Lusitania peeve

[Lucy Burkhill]

Hi,

There's been plenty of Titanic peeves, however, I have a Lusitania one here.

Here is yet another example of inaccurate research on the subject of ocean liners by the tabloid press:

Today's (Fri 2nd June 2006) copy of the UK newspaper Daily Express has a two-page article about the Lusitania. The article is intended to commemorate the centenary of the liner's launch. It gives the gist of the liner's fate and is reasonably accurate (by tabloid standards).

However-

The writer has got the wrong week for the launch- it states it was a century ago this week, when it was of course, next week (7th June, according to my copy of Mark Warren's Lusitania book.
The article's title itself appears misleading, stating that the sinking was the "Tragedy of the world's biggest ship", which could be read as though the Lusitania was the world's largest ship when she sank, which we all know was untrue!

But here's the real howler!!!

It states that "one of the ship's four boilers were taken out of service"!!!

Don't think that the Lucy would have ever got very far on only four boilers, unless they were four very BIG boilers!!!!

All the best,
Lucy

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Too bad. If he had mentioned that one of the boiler rooms was not in service at the time, he would have got that part right.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

....and if he had specified "largest passenger ship remaining in regular service at the time of her destruction" he could have saved himself some embarrassment.

 

[Martin Owen Cahill]

Don't forget we are talking Tabloids here;
the fourth estate's insult to the working class.

martin

 

[George L. Lorton]

They didn't call it YELLOW journalism back in the day for nothing. It seems nothing has really changed much. I feel for relatives back when the ship was torpedoed. Some of the poorer ones went right for those little gems( News Paper yeah right) to see if they could find out what their relatives went through only to have to deal with a journalist who doesn't know much who is going to invent what he doesn't know to sell papers. Rich people called it Yellow Journalism poor people called them rags or rubbish which was what a lot of them printed. I guess that's my pet peeve on the Lusitania. Gotta make $$$$ some how. How do you think Mr.Hearst got so rich.