Lusitania

RMS Lusitania luxury ocean liner owned by the Cunard was a British Steamship Line Shipping Company and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland.

Christened and launched on Thursday, June 7, 1906, Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine, U-20, on May 7, 1915. The great ship sank eight miles (15 km) off of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard.

 

Specifications

 

 

•         Gross Tonnage:   31,550 GRT

 

•         Displacement:   44,060 Long Tons                                                           

 

•         Length: 787 ft (239.87 m)

 

•         Beam:   87 ft 6 in (26.67 m)

 

•         Number of funnels:        4

 

•         Number of masts:         2

 

•         Construction:    Steel

 

•         Power: 25 Scotch boilers. Four direct-acting Parsons steam turbines producing 76000 hp geared to quadruple screws

 

•         Propulsion:  Four triple blade propellers. Quadruple blade propellers installed 1909.

 

•         Service Speed: 25 knots (46.3 km/h / 28.8 mph) Top speed (single-day's run): 26.7 knots (49.4 km/h) (March, 1914)

 

•         Passenger Accommodation (Designed): 552 first class, 460 second class, 1,186 third class. 2,198 total

 

•         Crew:   850

       

 

Ownership

 

The American owner of the Lusitania liner wreck off Ireland has won an Irish court judgement allowing him to dive the remains.

The decision of the Supreme Court in Dublin means that Greg Bemis, 76, who became a co-owner of the wreck in 1968 and has since bought out the other two owners, can mount explorative dives.

Diving had been discouraged by the Arts and Heritage Ministry, which refused to grant an exploration licence. The ship is now designated as a protected historic site under Irish law. Bemis hopes to put together a provisional diving expedition this summer, before ramping up the exploration project in 2008. His licence to dive the site, granted by the Supreme Court, runs for five years.