Seven Days to Disaster: The Sinking of the Lusitania.

by Des Hickey

Bound in genuine leather, from Easton Press. Collector's edition.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[David Allen Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many books on the 1915 Lusitania sinking, both older and newer, but I had never heard of this 1982 title until I came across in a used book sale, and I am glad I did, because it is one of the best accounts of the incident I have come across. Put succinctly, the British Lusitania was one of the largest, most luxurious ships of its time and in the early years of World War I, the British Navy used it to smuggle much needed munitions and ammunition from the United States to Great Britain, while carrying large levels of innocent passenger traffic. A German U-Boat came across the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland, and when the ship failed to take evasive action as it had been instructed by the British Navy, the Lusitania became an easy torpedo shot. The huge ship was only struck once, and its watertight compartments should have kept it afloat. Instead, the torpedo evidently detonated the shells hidden in the hold, causing a huge secondary explosion and much more damage. The captain tried to steer the ship onto the coast but the helm became unresponsive. When he tried to stop the ship, the ship's engines failed catastrophically and the ship kept moving until it sank just 18 minutes later even though the similar size Titanic with much more length damaged, stayed afloat for almost 3 hours after its iceberg collision.

What went wrong? Almost everything. The captain was simply oblivious to the dangers of war and even after passengers requested a live lifeboat drill, he failed to have one. His crew was not seasoned and even he later admitted they did not know how to handle the lifeboats, and the problem was made even worse by the Lusitania developing a severe list that swung one side's lifeboats inboard and the other side's outboard. Only a handful of the 48 lifeboats were launched without capsizing or sinking. The captain, despite having crossed the Atlantic hundreds of times, said he had to steer near the coast to find out where he was then went on a straight course even though the British Navy had told him to stay away from the coast, zig zag his course and keep speed up, which incredibly, he reduced.

The British Navy was equally at fault; they knew Lusitania was in danger, but did little, even calling back the Juno, an escort ship, back from being exposed to the danger they allowed the Lusitania to enter into. They even called her back a second time to not pick up survivors.

I think because this book was written in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the disaster was still in living memory, this account has a much more believable and immediate feel to it and is more detailed in the actual events than many recent books on the Lusitania. It is also very frank and presents all the warts of the disaster.

The book falls short only in 2 areas-- as other books relate, the Captain ultimately was exhonerated when the British Wreck Commissioner discovered the British Navy had lied during the hearing; in fact he later resigned over the matter. The book also gives very little mention to the now indisputable fact the Lusitania was carrying munitions that detonated and the fact that to this day the British Navy won't come clean on the matter. In fact for years afterwards the Navy used the wreck for bombing and depth charge practice, trying to destroy the evidence in the wreck and also even did some secret salvage. This part of the event is not in this otherwise excellent book.

But if you want a very good account of what happened to the Lusitania, well-written and written closer to the time of the sinking than now 105+ years hence, this book is a good read and I am sorry it is not better known today.

[Don LaFountaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book to read about the sinking of the Lusitania, and it's aftermath affected the lives of some of the survivors. The story chronicles the movements and thoughts of many first class passengers, along with some of the second and third class travelers as well.

The story is written like a historical novel, except that many of the characters actually existed. If you are interested in naval stories and/or history, you will like this book. If you are not, this book might not be up your alley. I feel it is worth the read, especially if you have never studied anything about the disaster except to know that it occurred.

[Inês · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Good! Well told and I enjoyed reading about the passengers’ personal lives.