HUMMEL, JEFFREY ROGERS

English

San Jose State University

San Jose State University
SJSU ScholarWorks
Faculty Publications Economics
1-1-1976
Review of The Lusitania by Colin Simpson
JEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL
San Jose State University, jeff@jrhummel.com
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/econ_pub
Part of the Economic History Commons, and the Macroeconomics Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Economics at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty
Publications by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@sjsu.edu.
Recommended Citation
JEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL. "Review of The Lusitania by Colin Simpson" Reason (1976): 61-63.
I 
age of a bill ensuring the right of U.S. statute prohibits manufacturers and whole­ the administration's ongoing drive to re­
companies to stake claims and min~ deep salers from offering quantity'discounts, duce costly government regulation.' 
sea minerals, despite U.N. opposition. and has been shown to substantially re­ (Source: "Debate Building Over Price 
(Source: "NACOA Backs Industry Ocean duce price competition. The White House Law," AP (Washlngtonl, .Nov. 25, 1975)00 
Bills," Science, Oct. 17, 1975) 
• Competition. One of the most anti· 
competitive Federal laws, the Robinson· 
Patman Act, is coming under strong c:riii· 
cis'm within the administration. The 1936 
Domestic Council therefore invited a 
group of economists, lawyers, and busi· 
nessmen to attend an intensive· review of 
the law's effects on Dec. B-10. The recon· 
sideratio~'OJ Robinson-Patman is part of 
This column repor11 trends in the advancement 
.:'' indlwidual liberty and the rodlsconry of 
kx:tnomic fretdo,m. Ruden a.re inrittd to 
subl]\it INitlf'ltl of potend.al Interest. 
. ' ~ bookreview---------­
/ 
THE LUSITANIA. By Colin Simpson. 
Boston: Little, 'Brown and Co., 1972. 
303 pp. ,$8.95 (hb), $1.75 (pb). 
Reviewed by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel 
"War is the health of the state" reads one 
libertarian button, and that statement con· 
tains more than simply a modicum of 
truth. Every war in which the U.S. gov· 
ernment has engaged, without exception, 
has been a categorical disaster for liberty. 
Fortunately, prior to 1B60, U.S. wars 
were only temporary setbacks ln' the gen· 
eral, overall trend towards increasing free­
dom and decreasihg state power. It was 
not unti~the War Between the States that 
this trend was reversed and America 
started its retreat from the goal of liberty 
and its descent into statism. M!re than 
any other event the Civil War, with its 
introduction of con~cription and income 
taxation, with Lincoln's widespread sup­
pression of civil liberties in the North, and 
with the l«st>leally iillimate contact be­
tween America's nascent industries and 
government, can be identified as the turn· 
ing point in American history. Every war 
since has merely accelerated the growth 
of state power. But if the War Between 
the States was the turning point, World 
War I, as Murray Rothbard has pointed 
out in his excellent essay, " War Collectiv· 
ism in World War 1," (in A New History of 
Leviathan) was "the model, the precedent, 
and the inspiration for state corporate. 
Be 
b 
re 
a'l 
pitalism for the remainder of the twen· 
eth century." 
use "war is the health of the state," 
because vernments, when. they wage war 
on {preign powers, always concurrently 
age war on their own citizens, we should 
acutely interested in the won< of the 
·sionis t historians who seek to discredit· 
expose official explanations that 
" ustify" participating in war. Until now, 
t e most thorough revisionist account of 
the United States' entry into World War I 
has been Charles Callan Tansill's America 
Goes to War, but the recent publication 
of Colin Simpson's The Lusitania has 
greatly supplemented thill previous work. 
The Lusitania. of course, was·a British 
feb<uary 1976 
liner which on May 7. 1915, was torpe­
doed by a German submarine. Non· 
combatants numbering 1,201 , including 
128 Americans, lost their lives. At the 
time, the sinking of a:n unarmed pa~nger 
liner w ithout any warning WiJS viewed in 
this country as a shocking case of German 
bestiality,' and this greatly assisted the Wil· 
son administration in its efforts to propel 
the United States into the war. Tansill 
and other revisionists have pointed out 
that Americans should have known that a 
certain degree of risk was entailed in tra· 
veling on belligerent vessels, espe<:ially 
since the German Embassy had published 
a warning' in New York newspapers just 
prior to tt)e Lusitania's embarkation. 
However, Simpson has. contributed .a well· 
researched and scholarly investigation that 
uncovers government perfidy even unsus· 
pected by Tansill. 
Simpson touches upon topics that range 
from the design and construction of the 
Lusitania to the operations of British · 
intelligence in the United States. His most 
relevant conclusions, however, can be' 
briefly summarized as follows: (a) the 
Lusitania was an auxiliary of the British 
navy; (2) it carried munitions and contra­
band; (3) it was armed; (4) negligence on 
the part of the British Admiralty was par· 
tially responsible for its loss. and that 
negligence was probably deliberate ~nd 
premeditated; and 15:) Captain Turner, the 
Lusitania~s master, was the innocent )liC· 
tim o.f a British Government attempt to 
frame him as responsible for the disaster. 
The first of these points is not new and 
has long been,known by historians. The 
Lusitania was built by Cunard Company 
with subsidies from the British Govern· 
ment, according to government specifica· 
tions, and was subject to transfer foJ 
government wartime use. With the open· 
ing of World War I, the ship fell under 
Admiralty instructions authorizing the 
subterfuge of flying the U.S. flag andre­
quiring an attempt to ram any German 
'submarine which, in accordance with the' 
Cruiser Rules, h~d surfaced. The Cruiser 
Rules required warships to warn unarmed 
merchant vessels prior to sinking or cap· 
ture and were the basis of the British and 
U.S. position that the British ,£urface 

blockade of Germany was legal and moral, 

while the German submarine blockade of 

England was illegal and wicked. 

The second point, concerning the nature 
of the Lusitania's cargo, has also ·been 
known, at least since October 1935 when 
Thomas Bailey revealed in an article ap­
pearing in the American Historical Review 
that the Lusitania's final manifesi indi· 
cated she was carrying over 4,000 cases of 
rifle cartridges. Simpson, biavever, goes 
much deeper, examining ~losely the huge 
British purchasing operation run in the 
United States through Cunard and j, P. 
Morgan, with the countenance of the col· 
le<:tor of the Port ot'New York. Dudley 
Field Malone. He reveals that the Lusi· 
tonia was also carrying 1,248 cases of 
J.inch shrapnel shells ana Other Shipments 
variously labelled as furs. butter, and 
. cheese. but undoubtedly munitions . • 
Simpson also presents evi~ence tl'lat it was 
carrying large quantities of pyroxyline 
(guncotton), a substance that causes an 
explosion upon contact with sea water. 
although the evide,nce is not toti!)l.y con· 
elusive, mostly becau1e the crucial priliate 
papers, of Captains H~tl and Gaunt of 
Naval Intelligence hav~still not been de­
classified by the British government. 
Part of the importance of establishing the 
nature of the cargo stems from the fact 
that the Lusitania sar.k in 1B minutes, one 
of the reasons for' the huge loss of life. 
German torpedoes were notoriously un· 
reliable. The submarine which attacked 
it, the U-20, had earlier failed to sink the 
steamer Candidate with a torpedo and had 
to use the deck gun,. The same day the 
U·20 fired two torpedoes, one at point· 
blank range, irito the Candidate's sister 
ship, the Centurion. and she took one 
hour and 20 minutes to go under, with 
n o loss of life. Most survivors of the Lusi· 
tania remembered two explosions, and 
popular and official opinion 'in Britain 
and the United States attributed that to a 
second and possibly a third torpedo. That 
explanation was discredited, however, 
when the diary ol Captain Schwieger, 
reason 61 
A BEAUTIFUL NEW 
.· 
commander of the U·20, was reprinted in ty never employed it as a cruiser as origi· into the path of the U·20. Furthermore, 
the Journal ofModem History (September nally envisaged, however, has been cited Captain Turner on the Lusit8ni11 was not 
1936), establishing that only one torpedo as proof that the guns were never mounted. advised of this decision and was still ex· 
was fired and hit the Lusitania. One of Simpson, by inspecting the Cunard rec­ peeling to rendezvous with theJuno when 
the services rende<ed by Simpson is his de­ ords, discovered that between May 21 and the torpedo struck. No official explana· 
tailed reconstruction pi the pattern of • July 21, 1913, the lin~ was drydocked tion for this action exists. For years the 
flooding in the Lusitania, based on his for modifications. including the addition Admiralty denied it had taken place, and 
Intimate knowJePge of her design coupled of 12 gun rings hidden below trap doors the Admiralty War Diary stops short just 
with his conclusion that the torpedo on the deqc. After the war began, be­ before the point at which the decision was 
detonated the munitions. tween August Band September 17, 1914, made. As Simpson charges: "It was an 
the ship was again detained, and the incredible decision by any standards and 
A final matter deserves treatment under Admiralty closed off a large portion of can only be explained on two grounds: 
the question of contraband. The Ger· the shelter (C) deck and installed the that both Churchill and Fisher were so • 
mans charged that the liner was being 11sed actual guns. preoccupied with the Dardanelles and 
to transpOrt troops, but that charge-has their pel'$onal problems that they failed 
never been given much credence. Simp­ Of all Simpson's allegations, obviously the to appreciate it; or that it was the pinna­
son notes that along with a last minuie most startling is that of Admiralty com· cle of Churchill's higher strategy of em· 
transfer from the Queen Margaret to the plicity in the sinking. In support, Simp­ broiling the U·boats with a neutral 
Lusit~ni/1 of 2,000 ~ .Jf ammunition son reveals thM Winston Churchill, First power." (p. 130) 
never appearing on the final manifest, Lord of the Admiralty, commissioned a 
there wa.s also t contingent of soldiers study by Commander Kenworthy of Naval Moreover, theJuno recall has an even 
from the 6th Winnipeg Rifles dressed in Intelligence on the results of a liner being more incredible sequel that emerges in 
civilian clothes. sunk with Americans on board. Two days t.he account of the actual sinking. Simp­
' before the Lusitania's sinking. the :Juno, son's journalistic training and talent keep /
More important than munitions i s the which had been.assigned the duty of es· the reader engrossed and horrified as he 
question of whether or not the Lusitania :corting the Lusitanis upon her arrival off describes the confusiQII and mayhem 
was armed. It has been known that it was the southern coast of Ireland, was. ordered aboard the Lusitania alter the torpedo 
designed to carry 12 sl•·inch quick· to Queenstown by the Admiralty for rea· struck. Immediately her bow dipped into 
filing guns, giving her a more leihal sons unknown. This action was taken the water and she listed to the starboard. 
broadside than even Bacchante class despite the fact that the British had bro. Because of her faulty desi'gn, 'he list made 
cruisers. Two British publications which ken the German naval code, were conse­ · the lifeboats' difficult to launch. Those on 
were standard Issue on all German sub·' quently able to determine the appro•i· the starboard side hung too far out eway 
marines, Jane's Fighting Ships 1914 and mate location of every Gerrrian,submarine, from tile deck; those on the port side 
The N/lv/1/ Annual 1914, listed the Lusi· and knew that the Lusitllnia was heading hung inboard. Captain Turner desperately 
tania as armed. The fact that the Admiral· on a course that would t ake her directly a ttempted to supervise the launching of
. 
WAY TO KEEP 

YOUR REASON 

Keep your copies of Reason In 

specia lly designed binders. We:ve 

got them ready and waiting (or your 

go·ahead. Now you can keep 

Reason in your library. Or wherever 

it's handiest. And you'll have a per­

manent record of any article or fact 

- right on hand. 

Mailto: Reason Magazine Clrc·ulatlon Services, Box 6151, Santa Barbara, CA 93111 I-~-----------------------Please send me 0 Reason Binders $5.95 ea. 0 4 lor $23.00 1 
(Postage and handling included,) 
Orders outside U.S. add $1.00 per file for postage and handling. I 
Payment must accompany orde,. (CA residanu edd 6% sales ta•l 1 
Name 
Address ____________...;______________ I 
City Stale Zip•----- I 
-~---~----~-------------~J 
62 reason february 1976
-
the boats from the navigation bridge, but the case, and that which didn't fit was ig. clear case of government treachery. Its 
soon the stem of the ship was looming nored or suppressed. Lord Mersey, to his use to bring America nearer to war de-
well over his head. No. 2 lifeboat on the credit, refused to be a party to the fram· serves close study. T he only criticism I 
Port side was filled with passengers when ing of Captain Turner, whom he elconer· have of Simpson's book is that it is too 
it went out of control and crashed into ated, but he did acquiesce in the blackout short. Three hundred pages is simply not 
the bow end of the boat deck, smashing of facts concerning munitions and arma· · enough space to adequately treat all of 
those persons in Its way up against the ments on the Lusitania. Joseph Marichal, the subjects which Simpson covers. As a 
bridge. The same fate occurred to life­
boats Nos. 4, 6, 8, and 10, creating a huge 
one survivor who refused to be silenced 
and insisted on testifying as to munitions 
'" result, he Is frustratingly consistent in his 
refusal to stray from the presentation of J 
wreckage of crushed passengers and boats. aboard, was viciously slandered with lies data to interpretation, even when doings 
The lifeboats on the starboard side fell about his background circulated by the would certainly make his narrative more 
into the water on top of each other or gQvernment to the papers. The Wilso n lucid. It is too often left to the reader to 
capsized in the turbulence caused by the administration ,also cooperated In the draw conclusions and piece together evi· 
liner's rapid sinking. Of her 48 lifeboats, Admiralty coverup. Gustav Stahl, a dence. Nevertheless. The Lusitanis Is a 
only six ended up carrying survivo'rs, and German operative testifying in the United convincing and readable book, docu · 
those soon became overloaded. The sea States abou(t~e Lusitania's armaments, mented by massive research. It should be 
was filled with debris and dead and living was immediately arrested on a charge of studied by all those interested in the rela· 
bodies. In answer to the Lusirania's perjury for that very statement and held t ionship between war and the state.liJ 
S 0 S, Admiral Coke, commander at in prison without trial for three months. 
Queenstown, ordered everything afloat to . When he finally did stand trial the only (Near preu time REASON received B'(e· 
the rescue. This included theJuno, which evidence against him was a written deposi· viewcopy ofs new book on this rub(ect, 
was the first vessel to arrive in sight of the tlon from Malone, collector of the Port of The Lusitanla Disaster by Thomas A . Bailey . 
survivors. No one can read without out· New York. Nevertheless, Stahl spent andPaulS. Ryan {Macmillan, 1975,383 
rage that before the Juno closed with the several years in jail, although in 1924 he pp.,$10.95/. Written in response to Simp· 
survivors, the Admiralty countermanded was quietly awarded $20,000 damages by son's book, it rakes serious issue with many 
Coke's instructions and ordered it back to the U.S. government. Dr. Riner von "Of the charges. contained therein. A review 
Queenstown. Almost another two hours Rettegh, a British·Austm·Hungarian of this new book will appear in a subse· 
elapsed before other vessels arrived on the double agent who prov.ided some evi· quent issue of REASON.-Ed.J 
scene. dence concerning the possibility of the 
cargo cdhtaining guncotton, was tried in J•ffroyRogmHummtJIr•~ivodhis B.A . in history 
Even more om~nous than thJ;ctual sink· camera and sent to Cleveland Peniten· from Grove Ciry Colk<;<t in11971. Afttr lhtfll 
ing was the Admiralty coverup conducted tiary. His trial record is still classified ~orsin rht Army,h.,nro/1«1or t/16 Univoruryof 
through a Court of Inquiry under Lord secret by the Department of Justice. T~xu•rAunln. ~Misdoifli grMiwtoWOtk 
Mersey. Captain Turner was selected as a in Mrtory. His nvlewof Opt:ntion KHI~ui•P. 
scapegoat. Evidence was tailored to fit The Lusitania incident stands revealed as a ,_or«/ in REASON'S NO'H~r 1974 i#U•. 
' COMING 

NEXT MONTH 

an in·depth 
LUCIFER'S LEXICON 
by L. A. Rollins 
provt!rb, n. A saying that condenses the wisdom of 
experience into a half·tr~th . Half a truth is, I suppose, 
better than no truth at all. Following are some com· 
paratively worthy proverbs: 1. Presents make the• 
heart grow fonder. 2. People who live In glass houses 
shouldn't got stoned. 3. Two heads are better than 
none. 4. One man's meat is another man's sacred cow. 
5. The carrot is mightier than the s tick . 
tender, adj. Readily yielding to blade or teeth: said of 
food, such as the tender hearts of Christian'mission· 
aries or the tender feet of the Donner party. 
ANOlHER DIVE FOR GOlD? 
- While Sllvet Rises! 
Get the opinion of the Letter which predicted what 
happened to gold In 1975 as long as five years ago and 
-avoided the stock market In 1973, 1974 and 1975 
- because it was the ·only Service exclusively in Silver · 
since 1972. 
Send $5 for a sample Issue and find out why. 
lnt'l Investment CounseUors 

'Ballygarrett' 

Herbert Road, Bray 

County Wlcklow, Ireland 

,..son 63 
-
, 
REASON's Ma rch issue fe atures 
analysis of the politics of milk in today's mixed 
eeonomy, demonstrating' that, as far as politics is 
concerned, milk has something for everybody. 
Some of the more ominous 'new links. between 
the Fed era l government and business are ex· 
posed in Charlotte Twight's "Congress Heads 
Toward Fascism," an excerpt from her just-pub­
lished book America's Emerging Fascist Econo­
my. Attorney Donald Feder, head of the Nation· 
al Association of Libertarian Lawyers, examines 
and demolishes liberal argu ments for gun con· 
trol. And economist/historian Gary North re­
turns to entertain us with his " Midnight Money 
Analysis." 
Also in the issue will be reviews of Percy 
Greaves' Mises Made Easier and Robe~ Pirsig's 
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintena.nce plus 
David . Brudnoy's Viewpoint, John Pierce's Sci· 
ence Fiction column, and all . of REASON's 
regular features. · 
flbn~ery 1976 


Review of The Lusitania by Colin Simpson

SJSU ScholarWorks

San Jose State UniversitySJSU ScholarWorksFaculty Publications Economics1-1-1976Review of The Lusitania by Colin SimpsonJEFFREY ROGERS HUMMELSan Jose State University, jeff@jrhummel.comFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/econ_pubPart of the Economic History Commons, and the Macroeconomics CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Economics at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in FacultyPublications by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@sjsu.edu.Recommended CitationJEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL. "Review of The Lusitania by Colin Simpson" Reason (1976): 61-63.I age of a bill ensuring the right of U.S. statute prohibits manufacturers and whole­ the administration's ongoing drive to re­companies to stake claims and min~ deep salers from offering quantity'discounts, duce costly government regulation.' sea minerals, despite U.N. opposition. and has been shown to substantially re­ (Source: "Debate Building Over Price (Source: "NACOA Backs Industry Ocean duce price competition. The White House Law," AP (Washlngtonl, .Nov. 25, 1975)00 Bills," Science, Oct. 17, 1975) • Competition. One of the most anti· competitive Federal laws, the Robinson· Patman Act, is coming under strong c:riii· cis'm within the administration. The 1936 Domestic Council therefore invited a group of economists, lawyers, and busi· nessmen to attend an intensive· review of the law's effects on Dec. B-10. The recon· sideratio~'OJ Robinson-Patman is part of This column repor11 trends in the advancement .:'' indlwidual liberty and the rodlsconry of kx:tnomic fretdo,m. Ruden a.re inrittd to subl]\it INitlf'ltl of potend.al Interest. . ' ~ bookreview---------­/ THE LUSITANIA. By Colin Simpson. Boston: Little, 'Brown and Co., 1972. 303 pp. ,$8.95 (hb), $1.75 (pb). Reviewed by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel "War is the health of the state" reads one libertarian button, and that statement con· tains more than simply a modicum of truth. Every war in which the U.S. gov· ernment has engaged, without exception, has been a categorical disaster for liberty. Fortunately, prior to 1B60, U.S. wars were only temporary setbacks ln' the gen· eral, overall trend towards increasing free­dom and decreasihg state power. It was not unti~the War Between the States that this trend was reversed and America started its retreat from the goal of liberty and its descent into statism. M!re than any other event the Civil War, with its introduction of con~cription and income taxation, with Lincoln's widespread sup­pression of civil liberties in the North, and with the l«st>leally iillimate contact be­tween America's nascent industries and government, can be identified as the turn· ing point in American history. Every war since has merely accelerated the growth of state power. But if the War Between the States was the turning point, World War I, as Murray Rothbard has pointed out in his excellent essay, " War Collectiv· ism in World War 1," (in A New History of Leviathan) was "the model, the precedent, and the inspiration for state corporate. Be b re a'l pitalism for the remainder of the twen· eth century." use "war is the health of the state," because vernments, when. they wage war on {preign powers, always concurrently age war on their own citizens, we should acutely interested in the won< of the ·sionis t historians who seek to discredit· expose official explanations that " ustify" participating in war. Until now, t e most thorough revisionist account of the United States' entry into World War I has been Charles Callan Tansill's America Goes to War, but the recent publication of Colin Simpson's The Lusitania has greatly supplemented thill previous work. The Lusitania. of course, was·a British feb<uary 1976 liner which on May 7. 1915, was torpe­doed by a German submarine. Non· combatants numbering 1,201 , including 128 Americans, lost their lives. At the time, the sinking of a:n unarmed pa~nger liner w ithout any warning WiJS viewed in this country as a shocking case of German bestiality,' and this greatly assisted the Wil· son administration in its efforts to propel the United States into the war. Tansill and other revisionists have pointed out that Americans should have known that a certain degree of risk was entailed in tra· veling on belligerent vessels, espe<:ially since the German Embassy had published a warning' in New York newspapers just prior to tt)e Lusitania's embarkation. However, Simpson has. contributed .a well· researched and scholarly investigation that uncovers government perfidy even unsus· pected by Tansill. Simpson touches upon topics that range from the design and construction of the Lusitania to the operations of British · intelligence in the United States. His most relevant conclusions, however, can be' briefly summarized as follows: (a) the Lusitania was an auxiliary of the British navy; (2) it carried munitions and contra­band; (3) it was armed; (4) negligence on the part of the British Admiralty was par· tially responsible for its loss. and that negligence was probably deliberate ~nd premeditated; and 15:) Captain Turner, the Lusitania~s master, was the innocent )liC· tim o.f a British Government attempt to frame him as responsible for the disaster. The first of these points is not new and has long been,known by historians. The Lusitania was built by Cunard Company with subsidies from the British Govern· ment, according to government specifica· tions, and was subject to transfer foJ government wartime use. With the open· ing of World War I, the ship fell under Admiralty instructions authorizing the subterfuge of flying the U.S. flag andre­quiring an attempt to ram any German 'submarine which, in accordance with the' Cruiser Rules, h~d surfaced. The Cruiser Rules required warships to warn unarmed merchant vessels prior to sinking or cap· ture and were the basis of the British and U.S. position that the British ,£urface blockade of Germany was legal and moral, while the German submarine blockade of England was illegal and wicked. The second point, concerning the nature of the Lusitania's cargo, has also ·been known, at least since October 1935 when Thomas Bailey revealed in an article ap­pearing in the American Historical Review that the Lusitania's final manifesi indi· cated she was carrying over 4,000 cases of rifle cartridges. Simpson, biavever, goes much deeper, examining ~losely the huge British purchasing operation run in the United States through Cunard and j, P. Morgan, with the countenance of the col· le<:tor of the Port ot'New York. Dudley Field Malone. He reveals that the Lusi· tonia was also carrying 1,248 cases of J.inch shrapnel shells ana Other Shipments variously labelled as furs. butter, and . cheese. but undoubtedly munitions . • Simpson also presents evi~ence tl'lat it was carrying large quantities of pyroxyline (guncotton), a substance that causes an explosion upon contact with sea water. although the evide,nce is not toti!)l.y con· elusive, mostly becau1e the crucial priliate papers, of Captains H~tl and Gaunt of Naval Intelligence hav~still not been de­classified by the British government. Part of the importance of establishing the nature of the cargo stems from the fact that the Lusitania sar.k in 1B minutes, one of the reasons for' the huge loss of life. German torpedoes were notoriously un· reliable. The submarine which attacked it, the U-20, had earlier failed to sink the steamer Candidate with a torpedo and had to use the deck gun,. The same day the U·20 fired two torpedoes, one at point· blank range, irito the Candidate's sister ship, the Centurion. and she took one hour and 20 minutes to go under, with n o loss of life. Most survivors of the Lusi· tania remembered two explosions, and popular and official opinion 'in Britain and the United States attributed that to a second and possibly a third torpedo. That explanation was discredited, however, when the diary ol Captain Schwieger, reason 61 A BEAUTIFUL NEW .· commander of the U·20, was reprinted in ty never employed it as a cruiser as origi· into the path of the U·20. Furthermore, the Journal ofModem History (September nally envisaged, however, has been cited Captain Turner on the Lusit8ni11 was not 1936), establishing that only one torpedo as proof that the guns were never mounted. advised of this decision and was still ex· was fired and hit the Lusitania. One of Simpson, by inspecting the Cunard rec­ peeling to rendezvous with theJuno when the services rende<ed by Simpson is his de­ ords, discovered that between May 21 and the torpedo struck. No official explana· tailed reconstruction pi the pattern of • July 21, 1913, the lin~ was drydocked tion for this action exists. For years the flooding in the Lusitania, based on his for modifications. including the addition Admiralty denied it had taken place, and Intimate knowJePge of her design coupled of 12 gun rings hidden below trap doors the Admiralty War Diary stops short just with his conclusion that the torpedo on the deqc. After the war began, be­ before the point at which the decision was detonated the munitions. tween August Band September 17, 1914, made. As Simpson charges: "It was an the ship was again detained, and the incredible decision by any standards and A final matter deserves treatment under Admiralty closed off a large portion of can only be explained on two grounds: the question of contraband. The Ger· the shelter (C) deck and installed the that both Churchill and Fisher were so • mans charged that the liner was being 11sed actual guns. preoccupied with the Dardanelles and to transpOrt troops, but that charge-has their pel'$onal problems that they failed never been given much credence. Simp­ Of all Simpson's allegations, obviously the to appreciate it; or that it was the pinna­son notes that along with a last minuie most startling is that of Admiralty com· cle of Churchill's higher strategy of em· transfer from the Queen Margaret to the plicity in the sinking. In support, Simp­ broiling the U·boats with a neutral Lusit~ni/1 of 2,000 ~ .Jf ammunition son reveals thM Winston Churchill, First power." (p. 130) never appearing on the final manifest, Lord of the Admiralty, commissioned a there wa.s also t contingent of soldiers study by Commander Kenworthy of Naval Moreover, theJuno recall has an even from the 6th Winnipeg Rifles dressed in Intelligence on the results of a liner being more incredible sequel that emerges in civilian clothes. sunk with Americans on board. Two days t.he account of the actual sinking. Simp­' before the Lusitania's sinking. the :Juno, son's journalistic training and talent keep /More important than munitions i s the which had been.assigned the duty of es· the reader engrossed and horrified as he question of whether or not the Lusitania :corting the Lusitanis upon her arrival off describes the confusiQII and mayhem was armed. It has been known that it was the southern coast of Ireland, was. ordered aboard the Lusitania alter the torpedo designed to carry 12 sl•·inch quick· to Queenstown by the Admiralty for rea· struck. Immediately her bow dipped into filing guns, giving her a more leihal sons unknown. This action was taken the water and she listed to the starboard. broadside than even Bacchante class despite the fact that the British had bro. Because of her faulty desi'gn, 'he list made cruisers. Two British publications which ken the German naval code, were conse­ · the lifeboats' difficult to launch. Those on were standard Issue on all German sub·' quently able to determine the appro•i· the starboard side hung too far out eway marines, Jane's Fighting Ships 1914 and mate location of every Gerrrian,submarine, from tile deck; those on the port side The N/lv/1/ Annual 1914, listed the Lusi· and knew that the Lusitllnia was heading hung inboard. Captain Turner desperately tania as armed. The fact that the Admiral· on a course that would t ake her directly a ttempted to supervise the launching of. WAY TO KEEP YOUR REASON Keep your copies of Reason In specia lly designed binders. We:ve got them ready and waiting (or your go·ahead. Now you can keep Reason in your library. Or wherever it's handiest. And you'll have a per­manent record of any article or fact - right on hand. Mailto: Reason Magazine Clrc·ulatlon Services, Box 6151, Santa Barbara, CA 93111 I-~-----------------------Please send me 0 Reason Binders $5.95 ea. 0 4 lor $23.00 1 (Postage and handling included,) Orders outside U.S. add $1.00 per file for postage and handling. I Payment must accompany orde,. (CA residanu edd 6% sales ta•l 1 Name Address ____________...;______________ I City Stale Zip•----- I -~---~----~-------------~J 62 reason february 1976-the boats from the navigation bridge, but the case, and that which didn't fit was ig. clear case of government treachery. Its soon the stem of the ship was looming nored or suppressed. Lord Mersey, to his use to bring America nearer to war de-well over his head. No. 2 lifeboat on the credit, refused to be a party to the fram· serves close study. T he only criticism I Port side was filled with passengers when ing of Captain Turner, whom he elconer· have of Simpson's book is that it is too it went out of control and crashed into ated, but he did acquiesce in the blackout short. Three hundred pages is simply not the bow end of the boat deck, smashing of facts concerning munitions and arma· · enough space to adequately treat all of those persons in Its way up against the ments on the Lusitania. Joseph Marichal, the subjects which Simpson covers. As a bridge. The same fate occurred to life­boats Nos. 4, 6, 8, and 10, creating a huge one survivor who refused to be silenced and insisted on testifying as to munitions '" result, he Is frustratingly consistent in his refusal to stray from the presentation of J wreckage of crushed passengers and boats. aboard, was viciously slandered with lies data to interpretation, even when doings The lifeboats on the starboard side fell about his background circulated by the would certainly make his narrative more into the water on top of each other or gQvernment to the papers. The Wilso n lucid. It is too often left to the reader to capsized in the turbulence caused by the administration ,also cooperated In the draw conclusions and piece together evi· liner's rapid sinking. Of her 48 lifeboats, Admiralty coverup. Gustav Stahl, a dence. Nevertheless. The Lusitanis Is a only six ended up carrying survivo'rs, and German operative testifying in the United convincing and readable book, docu · those soon became overloaded. The sea States abou(t~e Lusitania's armaments, mented by massive research. It should be was filled with debris and dead and living was immediately arrested on a charge of studied by all those interested in the rela· bodies. In answer to the Lusirania's perjury for that very statement and held t ionship between war and the state.liJ S 0 S, Admiral Coke, commander at in prison without trial for three months. Queenstown, ordered everything afloat to . When he finally did stand trial the only (Near preu time REASON received B'(e· the rescue. This included theJuno, which evidence against him was a written deposi· viewcopy ofs new book on this rub(ect, was the first vessel to arrive in sight of the tlon from Malone, collector of the Port of The Lusitanla Disaster by Thomas A . Bailey . survivors. No one can read without out· New York. Nevertheless, Stahl spent andPaulS. Ryan {Macmillan, 1975,383 rage that before the Juno closed with the several years in jail, although in 1924 he pp.,$10.95/. Written in response to Simp· survivors, the Admiralty countermanded was quietly awarded $20,000 damages by son's book, it rakes serious issue with many Coke's instructions and ordered it back to the U.S. government. Dr. Riner von "Of the charges. contained therein. A review Queenstown. Almost another two hours Rettegh, a British·Austm·Hungarian of this new book will appear in a subse· elapsed before other vessels arrived on the double agent who prov.ided some evi· quent issue of REASON.-Ed.J scene. dence concerning the possibility of the cargo cdhtaining guncotton, was tried in J•ffroyRogmHummtJIr•~ivodhis B.A . in history Even more om~nous than thJ;ctual sink· camera and sent to Cleveland Peniten· from Grove Ciry Colk<;<t in11971. Afttr lhtfll ing was the Admiralty coverup conducted tiary. His trial record is still classified ~orsin rht Army,h.,nro/1«1or t/16 Univoruryof through a Court of Inquiry under Lord secret by the Department of Justice. T~xu•rAunln. ~Misdoifli grMiwtoWOtk Mersey. Captain Turner was selected as a in Mrtory. His nvlewof Opt:ntion KHI~ui•P. scapegoat. Evidence was tailored to fit The Lusitania incident stands revealed as a ,_or«/ in REASON'S NO'H~r 1974 i#U•. ' COMING NEXT MONTH an in·depth LUCIFER'S LEXICON by L. A. Rollins provt!rb, n. A saying that condenses the wisdom of experience into a half·tr~th . Half a truth is, I suppose, better than no truth at all. Following are some com· paratively worthy proverbs: 1. Presents make the• heart grow fonder. 2. People who live In glass houses shouldn't got stoned. 3. Two heads are better than none. 4. One man's meat is another man's sacred cow. 5. The carrot is mightier than the s tick . tender, adj. Readily yielding to blade or teeth: said of food, such as the tender hearts of Christian'mission· aries or the tender feet of the Donner party. ANOlHER DIVE FOR GOlD? - While Sllvet Rises! Get the opinion of the Letter which predicted what happened to gold In 1975 as long as five years ago and -avoided the stock market In 1973, 1974 and 1975 - because it was the ·only Service exclusively in Silver · since 1972. Send $5 for a sample Issue and find out why. lnt'l Investment CounseUors 'Ballygarrett' Herbert Road, Bray County Wlcklow, Ireland ,..son 63 -, REASON's Ma rch issue fe atures analysis of the politics of milk in today's mixed eeonomy, demonstrating' that, as far as politics is concerned, milk has something for everybody. Some of the more ominous 'new links. between the Fed era l government and business are ex· posed in Charlotte Twight's "Congress Heads Toward Fascism," an excerpt from her just-pub­lished book America's Emerging Fascist Econo­my. Attorney Donald Feder, head of the Nation· al Association of Libertarian Lawyers, examines and demolishes liberal argu ments for gun con· trol. And economist/historian Gary North re­turns to entertain us with his " Midnight Money Analysis." Also in the issue will be reviews of Percy Greaves' Mises Made Easier and Robe~ Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintena.nce plus David . Brudnoy's Viewpoint, John Pierce's Sci· ence Fiction column, and all . of REASON's regular features. · flbn~ery 1976 

https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&amp;context=econ_pub

Review of The Lusitania by Colin Simpson

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

San Jose State University

SJSU ScholarWorks