‘Lusitania: Life, Loss and Legacy’: The Merseyside Maritime Museum is hosting a major exhibition to mark the centenary of the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine on May 7th 1915.
Announcing the exhibition, Liverpool Museums said: “The Cunard luxury liner was torpedoed with the loss of 1,198 lives in one of the most horrific incidents at sea during the First World War. Only 761 people survived.
“Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of ‘Lusi’ this exhibition tells the story of the city’s most loved ship, its passengers and crew.”
Submarine warfare had started to intensify by the end of 1914 and in February of the next year, Germany declared the waters around Britain an official war zone.
Despite being a passenger ship, the Lusitania was also carrying munitions, a fact that the Germans used to legitimize the attack.
Nevertheless the sinking and loss of lives sparked outrage across the globe, particularly in America where 128 of the victims had been from.
The Lusitania sinking is seen as one of the main precursors to the United States entering the war in 1917, after Germany once again begun conducting unrestricted submarine warfare.
The exhibition will also focus on the liner’s connection to the city and people of Liverpool, and will feature many items from the ship and its passengers that have never been on display before.
Ellie Moffat, the Curator of Maritime Collections said: “Lusitania wasn’t just Liverpool’s most loved ship, it had worldwide fame, and was a familiar sight on both sides of the Atlantic. The loss was one of the most infamous events of the First World War.”
‘Lusitania: Life, Loss and Legacy’ opens at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool on March 27th 2015. To find out more , please visit the Merseyside Maritime Museum website.
Image: Merseyside Maritime Museum
Posted by: Eadaoin Hegarty, Centenary News