0:00:01 > 0:00:10Now on BBC News: Our World.
0:00:16 > 0:00:23It was a tragedy that should never have happened.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27It was the first time that war had left land and had affected
0:00:27 > 0:00:39the ordinary common man and woman.
0:00:39 > 0:00:52There has always been a question of what caused the second explosion.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53It must have been very frightening, really.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58A century on, it's still felt as a kind of horrific, horrific act.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59There was great anti-German feeling.
0:00:59 > 0:01:38Many felt, now, this was an enemy that has got to be stopped.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39# All aboard!
0:01:39 > 0:01:40# All aboard!
0:01:40 > 0:01:42# Last call now for those going abroad!
0:01:42 > 0:01:46# They people were ordinary people like ourselves.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Some were on board because they thought it was their duty to
0:01:49 > 0:01:51come back and fight in the war.
0:01:51 > 0:02:03They all have a different story.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06If they were going to travel on any ship across the Atlantic,
0:02:06 > 0:02:21the Lusitania was particularly a safe bet.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26# Last call now for those going abroad!
0:02:26 > 0:02:32Fast, luxurious, and consumed by a century of mystery.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34The Lusitania was the super liner of her day.
0:02:34 > 0:02:50But why was she targeted, and why did she sink so quickly?
0:02:50 > 0:02:52There was no alternative for getting from America over to Britain.
0:02:52 > 0:03:01That was the only option.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04It was 1915, the Lusitania was about to leave New York for Liverpool,
0:03:04 > 0:03:13the passenger ship supposedly safe from German U-boats.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Up until the sinking of the Lusitania, there had not been any
0:03:16 > 0:03:18passenger liners that had been sunk.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21There was a threat made, but many people thought it was an idle
0:03:21 > 0:03:27threat, because the Germans had not carried out on any of these threats.
0:03:27 > 0:03:41But German U-boat tactics were about to change.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43We know that the Germans put advertisements in New York
0:03:43 > 0:03:46newspapers before the ship left, warning people not to get on the
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Lusitania, that it was carrying arms which were against the laws of the
0:03:49 > 0:03:52sea at the time, and therefore the ship was subject
0:03:52 > 0:03:55to attack. They got on board and they must have been worried,
0:03:55 > 0:04:11some of them, but they sailed.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12It was May 1st.
0:04:12 > 0:04:23For those who boarded, the final journey was about to begin.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25# They called it the Greyhound of the Sea.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27# The biggest, fastest ship of her day.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30# For her speed, size and power, 25 knots an hour.
0:04:30 > 0:04:53# She was known as the Greyhound of the Sea.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54With 2,000 passengers and crew on board,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56most of the journey was uneventful.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58But as she neared Ireland, the British Admiralty began issuing
0:04:59 > 0:04:59U-boat warnings.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Passengers were told not to light their cigarettes on deck for fear
0:05:02 > 0:05:04of being seen by the U-boats.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08They heard the rumours that they were going to be torpedoed, but the
0:05:08 > 0:05:11crew were not afraid, because they did not believe it, they thought
0:05:11 > 0:05:26the ship was too fast and too modern and nothing could catch it.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27The following morning, the Admiralty sent this.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30But it seems what the Lusitania's Captain William Turner did not
0:05:30 > 0:05:33know was that the Admiralty would not or could not be more specific.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36It did not want to reveal it had broken German naval codes.
0:05:36 > 0:06:24Turner doubled the lookout.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27There had been thick fog, but by lunchtime, it had cleared,
0:06:27 > 0:06:28it was a lovely spring morning.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Another message arrived shortly after.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32The south-east coast of Ireland was sighted.
0:06:32 > 0:06:46Turner thought the fog had saved them.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48The ship came closer inland and changed direction.
0:06:48 > 0:07:03Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by U-boat U-20.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05This is U-20, a German attack submarine.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07It was captained by Walther Schwieger, an ambitious 30-year-old
0:07:07 > 0:07:18veteran of submarine warfare.
0:07:18 > 0:07:25At 2:09pm, he gave the order to fire one torpedo.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27There is no footage of the actual attack.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29What followed was later recreated in this extraordinary 1918 animated
0:07:29 > 0:07:30film.
0:07:30 > 0:07:47The torpedo made a huge explosion.
0:07:47 > 0:07:55Clear bow shot at 700 metres.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57The German U-boat commander was watching,
0:07:57 > 0:08:03he made a note in his logbook.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Shot struck starboard side close behind the bridge.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06An extraordinarily heavy detonation followed,
0:08:06 > 0:08:19with a very large cloud of smoke.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Billy Burrows was 15, he was the ship's bellboy.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24He was three floors down in the washroom, I believe.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27He heard this explosion, and all the lights went out.
0:08:27 > 0:08:37Robert Leith was the Lusitania's wireless operator.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40When the torpedo hit, my grandfather was in the dining room.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42I think it was the second-class dining room.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43He immediately went to the wireless-operator room
0:08:43 > 0:08:55and started sending SOS messages.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59The ship was going too fast for the crew to launch some lifeboats.
0:08:59 > 0:09:06Then, there was a second explosion.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07One that has never been fully explained.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Fred Russell was a waiter in first class.
0:09:09 > 0:09:20He later wrote about the chaos.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23I helped to lower one boat on the port side, you could do
0:09:23 > 0:09:26nothing on the starboard, she had such a list, and not
0:09:26 > 0:09:29fancying staying too long, I went down to the lower deck, thinking to
0:09:29 > 0:09:33chance my luck and jump for it.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Able seaman Joseph Parry was among the crew members who scrambled
0:09:35 > 0:09:45to rescue passengers.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47The lifeboat snagged and did not end up in the water.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51The next thing, he was thrown into the water with the ship tilting.
0:09:51 > 0:10:04I am told by my mother that one of the people he pulled out
0:10:04 > 0:10:07of the water was a lady who he pulled out by her hair.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10The radio operator, Robert Leith, kept sending SOS messages
0:10:10 > 0:10:18as water rose above his feet.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21The power failed and there was some sort of emergency
0:10:21 > 0:10:22back-up that he was able to use.
0:10:22 > 0:10:37And I gather, really, he stayed until the very last minute.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40The 15-year-old bellboy, Billy Burrows, waded into a life raft.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42He pulled quite a few people into the boat, even
0:10:42 > 0:10:44though the boat was full already.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47They got to about 50 yards out, and they heard this whoosh
0:10:47 > 0:11:27and the ship upended and sank.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It took just 18 minutes for the Lusitania to go down here, some 11
0:11:31 > 0:11:32miles of the Old Head of Kinsale.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Those who managed to get their life jackets on lasted two or
0:11:35 > 0:11:37three hours in the water.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39But those that didn't, or couldn't, only survived a few minutes
0:11:39 > 0:11:47in the freezing Atlantic.
0:11:47 > 0:11:59IRISH FIDDLE MUSIC.
0:11:59 > 0:12:08More than half the 2000 people on board the Lusitania were killed.
0:12:08 > 0:12:22There was a rescue operation.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23The lifeboat crew from Courtmacsherry rowed
0:12:23 > 0:12:30from 11 miles away.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32It took three hours, because it was six o'clock, you can see.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Brian O'Donovan's great granduncle, Timothy Keohane,
0:12:34 > 0:12:46was skipper of the lifeboat.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47His logbook recalls every detail.
0:12:47 > 0:12:53But they simply couldn't get there in time.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56If they'd had a bit of wind on the night they probably would
0:12:56 > 0:13:00have felt they could have got there sooner, and might have been able to
0:13:00 > 0:13:01save some souls.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04But I suppose it is a big thing, too, to even be able to recover
0:13:04 > 0:13:06bodies, for the families' sake.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Survivors who reached shore wandered around Cobh and other towns,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11dazed by what had happened.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13But as Ireland reeled from the tragedy, information filtered
0:13:13 > 0:13:20back to Britain much more slowly.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23With no television or radio it took hours for news of the
0:13:23 > 0:13:26disaster to reach the Lusitania's home port here in Liverpool.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29But when the details of the tragedy did emerge, it was met by a
0:13:29 > 0:13:36combination of anger and revulsion.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39I've come here today to see the exhibition.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Liverpool's Maritime Museum has captured the city's stunned reaction
0:13:41 > 0:13:43in the family accounts from people like David Knowles.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46His grandfather, Joseph Parry, was an able seaman on board.
0:13:46 > 0:14:00He helped save many lives.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04He saved a lady and her baby, and in the lifeboat, at one stage, she
0:14:04 > 0:14:07was so grateful that she gave my grandfather one of the shoes of the
0:14:07 > 0:14:10baby, which he obviously treasured, because it came ashore, it was
0:14:10 > 0:14:13passed down through the family once he was on land again.
0:14:13 > 0:14:20And he inscribed it, underneath, with "Lusitania 1915."
0:14:20 > 0:14:24And I think the words "Lest we forget."
0:14:24 > 0:14:26So he obviously treasured that, and since then,
0:14:26 > 0:14:31we have treasured it as a family.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Fred Russell, the first-class waiter, also survived.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39And in letters now in the museum, he spoke of his relief at escaping
0:14:39 > 0:14:41and making it back to Liverpool,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45to the relief of his family.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Uncle Fred came home, but there were a lot of families who probably
0:14:48 > 0:14:55suffered greatly because they had lost their income, you know?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57They have lost their family member, and they probably suffered greatly
0:14:57 > 0:15:04after that.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09But hundreds of other families didn't get good news.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Norman Ross' grandfather had been a barkeeper on the ship,
0:15:12 > 0:15:19but Henry Ross was never found, despite the yearnings of his wife.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24He was such an excellent swimmer, according to my grandmother,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27that she really didn't think - she thought if anyone was going to
0:15:27 > 0:15:31be a survivor, he would.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34And she was always of the opinion that he may have lost his memory,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37a knock on the head, and could perhaps be somewhere in Ireland.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42And so people went out to look for him.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44And what happened?
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Well, he was never found.
0:15:47 > 0:15:54There was no body found.
0:15:54 > 0:16:06Communities on both sides of the Irish Sea went into mourning,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10grief that is to this day re-enacted by groups like these in Ireland,
0:16:10 > 0:16:17where they were convulsed by the news.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Most simply couldn't believe that a civilian ship had been targeted
0:16:21 > 0:16:25with such callousness.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29We moved into an area of almost kind of total war, where civilians were
0:16:29 > 0:16:32seen as potentially legitimate.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38It was still kind of a learning process, a journey into the unknown
0:16:38 > 0:16:42for the crews and passengers during the First World War.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45The small Irish town of Cobh struggled to deal with so many dead.
0:16:45 > 0:16:51The world had never seen civilians attacked like this in war before.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55100 years on, those graves are still tended to, victims
0:16:55 > 0:16:58of a tragedy that didn't distinguish between age, class or nationality.
0:16:58 > 0:17:16More than 120 children died.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Just over 120 Americans lost their lives, and nearly 200
0:17:18 > 0:17:24first-class passengers were killed.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25In all, just under 1200 civilians perished
0:17:25 > 0:17:27on the Lusitania in an act of war.
0:17:27 > 0:17:49The shock of the Lusitania was felt across Britain and America,
0:17:49 > 0:17:50which hadn't yet entered the war.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52It was overwhelmingly an attack on a civilian ship.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55I think those kind of men, women and children who were caught
0:17:55 > 0:17:59up in that attack, you know, the horror of that is still felt.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It was new at the time, but it still has that impact
0:18:02 > 0:18:03and resonance, a century on.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06It is still felt as a kind of horrific, horrific act.
0:18:06 > 0:18:15But within months, Britain was using the sinking
0:18:15 > 0:18:22in its propaganda war with Germany.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The author of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo, touches on this in
0:18:25 > 0:18:33his new book about the Lusitania.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35His wife Claire's family were among thousands who bought specially
0:18:35 > 0:18:37made medals issued soon after the disaster.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38And there's the medal,
0:18:38 > 0:19:07where she found it, aged seven.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10The medals were exact copies of ones released in Germany,
0:19:10 > 0:19:11gloating about the tragedy.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13The British cleverly turned this triumphalist sentiment on its head,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16and issued 300,000 of their own, to show the public how barbaric
0:19:16 > 0:19:17Germany was.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18The effect, I think, clearly worked.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20For months afterwards there was great anti-German feeling.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Up until that time this notion that somehow everyone was very happy to
0:19:23 > 0:19:26go off and join this war, there were plenty
0:19:26 > 0:19:29of people who were, but there were also plenty of people who were not.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Many of those now felt, "This is an enemy that has got to be stopped."
0:19:33 > 0:19:36100 years on, the Lusitania now lies in 90 metres of water,
0:19:36 > 0:19:37a mass of encrusted wreckage.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40But what has never been fully answered is whether she was
0:19:40 > 0:19:43a legitimate target, and why did she sink in just 18 minutes?
0:19:43 > 0:19:46For nearly 50 years, the wreck has been owned by this
0:19:46 > 0:19:47American businessman, Gregg Bemis.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Intrigued by the tragedy, he has always wanted answers to
0:19:49 > 0:19:50those questions.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52He has spent millions on diving operations to find out.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55He is now convinced the British government was secretly using
0:19:55 > 0:20:05passenger liners like the Lusitania to carrying munitions
0:20:05 > 0:20:06for the war effort.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08And it was these, not the ship's boiler, that caused
0:20:08 > 0:20:14the second devastating explosion.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17There is no question in my mind that there were explosives on board.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Whether the explosives were gunpowder or
0:20:19 > 0:20:21whether they were the shrapnel shells which were supposedly not
0:20:21 > 0:20:24charged, but in fact were, whatever it was, it was certainly a
0:20:24 > 0:20:34violent reaction when it went off.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36The explosives theory is controversial, because there
0:20:36 > 0:20:37is no clear evidence yet.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39But Gregg Bemis goes further.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42He says she was also laden with millions of rounds of ammunition,
0:20:42 > 0:20:42including these bullets.
0:20:42 > 0:20:58A deadly cargo completely unknown to the passengers.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00If the British and American authorities were responsible
0:21:00 > 0:21:03for putting high explosives on board a passenger ship, I think
0:21:03 > 0:21:04it should be recorded as such.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06It shouldn't be left to the imagination of people,
0:21:06 > 0:21:14it should be yes or no.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Now, a century on, the British Foreign Office has made
0:21:16 > 0:21:17this limited admission.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20"Successive British governments have always maintained that there
0:21:20 > 0:21:22was no munitions on board the Lusitania, and that
0:21:22 > 0:21:25the Germans were therefore in the wrong to claim to the contrary
0:21:25 > 0:21:30as an excuse the sinking ship.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34The facts are that there is a large amount of ammunition in the wreck."
0:21:34 > 0:21:37For increasing numbers of historians,
0:21:37 > 0:21:56that admission suggests the Lusitania was a legitimate target.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58I think there are several people to blame here.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00The German submarine commander has to take responsibility
0:22:00 > 0:22:03for the death of 1200 civilians, but so too must the Admiralty
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and the British government for introducing civilians into the mix,
0:22:06 > 0:22:07by using civilian vessels for military purposes.
0:22:07 > 0:22:13But getting proof of the munitions to the surface has been impossible.
0:22:13 > 0:22:28One problem is the wreck is disintegrating.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30You have the trauma that she experienced at
0:22:30 > 0:22:33the time of her sinking, the first torpedo, the second explosion.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36It's like going into a crime scene 100 years later.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37Can you find that evidence you're looking for?
0:22:37 > 0:22:54We don't know, but we have to have a good attempt at trying.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56But there is another problem.
0:22:56 > 0:22:57Ireland's president, Michael Higgins, is
0:22:57 > 0:23:13among those who say the wreck should be left untouched as a war grave.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15It was, if you like, to assure respect.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17It also was to enable such investigation to take place
0:23:17 > 0:23:19in a regulated and a responsive environment.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21# They say its darkest before the dawn.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23# This thought keeps us moving on. #
0:23:23 > 0:23:26So for now, the Lusitania must be recalled in other ways.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28# We should make port before the morning. #
0:23:28 > 0:23:36In songs and stories passed down through generations.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40# We should make port before the morning. #
0:23:40 > 0:23:43And for victims and descendants, the once opulent Lusitania has now
0:23:43 > 0:23:45journeyed into history as a liner shrouded in grief,
0:23:45 > 0:23:51memories and secrets.
0:23:51 > 0:24:09# We will make port before the morning. #
0:24:09 > 0:24:15It was a tragedy that should never have happened.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17She was so affectionately regarded in Liverpool.
0:24:17 > 0:24:25She was Lucy to the people here.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27War, now, is completely universal in its destruction, and this was,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30in a way, the first sign of that.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33When there has been a mass loss of life like this, I think people
0:24:33 > 0:24:46should always remember.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17After lots of showers to start the weekend,
0:25:17 > 0:25:18the second part of the weekend