American victims of the LUSITANIA, May 27, 1915
Body of an American victim being carried away on a stretcher covered by flag. Source: Library of Congress, no rights reserved.
The Hour of Tragedy
“The hour of two had struck and most of the first cabin passengers were just finishing luncheon. Suddenly at an estimated distance of about 1,000 yards from the ship there shone against the bright sea the conning tower of a submarine torpedo boat. Almost immediately there appeared a churning streak in the water and the trail of a death-dealing torpedo was marked. Passengers who saw the onrushing engine of destruction found no time for deep reflection. Instantly there was an explosion. Portions of the splintered hull of the steel vessel mounted upward over the waves to mark the stroke of the torpedo and fell again to mingle with still more debris sent aloft by the explosion of a second torpedo,” so reads “The Tragedy of the Lusitania” (1915) by Capt. Frederick D. Ellis [source: Library of Congress https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2015/05/the-sinking-of-the-lusitania/]