Book Review

February 24, 2016 — This is my first attempt at a book review, but I was so captivated by this particular book that I felt compelled to write down my impressions of it. The book is Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson.

The fate of the Lusitania is well-known to most of us. The luxurious British ocean liner, world’s largest passenger ship in her day, on a voyage from New York to Liverpool, England, was sunk by a German torpedo off the coast of Ireland in 1915.  Over one thousand lives were lost, more than one hundred of them Americans. But knowing how it ends takes nothing away from the gripping suspense of Larson’s narrative. Thanks to the meticulous record-keeping of American and British authorities, ship’s logs and writings of survivors and witnesses, the book reads like a novel with intimate detail and deep insight into the personalities and mindsets of those involved.

Larson describes events leading up to World War I, introduces us to many of those involved in the drama, from passengers to various American and British officials, and key players such as William Turner, captain of the Lusitania, who remained on the bridge until the ship sank beneath the waves. He survived. There was the highly skilled, determined, ruthless U-boat captain, Walther Schwieger, who was credited with sinking a total of 190,000 tons of shipping, of which the Lusitania comprised about 16 per cent. And of course, President Woodrow Wilson, who kept America out of the war until 1917, while grief over his wife’s death over-shadowed some of the most difficult decisions an American president has had to make.

In many ways, the tragedy was unnecessary. The Lusitania expected an escort by the Royal Navy as it neared Liverpool. It didn’t get one. Schwieger’s U-boat had already sunk three ships and was known to be still patrolling waters in the Lusitania’s path, but this information was never relayed to Captain Turner. Schwieger, low on fuel  and with only three torpedoes left after his patrol of the North Atlantic, was headed for home port when he had his historic meeting with the Lusitania.

Larson’s description of the devastation and terror following the torpedo hit is so vivid it’s gut-wrenching to read. The Lusitania listed so badly and quickly, lifeboats had trouble launching. Some were upended, dumping forty or more passengers into the sea. Others, fully loaded, smashed against the side of the ship, killing some passengers instantly. Many didn’t know how to wear their life jackets correctly and were held head-first under water and drowned. Some were thrown into the water with no life jackets. There were many acts of heroism and sacrifice.

One particularly heart-breaking experience was that of seven-year-old Robert Kay. He had spent most of the trip in quarantine with measles. His mother, in the late stages of pregnancy, tried to carry him to a life boat, holding him close as they were thrown into the sea. They became separated and he never saw his mother again. Someone reported seeing a woman giving birth in the water. The possibility the woman could have been his mother haunted Robert the rest of his life.

It was three hours before rescue ships arrived. Many, floating in their life jackets, died of hypothermia in the 55-degree water. Of the nearly two thousand passengers, less than eight hundred survived. Six hundred were never found. Out of thirty-three infants aboard, six survived.

In the final chapters, Larson follows up with stories of the lives of the survivors in the years following the attack. A tireless researcher and master story-teller, Larson has written a remarkably thorough accounting of one of wartime's great tragedies.