Anniversaries 2002-present

Hi Senan,

Your abridged articles above regarding the Old Head of Kinsale and the legal position with the wreck are pretty accurate. There are one or two small points we could argue on, but they are so small, and this thread is not about land ownership or the present legal positions, that we will not start something which might muddy the waters and confuse others.

Discussions such as those are best left to a cold , wet, Irish, winters day. Sitting on a high stool at the counter of a quiet bar with a roaring fire, and a few pints of Guinness, and nobody in any hurry to go any place.

With regard to a Lusitania Museum, there was a plan some years ago, in fact I was on the committee at the time, to renovate the old Signal Tower which stands behind the current Lusitania Memorial at the Old Head, and house a local and maritime museum there. Items from the Lusitania were to form a large part of the display. I will enquire in to the present position, but I know the site is owned by the Department of the Marine, and they are particularly slow in making any decisions about anything. I suspect that is where the whole project lies.

Regards,

Peter
 
There are lots of artifacts that could go in a dedicated Lusitania visitor centre:

96321
 
Is there anything planned to mark the anniversary tomorrow in the UK?
Today is the Hindenberg 69th anniversary in Lakehurst and the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society will have its usual memorial at 7:25 p.m. plus a grand opening of a new ready room exhibit.

Anniversaries 2002-present

Hi Senan, Mike, & Martin, It was indeed a lovely day, and all commented on the similarity of the weather conditions today and the day of the sinking. The organising committee really did a tremendous job arranging everything, which was executed in a very tasteful and orderly manner. The...
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org www.encyclopedia-titanica.org
There is a Viacom video out called Hindenberg: Titanic of the Sky.
 
Sorry- its Vidicom- there is a short video clip at the site
vidicom-tv.com/tohiburg.htm
 
There is nothing that I know of in the Royaume-Uni, Shelley. Nothing last year, which was the big one.

But this year, as every year, the Courtmacsherry lifeboat will go out and the Irish Naval Service will have a vessel on station, and they will cast a wreath on the waters, fire a signal and play the last post and reveille.

On land there will be a small commemoration at the Old Head of Kinsale memorial. And there will be a wreath-laying at the Lusitania graves in Cobh, including one from the Royal British Legion.

Today is the 124th Anniversary of the Phoenix Park murders, and I am on my way there to lay a few flowers in the next few minutes.

Yesterday I received a huge collection of original bound 1915 copies of the Daily Mirror and seeing the Lusitania coverage in the context of several months gave an immediate and chilling sense of its impact.
 
Hi all,

I presume that there will the traditional wreath laying ceremony at the Lusitania propeller at Liverpool Docks.

Unfortunately I will be unable to attend the ceremony at the Old Head this year, but I will be in Liverpool next week and will visit the Lusitania propeller at some point.
 
Left flowers at the grave of survivor Francis Bertram Jenkins on my way home from work. Mr. Jenkins suffered from what seems to have been severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (he was thrown from one of the lifeboats that overturned in launching) and he and his family relocated to my home county in New York where it was hoped he'd "return to normal." He survived here less than a year before contracting pneumonia while doing some early spring gardening, and dying, in 1922.
 
Mike,

The propeller is indeed deteriorating, mostly, I'm afraid, due to the increasing numbers of moronic tourists who think it their right to chip a piece off. I could never understand the logic of leaving it out in the open when it could have been safely housed in one of the nearby exhibition sheds.

Geoff
 
It's sad to learn of the current state of Lusitania's propellor. That's the problem of exhibiting things like this out in the open. As well as disrespectful tourists chipping away at it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it had been also defaced with grafitti by the local yobs. I have been to Liverpool but did not get the chance to visit the Maritime Museum. Sounds like I'd better go before the propellor disappears. Let's hope that the museum sees sense and moves it to safety indoors.

Lucy
 
The staff of the Merseyside Maritime Museum that I've worked with in a professional capacity are brilliant - they're active in both the preservation and interpretation of local maritime history and also in the international maritime history community.

If I get a chance, I'll see if I can find out what the back-story is to the current condition of the Lusitania propellor (which other BTS convention attendees and I were commenting on when we took those recent photos - I'll post another one in this thread when I'm with my photo disk). If I can, I'll see if there's an object management plan in place, and what the future holds for this important artifact.

Conservation of objects displayed outdoors in a public setting is an extremely difficult long-term project - as Geoff highlights, not only are the elements unkind (particularly in a corrosive environment), lumpish gawkers are even less respectful.
 
Hi all,

Rather than start a new thread, I decided to continue on with this one.

Later today, as in previous years, a group will gather at the Old Head of Kinsale for the annual wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the sinking of the Lusitania.

On this, the 94th anniversary, only one known survivor of the sinking is known to be alive, but the memories of those who survived, and have since passed on, as well as all those who perished on that fateful day, are kept alive by their descendants, and we, the contributors to this site, and many other sites, who debate and argue over various points concerning the construction, working life, and loss of this fascinating and majestic ocean liner.

Let us all remember this day, in 1915, when a great tragedy occurred but a short distance from the Old Head of Kinsale on the south coast of Ireland. Let us remember all those who were lost, and saved, and let us also remember the rescuers who ventured out in dangerous waters, not knowing if they would suffer a similar fate as a result of their vessels being struck by gunfire or torpedo. Let us also remember the ordinary folk along the coastline who searched for survivors, and victims, in the aftermath, and especially the townspeople of Queenstown (now Cobh), Kinsale, and the greater Cork area who rendered aid to those who survived, comforted those who had lost, nursed those who had suffered injury, and provided food and shelter to all, regardless of station or class.

Let us not debate or argue today, any aspect concerning the Lusitania, but rather let us remember and honour all those on board her final voyage, who lived or died, and also the countless, nameless others, who assisted in the aftermath.

All were heroes, and deserve to be remembered as such, and let us each remember them in our own, personal way.

Today, in their memory......
 
94 years ago today the liner Lusitania was struck by a torpedo, i only realised this half way through the day when i was looking at the headlines on wikipedia.org, just before my penultimate lesson of the day (because i still go to school), i told my friend about the anniversary and he laughed sarcastically. i felt like punching him in the face, so i said, "so, you think it's funny that 1200 people died a death that they didn't deserve", the smile went from his face and he went silent. i said "exactly, so shut it!", anyway did anyone else remember this as late as i did?
 
I left flowers for F.B. Jenkins this afternoon. He died here in my hometown, where his family moved him, hoping to alleviate his severe post-traumatic stress. (He got pneumonia gardening, and died after less than a year here. The magic that permeates my hometown was present even then)

Here's the weird part. Perhaps a sign, if you are in to that sort of thing. The sun came out today for about 30 seconds, during which time what seemed to be a double rainbow was visible over the house in which Mr. Jenkins died back in 1922. Read into that what you will.....

And let us not forget our good friend Barbara McDermott, who 'beat the odds' by her last-minute escape in boat #15, on this day in 1915. Almost none of the under-five-year-olds aboard the ship lived...the next 93 years of her life were determined by her mother being in just the right spot at the right time, and by Assistant Purser Harkness getting them into the boat a minute or two before the water washed on to the boat deck. She has been gone a year and a month, but will remain alive as long as any of us who knew her retain our fond memories.
 
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