| CSM Lou Verdon DCM Diary (All rights reserved by Cliff Grenfell. Not to be reproduced in whole, or in part, without permission. Contact the webmaster for more information)
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| May 1915
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| Saturday, May 1st |
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| Sunday, May 2nd |
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| Monday, May 3rd |
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| Tuesday, May 4th |
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| Wednesday, May 5th |
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| Thursday, May 6th |
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| Friday, May 7th |
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| Saturday, May 8th |
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| Sunday, May 9th |
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| Monday, May 10th |
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| Tuesday, May 11th |
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| Wednesday, May 12th |
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| Thursday, May 13th |
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| Friday, May 14th |
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| Saturday, May 15th |
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| Sunday, May 16th |
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| Monday, May 17th |
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| Tuesday, May 18th |
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Wednesday, |
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| Thursday, May 20th |
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| Friday, May 21st |
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| Saturday, May 22nd |
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| Sunday, May 23rd |
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| Monday, May 24th |
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| Tuesday, May 25th |
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| Wednesday, May 26th |
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| Thursday, May 27th |
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| Friday, May 28th |
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| Saturday, May 29th |
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| Sunday, May 30th |
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| Monday, May 31st |
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| Notes |
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| On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania took a solid hit whose sound was described by passengers as a "peal of thunder," a "dull thud-like sound," or "like a million-ton hammer hitting a steel boiler a hundred feet high and a hundred feet long" (Hickey and Smith 184-185). Though they did not explode, water rushed into the first and second boiler rooms and caused the boat to shake from side to side. She then rose a little before a second massive explosion took her down into the sea. The exact cause of the second explosion is a point of contention. The Lusitania shows evidence that she may have been torpedoed a second or even a third time - but the second, most destructive, explosion may not have been caused by a German torpedo, but rather may have come from inside the ship. The reason behind this speculation is that the Lusitania's cargo can be called into question. She had originally said she would take, along with her passengers, platinum, bullion, diamonds and various other precious stones, but these things were never found and port records do not list them either. She is believed to have instead carried, under the guise of bales of fur and cheese boxes, 3-inch shells and millions of rounds of rifle ammunition. If true, these materials comprised "a contraband and explosive cargo which was forbidden by American law and... should never have been placed on a passenger liner" (Simpson 157-158). Whether the torpedoes completed the destruction of the ship by their own power or they were aided by internal ammunition explosions, the German submarine attack devastated the Lusitania. The ship sank within twenty minutes of when she was hit and took with her 1,201 people - and left only 764 to be saved by those who responded to her SOS (Simpson 9). Many American lives were lost as a result of the sinking, and because the Lusitania was never officially in government service, the United States believed the attack on her "was contrary to international law and the conventions of all civilized nations" (Simpson 8-9). The sinking of the Lusitania caused serious tension between the United States and Germany. Though those tensions were in a large part resolved over time, the sinking of the Lusitania still stands out in history because it was the single most dramatic incident in the conflicts over German submarine warfare in World War I After the loss of the Lusitania in May 1915 the Mauretania was required to return to service. Before it did, however, the Admiralty requisitioned the ship to transport troops during the Gallipoli campaign, later in May. During this period the ship made several voyages to Mudros Bay island of Lemnos, the Allied base for operations in the area. On one of these voyages the Mauretania was attacked by a submarine but managed to avoid the torpedo, largely due the ship's high speed |
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