Dead Wake – The Last Crossing of the Lusitania – Reviewed by Mark Fischer
Photography By Savannah Dean
Erik Larson’s book, Dead Wake – The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (2015), offers a fresh look at the sinking of the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania by a German submarine, just 12 nautical miles off Ireland’s Kinsale Lighthouse on Friday May 7, 1915. The Wilson Administration’s prewar isolationist stance and the growing clouds of the First World War provide the backdrop for this tragic and pivotal moment in world history. The story is told as seen through the eyes of the surviving passengers, Captain William Thomas Turner, captain of the Lusitania, and Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger, commanding officer of submarine U-20.
Larson’s extensive historical research included declassified documents from Britain’s secret intelligence agency, known as Room 40, that was responsible for interception and decryption of classified German communiqués during the war. He debunks the common belief that two torpedoes were responsible for sinking the ocean liner that was the pride of the Cunard Lines and the British maritime establishment, a point debated by many historians for decades. Having carefully walked step-by-step through the details of U-20’s mission, it appears Larson’s theory of one torpedo being fired is most likely correct.
Additionally, Larson clearly underscores Room 40s knowledge of U-20’s whereabouts throughout its entire campaign. The declassification of military documents often gives us cause to question the values and objectives of intelligence agencies and their governments and leaves us contemplating their political motivations. At the time of Lusitania’s sinking, Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. Although Room 40s mandate was strictly limited to decryption and not interpretation, one cannot help imagining how this information may have been used by the British Admiralty in light of Churchill’s overwhelming desire to draw a neutral United States into the war. Although history is rife with speculation regarding Churchill’s complicity in the loss of the Lusitania, Churchill was in France on official government business on that fateful day. I am of the opinion this fact relieves Churchill of direct complicity in this tragedy.
Political history, and in particular maritime political history, has always fascinated me and Dead Wake did not disappoint. I find it is always a compelling exercise to contemplate how the unwritten history of our time will unfold.
About Mark Fischer
Mark Fischer is an avid reader of diverse genres, provided the genre is political history. Books aside, music, astronomy, and boating are among his many interests. A native of Philadelphia and a six-year Navy veteran, Mark first came to Panama City in 1987 aboard the maritime prepositioning squadron ship the USNS PFC Eugene A. Obregon. Mark met his wife Mary Lee Pettit in 1988 while stationed aboard the Obregon in port in Panama City. Mark and Mary Lee are the proud parents of four beautiful cats: Sir Barley, Miss Miso, Blob Marley, and Perseus-Slayer of the Gorgon Medusa. Mark is an electrical engineer employed at Tyndall AFB, working in flight test in support of various aircraft programs.