This is said to be the last known photograph of the Lusitania taken in 1915 before she was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I, and it comes from Conway Books’ splendid Ship of the Day series.
As its name suggests, Conway’s series presents an image of a ship each day, accompanied by a genuinely informative potted history. For example, I’d forgotten that the sinking of civilian ships including the Lusitania is said to have been among the reasons the United States entered WWI. Among the 1,198 lives lost when the Lusitania went down were some 124 US citizens.
The Ship of the Day series is all good. Lusitania was yesterday’s ship: today’s is the Hunley.
Don’t know if it is true, but it is claimed that Churchill, then first Lord of the Admirality, said that the Lusitania was the lifebait to lure the Americans into WW I.
I’m not sure… Weren’t there a number of ships crossing the Atlantic? And surely without them there would have been no movement of people across the sea? No doubt that Churchill would have been very glad to have the USA on his side.