The passenger liner Lusitania, sunk by a German U-boat on May 7th 1915, will be remembered with a series of events in the Irish port of Cobh, starting in February 2015.
At the time of the sinking Cobh, near Cork, was called Queenstown.
The commemorations begin on February 1st with a recital on the 49-bell carillon of St Colman’s Cathedral. This will be followed with a performance by the Cobh Confraternity Band.
Almost 1,200 people died aboard the Lusitania when it was torpedoed on a crossing from New York to Liverpool. The names of 169 of the victims who’re buried in Cobh’s Old Church Cemetery will be read aloud by schoolchildren.
On May 7th 2015, the Cunard liner Queen Victoria will be in Cobh as part of a day of tributes.
At sunset, a parade of boats with white lights will symbolize the return of the rescue ships which were sent to pick up survivors from the Lusitania and recover the dead.
There are are also plans for Lusitania’s whistle to be blown for the first time in 100 years at the proposed Lusitania Museum on the Old Head of Kinsale, the nearest land to where the liner went down.
More details of Cobh’s Lusitania commemorations can be found on the Visit Cobh website.
Posted by: Ellen Tranter, Centenary News