May 7, 2015, marks the 100th anniversary of
the tragic sinking of the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland by a German
submarine torpedo. Eric Larson has written, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of
the Lusitania, that revisits the tragedy that pulled us into the first World
War
Dead Wake will not disappoint. Larson keeps the stories short within the 353 pages alternating
from three different perspectives. For example, one chapter is about the Lusitania. The following chapter discusses the
German submarines fearfully known as U-Boats. Then the third chapter talks
about Room 40 where code breakers worked to decipher German transmissions.
The Lusitania was known as one of the greyhounds in
the Dreadnought era of transatlantic crossings. A member of the Cunard Fleet that
included the Umbria, Etruria, Carpathia and Queen Mary to name a few, the
Lusitania was a luxurious superliner capable of 26 knots. Called Lucy for
short, the beloved ship successfully completed 201 Atlantic crossings by April
1915.
Walther Schweiger was the German captain of
Unterseeboot – 20 (U-20) that sent the Lusitania to its watery grave. According
to the book, the U -20 was 210 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 27 feet tall. The
living space was a cylinder in the middle while two cylinders on each side were
filled or drained of water depending on the desired depth.
Because submarines lost contact with their land base,
the captains were allowed to make decisions without orders from superiors. It
was said a U-boat took on the personality of the captain. Schweiger was an
ambitious happy man caring enough to aide in the rescue attempts after
torpedoing a helpless ship. U-20 was known as a happy ship.
In room 40 of the Admiralty, an old building
overlooking the Thames, a group of code breakers deciphered the day’s
transmissions from U-boats once they entered the North Sea. The Germans plotted
the seas around England and Ireland in 6 mile squares. When chatting sub to
sub, captains would indicate where they were by a number that represented one
of the squares. Room 40 knew exactly where each U-boat was since submarines
stayed in continuous contact.
As I write this, Dead Wake is number one on the New
York Times bestseller list having shot to that coveted slot from its release
date of March 10. Four weeks on the list and four weeks at number one is a feat
all authors aspire to achieve. It is certainly a tribute to Larson’s writing
talent and readers will find themselves enthralled.
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