.
When I was a kid, one of my customers on my daily newspaper delivery job was named Mrs. Hagen. She was very old, and a widow. As a child she had survived the Lusitania sinking, and as a nurse she survived a second ship sinking during WW2. She was very shy to talk about her life, but what a life!
i cannot find anyone with that name, be it first name or last name, on any passenger list for Lusitania when it sunk. CORRECTION: i found one resource which had a hagen. but that was a man. not a woman.
@@joppe39 I have no reason to believe she would have lied about this. Of course, she wouldn't have been a "Mrs. Hagen" as a child. ;)
@@joppe39 ohhh embarrassing - you are busy trying to call the guy a fraud and you forgot about maiden names
@@brians9508 the only one embarrassing himself is you. i never once said that any one is a fraud. id like to know where you got that from. I even corrected my post after further digging, and added that there was one with that name, but a man. the passenger manifests published listed everyone with their full names. so again, all i said was that at the time of the sinking, NO woman had that name on board. you could say that she got the name after the sinking after marrying, but that is quite the coincidence marrying a man with that name.
@@joppe39 OK so the guy tells a story about knowing this woman, and you start searching through names in hundred year old manifests? How obsessed are you? And what in the world you you mean regarding a coincidence???? Her name was not Hagen when she was on the ship. How is her name not being on the manifest, or a person named Hagen being on the manifest any kind of coincidence? You are one confused individual. Like a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theory nut - seeing something completely normal and explainable, but in search of an unusual coincidence that is not there. And yes, you did not use the word fraud - but searching through manifests and putting a comment here that states that you don't see that name - well, let's just say that actions speak louder than words. You got caught with your idiocy - just man up and admit it. Don't be scared of the truth that you are a bit obsessive and jump to wrong headed conclusions. Bottom line - be better.
A ship as big as the Lusitania to sink in only 18 minutes is nothing short of horrifying may all those who died rest in peace 😢
Same with the Empress of Ireland who sank in 14.
The ammunition that theoretically was not transporting reacted specially bad to the initial explosion, bulkhead failure + enormous hole, the Titanic sank with a little more than 2m2 of the ship opened to the sea, imagine this.
Rest in peace? Yeah, they're dead, where rip is a general rule.
@@myvideosetc.8271I believe it was a steam pipe that exploded
It's not about the boats size, but how much water it takes in. We knew a person with a yacht... aka houseboat, that technically had a problem when we were on it and was taking on water. It didn't fully sink until the next day or two.
The most terrifying way to die would be to be trapped in an elevator in the absolute darkness on a sinking ship... stuff of nightmares.
Yeah, there were many people who got lost in the darkness and trapped in the elevators on the Lusitania and all went down with the ship.
It would be a horrible experience
8 of the 32 fatalities during the Costa Concordia sinking in 2012 were people trapped in an elevator when the ship lost power. Let’s just say, don’t take the elevator in any ship. If you are on a cruise, the steps will help you walk off your food anyways.
certainly right up there with being trapped in a dark elevator of a burning building with a tsunami coming in to fill the building with water
And now I'll be taking the stairs on our upcoming cruise. Holy crackers.
The fact that 700 people survived is a miracle in itself
around the same as titanic
@@fishsauce358 mere minutes filled with poor staff and capsizing boats vs many hours and a much better staff, although it must be said many of titanic's boats left at half capacity.
If they knew how to swim and didnt panic, everyone would have survived.
My grandmother's family came to the USA on the last westbound voyage of the Lusitania after escaping Lithuania in the chaos created by the war. So I grew up looking at a large black and white photo of the ship hanging from the wall. I had no idea what had happened to it until I high school history class and we were watching a documentary about the First World War. I involuntarily shouted "that's my grandmother's ship" and everybody started laughing.
@@nanabutner The photo was great. It was of the Lusitania entering NYC in 1907, not 1915 obviously (when taking photos of the Lusitania was probably going to get you questioned by the police).
That's actually really cool! I *wish* I knew which ships my various ancestors came to Canada on. The best I can say for sure is that one of them was a British Royal Navy vessel sometime prior to the War of 1812, as our oldest known family records are of my multiple-greats grandfather's wife giving birth at Fort Amherst in 1810. Nothing so impressive as the Lusitania there. It sounds like that photo was gorgeous!
nahh their right@@nanabutner
@@thing_under_the_stairs It's readily available online. Lusitania Pier 54 1907 but KZhead deletes comments with links. Of course in my grandmother's days they didn't have the Internet. She just saw it in a shop in the Village one day in the 1960s and bought it. Interestingly they had intended to go right from Rotterdam to NYC on a Dutch ship, sailing from one neutral country to another but the Royal Navy impounded that ship for some reason. My grandmother was too young to remember any of it but my great grandmother was terrified the British would deport her back to whatever country Lithuania belonged to at the time. Not sure if the Germans had annexed it yet. So she was overjoyed she got a ticket on one of the grandest ships afloat. Then a few weeks later she was in the United States in the middle of the anti-German hysteria terrified they were going to deport all recently arrived foreigners as spies. My great grandfather had been conscripted into the Russian Army and had gotten killed (by the Austro Hungarians) in Ukraine not too far from the current war. So it took a lot of courage for my great grandmother to sell everything and make her way to New York in the middle of a war with 2 kids. But she was very pretty, had money for bribes, and spoke basic German. From what I understand Germans were chivalrous and accepted bribes. The British were chivalrous and didn't accept bribes. And Americans were brutes who asked for bribes and gave you nothing in return.
@@thing_under_the_stairs I had a classmate in college who bragged his ancestors came over on the Mayflower and I honestly didn't understand why he thought he was better than someone whose ancestors came over on the Lusitania. I mean bigger ship.
The fact this ship sank in like 20 minutes still shocks me
It really was the fastest ocean liner of its time
18 really. I guess that internal explosion did the job.
It's hardly unique, sadly. MS Estonia (852 dead) foundered and sank during a storm on the Baltic Sea in 1994, and RMS Empress of Ireland (1012 dead) sank after a collision with a smaller ship on the St Lawrence River, Canada, in May 1914 - both of them in about the same frame of time (and both at night). 😧
many things involve in that the second explosion inside the ship creaed alot of damage the compartment division create a tendency to list in case of flooding
That's what happens when a civilian transport has its cargo holds loaded full of munitions and is then torpedoed. The sinking of this ship was no war crime, as many contend. No. She was loaded with war munitions, using a civilian liner, which according to the "rules of war" is immune from attack is in and of itself a criminal act.
My Grand Uncle had his ticket for that voyage to return to Italy after his performance(s) as guest Maestro at Madison Square Gardens (NYC). At the last minute he decided he would visit the family in Cleveland... one of the very few times that going to Cleveland saved that person's life 😅
What's truly sad (besides the loss of life of course) is that Captain William Turner was chastised after the sinking by the Admiralty so they could save face during war time. They deliberately went after him and tried to frame him because the public were asking questions about why the Lusitania was allowed to sail into a known war zone on her own without escort. Even the chairman of Cunard called the Admiralty and asked if they could attach an escort to the Lusitania and they refused, but issued a wireless message to the captain telling him to "steer a mid channel course, pass harbors at full speed, submarines active off Fastnet". Well they didn't take into count the fog that had developed off the Old Head of Kinsale that morning and good seamanship (as well as a cardinal rule of safety) is to slow, blow your fog horn, and get the best possible fix on your bearing as possible. As the fog lifted, Captain Turner and crew did that very thing, but they had no idea that they were steering directly into a U-boat's path. When Walther Scweiger was ordered to return to Germany after sinking the Lusitania to be congratulated, he arrived to be told that he is no longer to be congratulated, and that he was lucky to keep his rank because the world was calling Germany barbarians and heartless brutes. Germany was struck off the list of civilized nations, and they argued that none of the U-boat captains were ever told to sink the Lusitania. The whole thing was an absolute whitewash and it all came down to an act of absolute all-out war. The killing of almost 1,200 people was just chalked up to an act of war. Truly truly sad.
The British have ALWAYS had this brain damaged idea that the Admiralty MUST be protected at all costs, not matter how atrocious their actions may have been. I really have no respect of any kind for them.
How could you lose all that ammo....i mean passengers? -british admiralty
It’s even worse when you realize exactly WHO was the First Lord of the Admiralty at the time… Between this and Gallipoli, Winston Churchill had a pretty bad war.
@@philduritza7717 And yet the brain dead Brits brought him back to make some even more ludicrous decisions during WW!!. They just never seemed to have a clue and far from being too smart!
@@carloschristanio4709Exactly
I can’t even imagine the utter terror of being stuck inside as she sank.
imagine being stuck in an elevator when the lights went out...
@@mowowie That happened to me. I just opened the elevator's doors, which are made to set loose automatically should that happen, and walked out. /shrug.
@@hansvonmannschaft9062 Well, you got lucky. Those who got stuck in the Lusitania elevators never even got them to open and all went down with the ship.
@@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY I digressed from the main subject of the ship sinking. And was just pointing out that getting stuck in an elevator due to a power outage isn't something to be terrified about. As long as said elevator isn't installed in a sinking vessel, of course. And needless to clarify, was referring to modern elevators: The purpose of my message was to bring some ease to those terrified of such a thing happening *these days.* May you have a nice day.
Churchill used the Lusintania as canon fodda to try to get America to join the War.
Knowing that this ship sunk in 18 minutes with all the problems that the crew got with the lifeboats (too much list, many malfunctions...) it's a freakin miracle that about 760 people survived out of 2000 wich are very similar statistics to Titanic's sinking and Titanic sunk in 2h40.
There are quite a few major differences between them though. Titanic sank at night in frigid water. Lusitania sank during the day in warm water. Titanic sank slowly enough that passengers were reluctant to get into the boats until it was too late. Lusitania sank so fast that there wasn't enough time to get people into the boats before it was too late
The decks were also angled upwards to combat rollign at sea, so they gave a false sense of security that the ship is still in a straight line @@thomasvlaskampiii6850
Also people didnt die in 15 mins in the water
Yup. Titanic: Enough time, not enough lifeboats. Lusitania: Enough lifeboats, not enough time.
I love how nothing that you guys responded with does anything at all to change the original post… Y'all just need to argue about something and be like oh no way, but you didn't mention this and I know this, so I'm smart… Everyone's real impressed with you guys
My great-great-uncle, John Roberts, died onboard Lusitania. He was 19 at the time and was an assistant engineers’ mess steward. John was the son of John and Margaret Roberts, of 19, Maitland St., Liverpool, England. My Grandmother, Joyce Riley (nee Roberts), his niece, said that the family were told by friend who was onboard with John (whose name I don't know) that they had both managed to make it up on deck following the torpedo strike. This friend told the family that he and John managed to jump into the water, however, upon hitting the water, John had fell unconscious and passed out. I was told by my Grandma that John had recently had abdominal surgery and that the family believed this may have had something to do with him passing out in the water. What happened to him from then on is unknown. His friend was rescued from the water some time later. My great-great grandmother and John's sister, Elizabeth Ann (known as ‘Nancy’), travelled to Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland to search for John's body, however, sadly his body was never recovered. This was a major source of pain for the family and John's mother never recovered after losing him. Members of the family revisited Queenstown on a number of occasions in the months and years following the tragedy to search for signs of John, however, no trace was ever found of him. Most of our family still live on Merseyside and to this day we regularly visit the Lusitania memorial in Liverpool to pay tribute to John. RIP to all those who lost their lives that day.
19:04 the death howl's of the ship are extremely haunting. Well done with this documentary and thanks for posting.
Its the ship going "wtf did you sail me into a war zone you blithering idiots!" in a Jeremy Clarkson voice.
In the classic traadition of maritime historians, you are a master story-teller Mr Brady, and your content is always much appreciated.
Nothing can really describe the sheer luck for those who were jettisoned from the funnels
Hand of God = luck and sheer luck :)
iirc the woman who survived being pulled into the funnels, Margaret Gwyer, was floating around with other people on some wreckage when a lifeboat pulled up that her husband had been pulled into. Because she was covered head-to-toe in soot, he didn't recognize her, so she waved and said "Hiya, Herb!" and he immediately burst into tears lol
Those poor people who were trapped in the elevator on a sinking ship. I can’t even imagine the terror they must’ve felt!! Very informative video - thank you! It gets a 👍🏻 from me!
In a fire or a ship sinking NEVER try to use an elevator..!!
@@2msvalkyrie529They were probably in the elevator when the ship was first struck.
@@2msvalkyrie529i remember reading somewhere that the only way in or out from certain parts of the ship were via elevator
@@2msvalkyrie529 Never use the elevator on any ship, period. It'll become your coffin if the ship loses power and starts to sink. No one will come to save you. If youre so old and weak that you cant even use the stairs then yeah succumb to your fate, it was your time anyway PS. Start working out. I've seen 70 year olds in better shape than 30 year olds, because they continued to lift weights and do light cardio. When youre 70 and have spent the last 30 years of your life on the couch, no wonder you can barely even move anymore. Use it or lose it
@@rykehuss3435 JFC wtf does working out have to do with anything LOL i swear you people make it your entire personality and its so weird nobody gives a fuck LOL and guess what, doesn't matter how much you work out if you get stuck in an elevator on a sinking ship, which was the entire fucking point here, how about you kiss a girl first then you can go work out LOL
I've been binge-watching these video's on Oceanliner Design and am struck with how professionally they are researched, produced and presented. Michael Brady has the perfect voice and is SO much better than the synthesized computer speak we get with too many video's. Very much appreciate the effort these entertaining videos must take...and I consider it a great day when I get to learn something I didn't know beforehand. Every OD video is chock full of tidbits and information that just blow me away. Well done Sir!
It must’ve been absolutely terrifying to be on that ship. Not even getting on the lifeboats was safe. The ship took only 18 minutes to sink. 18 minutes…on a ship almost as large as the Titanic with nearly 2,000 passengers and crew aboard.
Titanic and her sisters were quite a bit larger than Lusitania and her sisters! Still, your point is a good one: Eighteen minnutes is an incredibly short time to evacuate a passenger liner!
At least the water wasn’t as cold,.. and the passengers could actually swim to Ireland
Good joke,...Lusitania sank around 18 kilometers from land..Try swimming that after being thrown into the pretty darn cold north atlantic@@danielfairfield923
@@danielfairfield923 .....seriously - 20 miles away in woolen clothing - maybe a medal winning swimmer but not women, children and the old / infirm.
No one could have swam to iteland @@danielfairfield923
RIP To the 1,195 passengers and crew who were killed in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania
I had many cousins on board - thank you this has been so helpful for me. Marguerite, Lady Allan, owner of the Allan Line was on her way to England to serve with Julia Lady Drummond, in supporting the Canadians. She had with her two daughters, Gwen and Anna, 16 and 15 and her two maids Emily and Annie. Marguerite survived. But Gwen and Anna died. Anna was never found but Gwen was. Also with the Allans were Mrs George Washington Stephens and her two year old grandson John. She was accompanied by her maid and nurse. All the Stephens party died. Mrs Stephens was found and sent back to Canada my my great Uncle. Her ship with her coffin in the hold was sunk close to the L also by the U 20. George Slingsby, the valet of Aunt M's friend Frederick Orr Lewis, gave aunt M his life jacket. George could not swim. He had witnessed his brother drown as a child. he and Aunt M were very close. She had sort of adopted him as a boy and had sponsored his career. He and she knew what this gift meant. He was giving his life for her. But George survived! She had been like a mother to him all his life, but I think that this was a gift that she could not reciprocate. They never met again. Who knows how the heart works. For me he is the hero of my family story
❤
So Sorry for Your Families Loses
I hated the guy who took pictures of the sinking couldn't develop them because they had been ruined. It would have been scary to me.
While we all have the Titanic in our minds when we think of a ship wreck, there are so many other horrible ship disasters out there, like the Empress of Ireland, the Lusitania etc all with their own unique stories, harrowing moments and tragic loss of life. It's good you bring these tragedies to life as well.
Somehow, your sinking videos are so dramatic that my heart races and I feel the panic as if I was there. Always, nicely done.
Thankyou! I tend to write action sequences in the present tense to create a sense of tension and buildup and to add to that effect of 'being there' rather than reflecting on it as a past event if that makes sense!
I’m an Irish person from a town a few KM from the wreckage, it traveled through my towns water minutes before it sank. The Lusitania is very well acknowledged and we even have a monument and pub named after it.
Up Cobh 🔊🔊
Watching this on the 109th anniversary… it’s still shocking and incredible
Mike...your account of this disaster with the graphics is so realistic and frightening. You undoubtably have the best maritime account of this ship disaster and the step-by-step events that befell the passengers, crew and ship. I can't compliment you and your staff enough for giving us a realistic account of what took place.
As a now 59 year old, I have long been captivated by the Titanic; her tragic story and all the new details that came with her discovery. It does seem like every retelling of her demise implied her two and a half hour plunge was a remarkably rapid one. But I have come to realize she was actually a hero, giving opportunity to many to survive. If they had only taken advantage of that amount of time, many more could have...perhaps been saved.
Your animations of these ships are amazing
Great story teller, and historian! I cant get enough of this channel the past couple of years!
Never before did I learn so much from a Lusitania video. This was so sad and stunning.
They shouldn't have used an ocean liner to smuggle munitions.
Great visualisation, though I am a little surprised that nothing was mentioned about the 2nd "explosion" that was said by multiple survivors to have occurred almost immediately after the torpedo hit...
The second explosion was due to the contraband munitions she was transporting. Additionally, Germany knew about the cargo, and considered her a war vessel, and even went so far as to take out an advertisement placed right aside the sailing schedule of the Lusitania, warning of the impending danger any passengers would face. The contraband weapons and munitions cargo has recently been confirmed by wreck divers
This story is just as grizzly as the Titanic disaster only in broad daylight, happened about 10 miles away from land, and the ship sank in less than 20 minutes. Not many people knew the scope of the situation until it was already too late. Also, I don't like how the wreck's looking today. It's been blown up numerous times by the Irish Navy (I read that in Ghost Liners), and the hull is more unrecognizable than the stern section of Titanic. That's a freaking war grave! Great video as always, Mike.
I think it was the royal navy/ salvers that did the damage to to the ship. The Irish navy never had the capability to to do any damage to the ship the country hardly has any navy. There have been attempts at salvage over the years. It lies at a dept of 93m it's with in dive range.
My father passed away too soon. He would have been your biggest fan. He was fascinated all his life with Titanic, Lusitania, QE, QM and all these ships. He lived long enough for the Titanic to be found. Your work is incredible. Do you think modern AI will make it possible to animate the people in these dramatizations ?
I'm sorry to hear that! I think in future the human animations will vastly improve for this sort of low-budget production yes. Even now the cinema industry has access to very convincing digital 'extras' that I'm sure will become standard among small scale producers like us. I look forward to that day because I too am keen to see more convincing people :)
Don't sell your videos short Mike! I've been following your channel for a few years now and your animation never ceases to amaze me. Your presentation and information is beyond what I have watched on other channels. I'm an avid cruiser and you have taught me more about maritime than the 15 cruises I have been on since 1990. So many ships I sailed are now scrapped. Keep doing what you are doing Mike!! A maritime bloke from the U.S. !! @@OceanlinerDesigns
Your videos keep me on the edge of my seat, even though I know the end of the story! You have an incredible talent for this, and it is greatly appreciated. The only bad part is the wait between videos 😀 Thank you, and keep up the brilliant work!
Yes brilliant work
@@jbarwick50I actually genuinely agree with you
The witness accounts of this tragedy are so amazing. That people survived these siblings are made of something more sturdy than my old body is. Again, another great video. I find my heart thumping to this one. Thanks for the nightmare.
She was also rocked by a second explosion. I think the second explosion is why she sank so fast, along with that list
How on earth did they think the ship wouldn't sink? They didn't remember the mishap one of the White Star Liners had 3 years earlier?
Mike, another absolutely breathtaking and horrifying storey done in your impeccable style. Young man you are simply brilliant and your story is a testament to the great Lusitania and those who perished and survived. God bless them and you for reliving their story!!!
Whenever you feel like a failure, remember you could of been like the Lusitanias lifeboats
Well said. Those boats and falls were absolutely hopeless.
*could have
@@Mrs.CurrieDon't be a jerk, lady.
“Titanic had enough time but not enough lifeboats,Lusitania had enough lifeboats but not enough time”-A wise man Edit:right I know that having more life boats wouldn’t have done anything. I love the titanic and am an enthusiast. But the is the only way to make it look good. Now, stop coming for my throats.
Titanic didn't have enough time. They were barely able to launch 20 boats before the ship sank.
@@aspenmgy ik but they managed to get their life boats free, Lusitania did not
Seems like the key is the temperature of the water. On the Titanic you had to get into a boat or you'd die of hypothermia. On the Lusitania if you got into the water with a life jacket you'd have a chance.
britannic gantry davits would have launched these boats no problem
@@randomrazr that’s true. They were designed for that reason specifically. Makes sense why on 30 died because of poor community.
Mike, I love your timing! I am teaching about the Lusitania's sinking TOMORROW in my American HIstory class and I will be showing this superb video. Amazing work! I think you captured the facts and the emotions perfectly. Thank you so much!!
I wish my history teachers showed things like this, mind you they didn’t really exist back then
Hod it go?
I can't imagine feeling a massive explosion while inside the ship and then a couple minutes later, the lights go out. The sheer terror those people felt must've been astonishing
It only makes you consider just how ultimately successful the evacuation of the titanic was considering the ship suffered arguably greater damage (though obviously not as severe as any kind of torpedo impact/explosion) and had an inexperienced, untrained crew. The watertight compartiments, the pumps, the engine room crew, they all worked admirably hard and bravely to keep the ship afloat and lit up as long as possible, which we absolutely took for granted considering it stayed up for 2 and a half hours, when the average time for a shipwreck was barely an hour all the way down to mere minutes, even to this day modern ships rarely last as long. As for the lifeboats, God bless the crewmen of the Titanic, besides the incident with lifeboat 13 & 15, it all went without any incident or real tragedy, though they were efficient, they sadly weren't fast enough to load the last 2 collapsibles completely before the water rushed over them, which is an interesting situation considering people blame the high death count on the lack of lifeboats, but don't consider that even with the numbers they already Had, they didn't have time to propely load them up, both collapsibles had to be set up so they could drift off the ship. What happened with Lusitania is a depressing tragedy, and it's basicaly a textbook example of everything that could've gone wrong with the Titanic, as well as a collection of everything that can happen during a shipwreck. God rest those souls.
The opening in the Titanics side was much smaller than that of Lusitania, The in rush of water + the blast from the topedo maybe caused more damage to watertight bulkheads/doors. As it was a sunny day maybe more portholes where also open. I have also never heard what happened to the stokers, they may have been incapaciteted by the initial blast. It must have been a horror for the engineering staff.
At the time, the Titanic actually had four more lifeboats than required by law which went by tonnage. I remember pointing this out in a High School history report I did with her. What the teacher do? Give a bad mar on it saying "There wern't enough lifeboats." She thought I was full of it when I stated it had four more than required by law. She also didn't belive me about Titanic being (at the the time thought) the first to use the new SOS signal. Saying "Ships been on the water long before the Titanic."
@@zombiedoggie2732 The teacher was ridiculous, but technically Titanic wasn't the first use of SOS, to be fair.
Frankly it is absolutely beyond me how you come to the conclusion that Titanic had suffered "greater damage". The actual surface area through which water could enter the Titanic was pretty small. Arguably there were no real holes in the hull, it was simply no longer watertight where the pressure of the iceberg against the hull had bent plates and broken rivets. On the other side a literal torpedo had exploded on Lusitania's hull, there was a huge gaping hole, the basic structure of the ship in that are had been completely destroyed, which is also the reason why the power failed immediately. The pipes and wiring were all destroyed. And finally the entire ship sank in minutes. Even withouth water tight compartments and pumps, the titanic would not have sunk before an hour had passed, simply because there was not that much water entering the ship. Seriously it is hard to overstate how much more severe Lusitania's damage was.
Well said!
Simply brilliant video! Excellent reasearch too. Having been on cruise liners many times the thought of one sinking under you in 18 minutes and the sheer insane terror trying to get off a darkened ship is the stuff of nightmares.
Michael, it’s absolutely astonishing to me how far you’ve come in the past year. Bravo! Here’s to many more.
I'm so grateful we get to watch simulations like this. It's one thing to read about it and create your own picture versus seeing it go down.
obsessed with the visual shortcut at 8:18, it took me a second to realize only the boat was moving and the people werent running across the deck. streamlining vfx at its best :)
When the wreck of Lusitania wasn't protected and was left as a target for depth charges... Right now, the whole wreck is just completely collapsed and barely recognizable.
So many were dropped by crews thinking she was a U-boat.
Wasn't the ocean currents believed to be responsible for collapsing Lusitania's wreck
Got to attempt to cover up the lie by destroying evidence.
First a live stream and now this the next morning. Bless you Mike
Thank you for the Amazing graphics, it really makes the history come alive. Michael you do a great job and you always look so professional with your vest and tie. THANK YOU Mr. Brady
A fascinating account of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Thank you, very well done. Wonderful channel!
I love how you make all of these vids you do both dramatic and relatable, you have such a great voice and a passion for this kind of content.
Its our friend Mike Brady again with a fantastic video! Thank you for the effort of you and your team Mike
Fabulous production Mike - a thrilling narrative and wonderful graphics.
All I can think of is what a mess this evacuation was. Love the graphics and full explanation of what happened. Keep up the good work.
18 minutes is not a lot of time to organise anything, imagine if it had been at night.
@@TayebMC I understand thats not a lot of time but I do feel valuable time was being wasted by the minute considering how quick the ship was sinking, the captain didn’t really fully grasp that his ship is sinking by the minute and didn’t give the necessary asap evacuation orders which added on more wasted time, officers/crew were waiting for orders from the captain, days earlier before the sinking life boat drill took place then crew hopped in the boats but they never learned how to lower it so they got out the boats back onboard the ship, the crew took it in their own hands to try free/lower the lifeboats, yet passengers are told that the ship isn’t sinking adding on more confusion/panic with more time slipping away, then the crew have trouble lowering the boats, staff captain Anderson calls out don’t lower the boats the ship won’t sink please get woken and children out of the boats adding on more wasted time, Issac leeman sees the situation grabs the sailor asks why isn’t he lowering the boats and sailor replies captain didn’t order for boats to be released so leeman takes out his gun waving it around took charge said to hell with captains orders so Issac could see the situation was deteriorating quick time & didn’t want valuable time wasted in getting lives saved etc. I do feel lot of time was greatly wasted due to the captain/staff captain by not ordering asap evacuation with the crew not being taught how to lower the lifeboats when they had lifeboat drill taken just days before the sinking. Passengers were having to make their own decisions on how to save themselves or you had leeman having to order a crew member to quickly spring into action to save as many lives as possible. So if a passenger could see that danger why not the ones incharge who didn’t give evacuation orders and just advised everyone to get off the lifeboats as the ship wasn’t sinking. Both wreckless actions which did cost valuable time in my eyes.
The Lusitania video was an absolute masterpiece. The visual presentation was stunning, the storytelling was riveting, and it was a moment in history I was never able to imagine myself. I know this is educational content, but this tips over into the category of also being highly entertaining despite it being an incredibly tragic story. GG everyone who contributed!
Thankyou so much for your generosity! We're so glad you enjoyed the video. Even though these stories are tragic we always have a lot of fun making them. :)
@@OceanlinerDesigns Why did you leave out the part with the secondary explosion caused by the munitions stored on the ship?
All the bullets are still in the forward hold and some spilling out in to the forward coal bunker. If there was a explosion there they would be gone. We found all the boilers in boiler room 1 are still intact so most likely it was a steam pipe rupturing and sudden lost of steam pressure at the same time of the secondary explosion.
Once again you present a magnificent retelling of a shipping tragedy. Bravo and also bravo for the visuals.
Lusitania has been my favorite ship since I was child. Thank you for this video.
Audio is awesome. Lusi is my second favourite ship. Poor girl. RIP to all that died 😢
incredible rendering! Love watching these visuals get better and better
Another great video that tells a horrific story. Those poor people in the elevators and sucked into the funnels 😟. I've always had a great interest in the Lusitania and you've done her justice here. Thank you for your superb work!
Wow, what a production this was visually and story telling. Well done!
look up MV Wilhelm Gustloff for the most loss of life in a ship sinking over 9,300 or more died in that sink ... men , women and 5,000 children alone ... 1945 a Soviet Sub sunk the ship in the Baltic sea ... freezing temps and people trapped inside the ship when she rolled over and sank ..
This HAD to be mentioned. The sinking of the Wilhem Gustloff. A Soviet submarine did it. Absolutely beyond horrifying, in the freezing cold Baltic Sea. Over 9 times as many killed as in the Lusitania disaster. When I first heard about the Lusitania as a boy I was so angry at the Germans.( I never learned about the Wilhelm Gustloff until many years later. ) How could the Germans do such a thing, and more than 120 Americans killed. Then I learned: 1. The Imperial German Embassy had posted warnings in the New York Times and other newspapers prior to the ship's Atlantic runs that spring. The warnings even mentioned the ship's company. This warning stated things VERY CLEARLY. Tell me, did Putin warn Airlines not to fly over Ukraine before that Jumbo jet from the Netherlands was shot down? 2. Were there armaments to aid the allied war effort on the Lusitania? How much? Will we ever truly know how much? And how much did these armaments contribute to the explosions and less than 20 minutes sinking? 3. The flags on the ship were changed to try to make it look like a non British ship, as it approached Ireland. This procedure actually endangered non British ships which were also sunk by submarines. 4. There was a British blockade so ships could not deliver goods to Germany as in peace time. Thousands upon thousands of German children were STARVING, to death. I learned about this from the grandparent of one of my friends as a child in Minnesota in the 1970s. He was in Germany as a child during World War I. He saw people dying of starvation. I do not think American schools teach this fact. Of course, I will always wish the German submarine never torpedoed the Lusitania. It was so terrible. This submarine came from Danzig. If you feel the Germans should have paid for what happened to the Lusitania, just know the frenzy politicians used over this sinking to finally get America to join the Allies in 1917. Then, read the story of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Read what happened to Danzig in 1945. Retribution on a scale one cannot even fathom. It is all beyond any comprehension of awful.
Dude, read what Germans were doing to the Soviet citizens on the occupied territories. No need to to pretend that those evil Soviets did this to innocent Germans out of nowhere. There were more Slavs in the concentration camps than Jews. How many people (and children too) starved and died during the siege of Leningrad? How many villages were burnt in Belarus along with alive people?
@@UMKA1978 Nobody came out of those wars looking very good. There's a very real chance the British were hoping the Germans would sink Lusitania, just to incentivize more countries to join the Allies. They were using it as a military supply ship using civilians as human shields. Whatever else, that much is a fact. The Germans learned of this and declared and warned them, SPECIFICALLY calling them out that they would sink any ships along these routes. They let it sail anyway and the Germans made good on their threat. Churchill was reported before the attack saying that it wouldn't be a bad thing if the Germans attacked it. There is no country involved in both world wars that didn't commit horrible war crimes of some degree, especially in the second war. Just a terrible reminder that people are horrible no matter which country they're from. And they're all the same in pointing the finger at the other guy and saying what we did is justified because the other guys are worse. And it's still the same today.
Gustloff ok 9.000 ofiar...Goya ok. 7.000 ofiar...Steuben ok. 4.500 ofiar.
Great job Man!! You are great at this history!
great video mike great stuff love how much you went into detail about it by far the best person for these type of videos going into detail about famous ships that sank and all that happened and really know your stuff keep this content coming
Fantastic video, its so well done, really gets across the horrors of the sinking, its shocking and terrifying just how quickly Lusitania went down 😢😭
Amazing video Mike and Amazing Animations Jack!!👏👏
The fact that this ship went down in 18 minutes is shocking. Empress of Ireland went down in only 14 minutes also.
Wow! Incredibly well done. I have followed many of your youtube channels and this has to be on one the best.
Great video Mike. You brought this tragedy to life 👏
Utterly brilliant .An old friends Great Grandfather was a chef on the last voyage of the Lusitania .He survived the sinking .There where riots in the streets in my old home town of Birkenhead against German business when the liner was lost .
Thanks!
Wow, this may be your best video yet. Keep up the great work
Excellent video Mike, & Jack Gibson's animation is superb. Thank you all : )
This is one of the best documentary channels on utube
Fantastic video. I still find the Ken Marschell picture of the wreck truly haunting.
A really amazing channel, its wonderful how you bring the past back to life with 100% research and detail lengths you go to is nothing short of incredible. Your work reminds me of watching the old In Search Of series as a child except yours is 1000x better, there's nothing else I can say except thanks again you really do an excellent job.
Mike, this might be your best video yet!!
Well told! Terrifying, but nicely produced and edited.
Amazing graphics and editing. Great narration. Absolutely mesmerising. I thought there was a secondary more powerful explosion after the initial torpedo impact though. But they never found out what caused it. Best Lusitania documentary ever! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
You can actually see it in the video, he just never mentions it. When the torpedo strikes, after a few seconds there's a bunch of coal dust that blasts out of the funnel and vents.
I had mentioned that second exsplosion also. Many suspect it was secret munitions hidden below, but recent discoveries believe it was coal dust ignited by the first Torpedo
Nicely done and informative. Thank you.
wow - that was almost palpable - expertly narrated with awesome graphics - a huge Well Done to Ocean-liner Designs.
I remember reading that Lusitania was Secretly carrying weapons. The article said the cargo of Lusitania consisted mainly of ammunition was the rightful accusation of the Germans although the British denied it.
The British actually made such a huge propaganda spin out of it that it took em 70 after the sinking to finally admit it carried ammo
Not so secret. This was known to the germans. In fact, it was quite deliberate. Churchill was recorded musing that it wouldn't be a bad thing if the ship were attacked. Once the Germans learned they were using passenger ships as military supply ships they put out many, many warnings that any civilian ships in war zones would be sunk. Brits didn't care.
@@anthrazite It was listed on the public manifest from the moment it left America...
A ship that size sinking in only 18 short minutes? My god that must have been absolutely terrifying for those onboard 😢
Yeah, there were many people who never even made it to the ship’s exits because of it.
Thsnk you for another well made and moving video Sir.
Wow, this was fantastic...well done!
One thing I find interesting is that on both Titianic and Brittanic the funnels fall off, but on Lucy they stay on as far while still on the surface
The Lusitania’s funnels were all functional. Titanic and Britannic only had three functional funnels (and the dummy broke loose).
Differences in the pressure experienced, I guess. Titanic's funnels were held at an awkward angle for much longer and suddenly met with the ocean, which made the hollow funnel-base buckle inward, destabilizing the entire structure and causing it to collapse. Also, the ship's violent breakup must have rent the 3rd (and possibly 4th) funnel clean off of the base. Lusitania's funnels were structured differently on the inside, less vulnerable to being crushed by the pressure difference, and probably were not even given enough time to actually get damaged and collapse, considering how fast she sank.
I'm convinced the second explosion was more of a red herring, and the rapid sinking was due to a watertight door either failing or being left open. There's a very odd similarity between the sinking of Lusitania and that of the Empress of Ireland the year before. Despite the fact that the Empress was far smaller that ship lost stability because water was allowed to flow uninhibited through the ship because all the doors were left open.
Amazing video, as always Mike.
You answered a question I’ve always had as to why the lusitania wasn’t steaming at full speed. Thanks for another great video!
Great video Mike I learned so much from this that I didn't know before one of the things that surprise me is how shallow the water was there. The Germans said all along They were justified in sinking the ship because they claimed it was carrying munitions and war supplies. Which the British vehemently denied . IIRC When they finally went down to take a look at the wreckage of the Lusitania they did in fact find munitions and war supplies. Considering how quickly the Lusitania sank, is surprising that large of a number of people survived.
They knew about about the munitions long before they dived to the wreck, the ships cargo manifest was widely available and listed many of the munitions carried were listed.
If someone wanted to safely travel between the US and UK they merely had to travel on a US flagged ship. The Germans never attacked those as they were neutral. The lousitania was used by those wanting extra luxry .
It was the case in both world wars that Germany's alleged "friends" gave lies as a reason for entering the war.
The ship was listed as auxiliary cruiser of the royal navy at the time. It had gun mounts included in the design but no guns were fittet, without them it was probably easier to convince passenger to be used as human shields that the vessel was still a passenger ship.
Lusitania's life boats caused a whole lot of death.
This was very well narrated as almost all of your videos but you've done a couple of tragic sinkings lately and I feel like you've got a good knack for that and wouldn't mind hearing more
Well done. I have always found her story to be fascinating.
Stunning imagery!
This is by far the best recounting of the loss of "Lusitania". Michael's measured and studious cadence matches the superior computer graphics in a manner not seen before. Extremely well told. I believe there is reason to believe the coal dust in her bunkers ignited, and blew out most of the bow plating, which may be why she flooded so rapidly. While so many drowned inside the ship, I firmly believe as much recognizable hardware and accoutrements from the ship should be recovered and placed in a large permanent museum collection. Nothing removed will hurt the dead and this is history -pure and simple.
Yeah, it wasn't the ammunition aboard that exploded and doomed the ship to sink so quickly. I watched a doco that concluded that the bunkers, empty of coal by this stage of the voyage, were filled with highly combustible coal dust that exploded.
@@paultyson4389 It's notable though that the British still haven't disclosed what the Lusitania's military cargo was.
Easily one of my favorite videos you’ve done Mike!
Great Video, Thanks for Sharing !
RMS Lusitania was hit by a rogue wave once in 1910. The wave was 75 feet high, came over the bow, and broke on the bridge. The bridge windows were smashed and deck plating was deformed. Nobody was injured and the ship arrived a few hours late. -- The day she was sunk there were two explosions reported: the first when the torpedo hit, but there was a second explosion a few moments later. The second explosion apparently came from the same area where the torpedo had hit, and caused a noticeable increase in the degree and rate of list.
Given that the .303 ammunition onboard was spread across the ship and could not have detonated, and she didn't carry gunpowder per say, so it's been speculated the secondary explosion was coal, it's like sawdust or anything else, air with just the right mixture detonates, such as also in engines (during compression stage).
The thing is, the manifest of the ship is still classified. And will be up to 2041. They had some butter listed in parts of the visible list (there are classified and non-classified stuff on it)... so we have to guess. My guess - the ship had transported problematic explosives and the torpedo caused them to explode. So the ship sank way faster as it should have. But also, the ship was not built good, because the torpedo caused a hole and with 18kn this caused MASSIVE structural damage on Lusitania.
Honestly, the fact that they still keep the cargo manifest secret despite it being over 100 years in the past AND despite already admitting that it indeed carried ammo, kinda confirms it had more aboard than .303s
@@steffenjonda8283 Didn't help that the ship was basically used as bait. Churchill was recorded musing that it "wouldn't be a bad thing" if the Germans attacked it and the fact it was used "secretely" to transport munitions was leaked to the Germans, who upon learning this warned that they would attack any and all ships that entered the warzone, civilian or otherwise. Doesn't pain the brits in a very nice light. Best case they were using the thousands of civilians as unwitting human shields for their military supply runs. Worst case, they were used as sacrifices to create negative propaganda against the Germans.
The inaccuracies of this video are just too overwhelming. Even the German captain, if his logs are accurate, didn't think he could sink the Lusitania with one torpedo. Minutes after the torpedo exploded there was a much larger explosion, possibly due to the munitions that were carrying.
Exactly. The secondary explosion sank her, not the torpedo.
Tremendous work guys thank you.
This was a well made video. Well done!