egbert Posted 28 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2017 The old town hall was used as a mortuary for many of the 169 bodies retrieved from the sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2017 (edited) I walked some 2 miles and outside the town limit, I visited the Lusitania cemetery where all 169 retrieved dead were buried in 3 mass graves. Edited 23 March , 2018 by egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2017 (edited) Mass grave A today Edited 28 April , 2017 by egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2017 Mass grave B today Mass grave C today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2017 It was an emotional journey to sail within 48 hours directly above the wet graves of the battleship Bismarck and the liner Lusitania. RIP all sailors and passengers. It was not meant to be for the Lusitania to see her berthing place in Cobh again. The white liner in background, moored at the Titanic and Lusitania pier is a vivid reminder that life goes on.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 (edited) Great photos Egbert, I believe that all of the bodies recovered from the sea were photographed before burial, for identification purposes. There was a T.V. programme a few years ago that featured some of these very poignant and shocking images. Mike. Edited 28 April , 2017 by MikeyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 Congratulations on such an interesting presentation, I haven't read anything so engaging since 'My climb up Hartmannsweilerfopf'. many thanks khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 (edited) Andy isn't it mind blowing to sail above the wrecksite while recognizing the Head of Kinsale some 16 km away? Egbert, unfortunately I have only sailed over the wreck in as fine a weather as you experienced once. The first time I sailed over it was in 1979 whilst in a yacht race around the Fastnet Rock. We broke the rudder in a storm from hell and made a run for the port, however the navigator told us that we were going directly over the wreck as most of us on board had an interest. To be honest at that point we were more interested in making port safely, narrow gap to enter in 45 to 50 knots of wind. The second time it was as calm as your photographs, so yes it was a thoughtful moment in time, very thoughtful. The third time it was ok but the seas were running quite heavily, as they do in that area, so although it was thoughtful crossing the wreck site it was quite bumpy, which disturbed one's thoughts. You certainly seem to have had marvellous weather for your trip. Plenty of World War 1 & 2 wrecks where I normally sail and we regularly sail over H.M.S. Bulwark or right by her depending on tide, and H.M.S. Princess Irene, both suffered great loss of life. Then you have the pleasure of the Liberty ship Montgomery and all the Anti Aircraft towers, a wrecked Mulberry Harbour in the river estuary and a couple of WW1 U-boats laying on the mudflats which are accessible if the tide is right. Great thread, very interesting, thought provoking and well presented. Andy Edited 28 April , 2017 by stiletto_33853 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeCeeCee Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 On 27/04/2017 at 16:34, egbert said: Today, early in the morning we passed the wrecksite of Lusitania. This picture above the wreck with view towards Irish coastline at Old Head of Kinsale A view that would have chilled the heart of any mother with children. I believe the weather back then, bright sunshine and calm seas, was approx. the same as your image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2017 4 hours ago, Khaki said: Congratulations on such an interesting presentation, I haven't read anything so engaging since 'My climb up Hartmannsweilerfopf'. many thanks khaki Well you must have missed my SMS Dresden thread .... Andy you must be a vivid sailor and lucky to be able to sail in these beautiful waters. TCC, the weather was deadly for the L.:fog, difficult to navigate as they could not find enough references for triangulation. Also they reduced speed to avoid hitting fishing boats from Cobh due to the limited visibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeCeeCee Posted 28 April , 2017 Share Posted 28 April , 2017 1 hour ago, egbert said: Well you must have missed my SMS Dresden thread .... Andy you must be a vivid sailor and lucky to be able to sail in these beautiful waters. TCC, the weather was deadly for the L.:fog, difficult to navigate as they could not find enough references for triangulation. Also they reduced speed to avoid hitting fishing boats from Cobh due to the limited visibility. Yeah but I believe the fog cleared at noon? You passed through those waters not far off the same date as the sinking with roughly the same weather. "By 06:00, heavy fog had arrived and extra lookouts were posted. As the ship came closer to Ireland, Captain Turner ordered depth soundings to be made and at 08:00 for speed to be reduced to eighteen knots, then to 15 knots and for the foghorn to be sounded. Some of the passengers were disturbed that the ship appeared to be advertising her presence. By 10:00 the fog began to lift, by noon it had been replaced by bright sunshine over a clear smooth sea and speed increased to 18 knots.[1]:200–2 U-20 surfaced again at 12:45 as visibility was now excellent ..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Lusitania#Sinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 29 April , 2017 Author Share Posted 29 April , 2017 Absolutely correct! We passed the wrecksite by 07:00hrs. So our weather relates to late morning ca 11:00hrs+ on Lusitania day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 2 May , 2017 Share Posted 2 May , 2017 (edited) I understand that the sms Koenigsberg after being abandoned in the Rufiji slowly rolled on its side and disappeared under the mud and crocodiles. I have seen a few B&W images taken before that happened completely. My question is, has a modern survey ever been done on her present state? khaki sorry I did not mean to hijack the thread Edited 2 May , 2017 by Khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullerTurner Posted 2 May , 2017 Share Posted 2 May , 2017 I met an INS officer on the ferry coming out of Cork. He was coincidentally the Senior Diving Officer or Chief Diving Officer. This would have been in 2009? We had started chatting because we were both wearing clothing with the name of a diving equipment. He had dived on Trimix gases and told me quite a lot about the monitoring of dives to the wreck by a small number of groups. He was quite clear that nothing Clive Cussler-esque had been discovered on any of the later dives. The rumours around the post WW2 dives and alleged demolitions obviously will remain unconfirmed until either Kew or the sea give up their secrets. i cannot remember his name, he was a Lt Cdr and there can't be too many of those in the INS, let alone diving specialists! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 2 August , 2017 Author Share Posted 2 August , 2017 I had come across a vintage sketch of Lusitania in a German 1920 book and it exactly matches the Kinsale lighthouse photo as I took it 100 years later. See my collage : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wexflyer Posted 7 August , 2017 Share Posted 7 August , 2017 (edited) Thank you for the wonderful and evocative photos! A minor quibble and a few comment. - The quibble is that the largest transatlantic liners, such as the Lusitania and Titanic did not actually dock at the quays in Cobh, but anchored in the harbor. Passengers and cargo were taken to and from the liners by tenders which left from the wharf directly adjacent to the railway station. So the quay you picture is the Lusitania/Titanic quay, as the locals/guides say, but not in the sense you (mis)interpreted. This quay is still extant, and sees many visits from modern cruise liners. - To give another connection to the Great War, the famous on-board photographs of Titanic's final (and only) voyage were taken by Fr. Browne, SJ, who was chaplain to the Irish Guards for much of the war. - As many of my family served in the IRA and sister services, I have always thought that there should have been an IRN. If nothing else, simply for the propaganda value! - A final comment as regards "Queenstown". I have personally observed that one of the commercial genealogy companies (Ancestry?), indexes some of the sailings from there as being to/from Queenstown, New Zealand! (Idiots). Edited 7 August , 2017 by Wexflyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 7 August , 2017 Share Posted 7 August , 2017 Many thanks Egbert for yet another excellent thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 23 March , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 March , 2018 More than and now pictures from Lusitania tragedy victims' mass graves in Cobh. Than Now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 23 March , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 March , 2018 Than Now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 23 March , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 March , 2018 Than Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 23 March , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 March , 2018 Now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 25 March , 2018 Share Posted 25 March , 2018 (edited) Thanks for posting these reminders Egbert. Interesting to see in nos 43 and 45 that two at least of the coffins appear to have name plates and so were identified. Is there a list of who is buried in the mass grave? Edited 25 March , 2018 by trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ring Posted 26 March , 2018 Share Posted 26 March , 2018 (edited) Thank you Egbert. Very informative. Edited 26 March , 2018 by Tony Ring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 26 March , 2018 Author Share Posted 26 March , 2018 Julian, names are engraved on to the glass stele which you can see in the foreground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 29 July , 2018 Author Share Posted 29 July , 2018 (edited) Found the ultimate cracker today: the copy of Schwieger's U-20 war diary from the Lusitania sinking found in Russian archives! http://tsamo.germandocsinrussia.org/de/nodes/330-akte-317-abschriften-aus-den-ktbs-deutscher-u-boote-und-kriegsschiffe-f-r-den-zeitraum-mai-bis-august-1915#page/255/mode/inspect/zoom/6 page 255 and ff Edited 29 July , 2018 by egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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