Real-Time Lusitania Sinking

[Cam Houseman]

Robert Ballard took pictures of the "Lusitania" in the 80's or early 90's. There are a few poor B&W images of the ship taken by investigating divers without British permission in the mid-60's. You'll have to do some substantial library digging for the books in which they appeared.

Hi!
Thanks for the Hint Any books that you think they were in?

 

[PRR5406]

Isn't the wreck owner a man named "Light"? That's the only lead I can think of. Those photos won't give you much to go on considering the technology of the day. Ballard's images are the most clear.
There's one of a bath tub with shower, standing in the deep by itself. I should think it should be retrieved for preservation, as it says something about the nature of the ship, what it was constructed to do, not to mention the huge loss of human life.

 

[Cam Houseman]

Isn't the wreck owner a man named "Light"? That's the only lead I can think of. Those photos won't give you much to go on considering the technology of the day. Ballard's images are the most clear.
There's one of a bath tub with shower, standing in the deep by itself. I should think it should be retrieved for preservation, as it says something about the nature of the ship, what it was constructed to do, not to mention the huge loss of human life.

Hmmm, someone already bought Lusitania after Mr. Bemis passed? I think the documentary you're thinking of is the 90s "Last Voyage of the Lusitania." What a good documentary. sad anyway, I'd still be interested to see them. We should hunt together! Remember the names of the books?

 

[Matthew Quayle]

I went to watch the video, (I have it on my Watch Later, so I can see it even if it's unlisted) and lo and behold, it has been made private.

@Itsstillthinking, please don't keep it on private forever, this video is a valuable learning tool in understanding our understanding on the sinking at the time! I'm sure you've got some agreement with H&G about public releases, but surely it could merely stay unlisted?

 

[Seumas]

Isn't the wreck owner a man named "Light"? That's the only lead I can think of. Those photos won't give you much to go on considering the technology of the day. Ballard's images are the most clear.
There's one of a bath tub with shower, standing in the deep by itself. I should think it should be retrieved for preservation, as it says something about the nature of the ship, what it was constructed to do, not to mention the huge loss of human life.

John Light did own the wreck for a number of years but he died in 1992.

His widow did make an unsuccessful claim to the wrecks ownership a couple of years later but subsequently dropped it.

Unfortunately, he fanned the flames of the ridiculous "explosive cargo" conspiracy and sometimes veered into outright nasty Anglophobia with his public statements.

Robert Ballard took pictures of the "Lusitania" in the 80's or early 90's. There are a few poor B&W images of the ship taken by investigating divers without British permission in the mid-60's. You'll have to do some substantial library digging for the books in which they appeared.

British permission would not have been needed to dive upon the wreck in the 1960s.

The wreck of RMS Lusitania was then and still is within the legal jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland.

 

[Cam Houseman]

John Light did own the wreck for a number of years but he died in 1992.

His widow did make an unsuccessful claim to the wrecks ownership a couple of years later but subsequently dropped it.

Unfortunately, he fanned the flames of the ridiculous "explosive cargo" conspiracy and sometimes veered into outright nasty Anglophobia with his public statements.



British permission would not have been needed to dive upon the wreck in the 1960s.

The wreck of RMS Lusitania was then and still is within the legal jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland.

A friend of mine is going to dive on Lusitania in the summer

 

[Seumas]

A friend of mine is going to dive on Lusitania in the summer

Cool.

To dive on the Lusitania shows your friend has guts. The strong underwater currents and the thick jungle of fishing nets snagged on the wreckage present serious challenges to all but the best (and bravest) divers.

Now is the time for top diving experts to get down there and film and photograph the wreck which (like the Titanic) is fast disintegrating.

There is a story in our family that in 1906 some of my ancestors witnessed the launch of the Lusitania into the River Clyde from the deck of a pleasure steamer.

 

[Cam Houseman]

Cool.

To dive on the Lusitania shows your friend has guts. The strong underwater currents and the thick jungle of fishing nets snagged on the wreckage present serious challenges to all but the best (and bravest) divers.

Now is the time for top diving experts to get down there and film and photograph the wreck which (like the Titanic) is fast disintegrating.

There is a story in our family that in 1906 some of my ancestors witnessed the launch of the Lusitania into the River Clyde from the deck of a pleasure steamer.

thanks! He's awesome.
I'd go to, but being 15 and all, lol.
Wow!! I think that's super cool your family got to see her launch!!

 

[Seumas]

thanks! He's awesome.
I'd go to, but being 15 and all, lol.
Wow!! I think that's super cool your family got to see her launch!!

Is the purpose of this dive for a documentary or a university backed research project ?

Cheers, though I have to admit in all honesty that a lot of families from the part of the world where I (and ET's very own Jim Currie) hail from have stories like that with the great Clyde built ships !

 

[Matthew Quayle]

I went to watch the video, (I have it on my Watch Later, so I can see it even if it's unlisted) and lo and behold, it has been made private.

@Itsstillthinking, please don't keep it on private forever, this video is a valuable learning tool in understanding our understanding on the sinking at the time! I'm sure you've got some agreement with H&G about public releases, but surely it could merely stay unlisted?

Update: I checked, and it's back to unlisted. Thank you so much!

 

[Cam Houseman]

Titanic Animations' Lusitania real time was GREAT!

 

[mbarnette]

There is a fair amount of underwater imagery of the wreck available, including some growing photogrammetry 3D models. Here is a quick little teaser from my dives to the wreck a few years ago, which included the authorized emergency recovery of an engine order telegraph.

 

[PRR5406]

Very nice video footage. I'd like to see everything they encountered on the wreck. There's quite a bit of recoverable hardware, all of which should be brought up and conserved for display.

 

[Cam Houseman]

Very nice video footage. I'd like to see everything they encountered on the wreck. There's quite a bit of recoverable hardware, all of which should be brought up and conserved for display.

the Titanic Archive Project posted some Lusitania footage as well

 

[Cam Houseman]

There is a fair amount of underwater imagery of the wreck available, including some growing photogrammetry 3D models. Here is a quick little teaser from my dives to the wreck a few years ago, which included the authorized emergency recovery of an engine order telegraph.

awesome, thanks for the link!

 

[mbarnette]

awesome, thanks for the link!

I have been meaning to do a longer video...it should be up in a few days...

 

[mbarnette]

Here is the longer video...

 

[PRR5406]

Wonderful film documentation. May I add, if her whistles have not yet been recovered, they should be. The window grating is another piece of the "Lucy" which should be recovered. There remain no corpses in that wreckage, and they certainly wouldn't object anyway. "Lusitania" is part of world history and belongs to history as a tangible artifact of World War 1 .

 

[Seumas]

Wonderful film documentation. May I add, if her whistles have not yet been recovered, they should be. The window grating is another piece of the "Lucy" which should be recovered. There remain no corpses in that wreckage, and they certainly wouldn't object anyway. "Lusitania" is part of world history and belongs to history as a tangible artifact of World War 1 .

One of the whistles has been brought up but I have no idea where it ended up.

Three of the propellers have also been brought up I think.

One was melted down and turned into golf balls. I'm not joking, bloody stupid golf balls. Ridiculous.

Of the two other props. One is in Dallas, Texas and the other where it rightfully belongs in Liverpool.

Why a prop should be in Dallas and not Clydebank where she is built does fairly annoy me a bit.