"Everything that was possible to do was done by the crew to reach the wreck in time to save life but as we had no wind it took s a long time to pull the ten or twelve mils out from the boathouse which we had to go. If we had wind or any motor power our boat would have been amongst the first on the scene. It was a harrowing sight to witness, the sea was strewn with dead bodies floating about, some with lifebelts on, others holding on to pieces of rafts, all dead. I deeply regret it was not in our power to have been in time to save some."
So wrote Rev. Forde in an official report to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution following the sinking of the Lusitania. She was the pride of the Cunard fleet, a ship of immense proportions and capable of great speed. Carrying 1,959 passengers she left New York on May 1st, 1915, bound for Liverpool. They were dangerous times and these were dangerous waters, where U-Boats were active.
At 2.10pm U.20, commanded by 30-year-old Walter Schweiger, fired a single torpedo. There was an explosion on board the Lusitania, immediately followed by a second louder one. The proud ship listed quickly and 18 minutes later she sank. The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat, The Kezia Gwilt met the Queenstown lifeboat, James Stephens No. 20 at the scene of carnage at about 6pm, 4 hours too late for nearly 1,200 people.
Last Updated: June 09, 1999