MYSTERY PHONE CALLS

[Michael Bezek]

On the night of May 6, 1915, a number of New York newspapers received anonymous phone calls inquiring whether the Lusitania had been sunk. Apparently these calls were traced to New Jersey and the New York suburbs. This has always been one of the more bizarre aspects of the Lusitania case that has intrigued me. Were the calls ever traced to any specific individuals? There were German agents lurking around in the New York area-could it have been some of them who made the calls? If so, what was the motive? Could the phone calls have been based upon an expectation, or even advance knowledge of what was to happen the following day?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Expectation or fog of war, perhaps nutcases, but I don't buy foreknowladge. While any number of parties may have been hoping the Lusitania would get whacked, the random element in all of this was the submarine which had to be in the right place at the right time, and this was something that couldn't be controlled. The U-20 simply lucked out in this regard.

 

[David F. Smith]

I agree. Even the Submarine Captain thought it was a lucky shot. He was even surprized that it sank with one hit. So I would think it impossible for a foreknowledge of a Sub nearby to be a guarantee of a sinking.

 

[William Graham]

Before he was to board the Lusitania,
author Justus Miles Forman received a phone call
from a person with a thick German accent
who warned him that if he boarded the Lusitania
it would be blown up! Who was the person
who called Justus Miles Forman

 

[Michael H. Standart]

The identity of the culprit is probably lost to history. Let's face it, whackjobs who make calls like that don't care to adverstise.