The Cunard liner Lusitania off the Old Head of Kinsale

Had Lusitania survived the First World War, she and her equally celebrated sister Mauretania might well have become the most successful pair of liners every to ply the North Atlantic passenger trade. Conceived as Cunard's response to J.P. Morgan's acquisition of the rival White Star Line, the two ships were ordered in 1905 and Lusitania was completed first in August 1907. Built by John Brown at Clydebank and registered at 31,550 tons, she measured 787 feet in length with an 87½ foot beam, and was the largest vessel in the world when she entered service in September 1907. The first liner to be powered by steam turbines, she captured the "Blue Riband" from the German liner Kaiser Wilhelm II on her second crossing with an average speed of 23.99 knots and even though she soon surrendered this record to Mauretania, she nevertheless continued to turn in fast, regular passages in the years prior to the Great War and was a hugely popular ship with the travelling public.

Clearing New York on 1st May 1915 with almost 2,000 persons aboard, Lusitania entered the Irish Sea on the 7th and was off the Old Head of Kinsale at 2.00pm. when, without warning, she was struck by a single torpedo from the German submarine U-20. Almost immediately this was followed by a second, much more violent explosion; in an instant the great ship lost way and began heeling over. Within eighteen minutes she had sunk with massive loss of life, including 134 American citizens, and her loss was undoubtedly a major factor in persuading the U.S.A. to enter the War on the side of the Allies. The riddle of her rapid sinking has remained controversial to this day and argument still rages as to whether she was or was not illegally carrying munitions in direct contravention of her role as a passenger ship. As a result of his dives, Dr. Robert Ballard has concluded that the actual cause was the explosion of methane gas in the empty coal bunkers but whatever the truth of this claim, the sinking remains one of the greatest maritime tragedies of all time.

For a full account of the loss of the Lusitania, see Christie's Maritime catalogue, 14 May 1998, lot 62.