Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Eric Larson has done it again, this time with Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. This is a nonfiction work in which he has carefully documented lots of information about all of the main players in the story of the sinking of this British vessel in May 1915, with many Americans on board, which was a crucial event in America’s entry into World War I in April 1917. The Lusitania was a magnificent ship which had already completed 201 crossings of the Atlantic before it was sunk. Larson also captured the details of the geopolitical era that helped explain why this was such an important event.

The career of Captain William Turner was well documented, both before and after the sinking of the Lusitania, but it was not the last vessel that sunk under Turner during the war. The Captain of the submarine that fired the one torpedo that sunk the Lusitania was Kptlt. Walther Schwieger, and his career was also thoroughly detailed, before and after this event. He was a hero in Germany for this action, was put in charge of an even bigger submarine, and continued to sink ships until he was chased into a mine field where everyone aboard his ship was killed. Churchill played an important role throughout the book since he was First Lord of the Admiralty during WWI, and for reasons that were never explained, he tried to blame this disaster on Turner, who successfully was found to have been competent by the Admiralty’s investigation. Woodrow Wilson also played an important role in the story as he worked to keep America out of the war. During this same time, as he mourned the passing of his first wife, Wilson began dating Edith Galt who turned down his first proposal of marriage until she relented to Wilson’s persistence.

Larson captured the action of the day-to-day movements of the Lusitania and U-20 until they met just off the coast of Ireland. It was fateful – so many things could have kept this encounter from happening. Interestingly, the day before the Lusitania sailed from New York, The Germany Embassy published a warning in the New York Times that all ships that entered the war zone around England, including passenger vessels were at risk. But, no one believed the Germans would actually do it, and they thought the Lusitania would easily outrun any attempt by a U-boat to sink it. Did Churchill purposely leave the Lusitania unprotected because he was so eager for America to officially enter the war?

I’ve always found the pre-WWI and WWI period of history to be fascinating, so I’m glad I read this one. At times, the book was a bit tedious, especially with regard to information about the passengers, but this is a definitive work about the Lusitania, and it’s a must read for any fan of the era.