The Sinking of the Lusitania

RMS. Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, the RMS Lusitania, the British ocean liner, the largest in the world, was returning to Liverpool, England on her 101^st voyage across the Atlantic. A German U-boat torpedoed and sank her in 18 minutes. Nearly 1200 of some two thousand passengers and crew perished in the attack, including 120 Americans.

Charles Frohman

 Alfred Vanderbilt, one of the world’s richest men and a great sportsman, was aboard. He was headed to England to purchase horses and hunting dogs. Charles Frohman perhaps the greatest theater impresario to have ever lived, had also booked passage.  He was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1860.  He and his two brothers, Gustave and Daniel, owned and managed a large number of theaters in London, Paris, and New York where their productions were featured. 

                                               

The Royal Navy had blockaded Germany at the start of WWI. Submarine warfare was intensifying by the spring of 1915. The German embassy in the United Sates had placed notices in New York newspapers, warning of dangers of sailing on the Lusitania. She was known as the “Greyhound of the Seas” because of her speed. The Lusitania’s crew and the Cunard Line felt secure in the belief that she could easily out sail any submarine.  However, some Americans did pay heed and the Lusitania left New York with less than half her usual number of passengers.

Alfred Vanderbilt

 Walther Schwieger, captain of U-boat 20 watched the tragedy unfold through his periscope. He wrote in his log that the “ship stops immediately and heals over to starboard quickly, immersing simultaneously at the bow… Great confusion reigns on board.” Indeed, passengers were panic stricken.  The few lifeboats that were loaded and lowered foundered in a matter of minutes, drowning those aboard.

And “Eyewitness to History” article states that Vanderbilt and Frohman went to the ship’s nursery. Hoping to save the babies, the two men tied life jackets to wicker “Moses baskets” that held the little ones.  The baskets were carried off the ship as the water rose, but none survived the wave action created as the enormous vessel sank. 

With Frohman at the end was actress and rising star Rita Jolivet, who survived the tragedy. Testifying at the Enquiry Board, she stated that she, Charles Frohman, and her brother-in-law held hands and went out on deck. "The water swept me away from my brother-in-law and Mr. Frohman."

RMS Lusitania

Americans were outraged when they learned of the sinking.  Germany justified the attack by stating the ship was secretly carrying munitions to help the British war effort. President Woodrow Wilson protested to the Germans.  Americans’ attitudes began to turn against Germany. When the United States entered WWI two years later, the tragedy of the Lusitania was a factor. It was not until 1982 that the British admitted therewas a “large amount of ammunition in the wreck.” It still remains a safety issue to those interested in salvage operations. Charles Frohman’s body was recovered and returned to the United States. He was buried in Queens, New York. 

You can see some of the Frohman theater playbills that are part of the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums’ Frohman Collection.