Sinking the Lusitania

Narrator: TWELVE MILES OFF THE COAST OF IRELAND,

THE WORLD'S FINEST PASSENGER LINER, LUSITANIA,

HAS ENTERED THE WAR ZONE.

ON BOARD, NEARLY 2,000 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

HIDDEN BENEATH THE WAVES,

GERMAN SUBMARINE U-20 FIRES A SINGLE TORPEDO...

THAT WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

IT WILL BE BRANDED ONE OF THE WORLD'S FIRST WAR CRIMES

AND PULL AMERICA INTO THE FIGHT.

BASED ON FIRST HAND-ACCOUNTS,

THIS IS THE TRUE STORY OF TWELVE PEOPLE

WHOSE LIVES NOW HANG IN THE BALANCE.

FROM THE MOMENT OF IMPACT,

LUSITANIA WILL SURVIVE FOR JUST 18 MINUTES.

18 MINUTES THAT WILL DECIDE THE FATE OF THOUSANDS.

Narrator: 9:30 IN THE MORNING.

SIX DAYS BEFORE THE LUSITANIA'S SINKING.

THE FINEST PASSENGER LINER IN THE WORLD

IS PREPARING TO EMBARK ON THE 3,000-MILE VOYAGE

FROM NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.

Woman: THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN SIGHTSEERS

COMING TO SEE THE LUSITANIA OFF.

THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN BANDS.

THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN FLAGS FLYING.

THE LUSITANIA WAS A CELEBRITY SHIP.

Man: IT WAS A MAJOR EVENT.

THERE WERE POLITICIANS, THERE WERE SOCIALITES,

PEOPLE SAYING GOODBYE OR PEOPLE SAYING HELLO.

Woman: THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN FIRST-CLASS PASSENGERS

ARRIVING BY CARRIAGE OR BY CAR,

THEIR LUGGAGE BEING CARRIED ON BOARD FOR THEM.

OTHER LESS WELL-OFF PASSENGERS STRUGGLING ON THE QUAYSIDE,

LUGGING THEIR SUITCASES WITH THEM.

THERE WAS ALWAYS A SENSE OF OCCASION,

A SENSE OF A PARTY, IF YOU LIKE,

WHEN THE LUSITANIA WAS IN TOWN.

Narrator: 787 FEET LONG,

LUSITANIA IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST SHIPS.

HER SEVEN DECKS ACCOMMODATE OVER 2,000 PASSENGERS,

FROM 260 LUXURIOUS FIRST-CLASS SALOONS...

TO THE MORE MODEST CABINS DOWN IN THIRD CLASS.

AMONG THE THIRD-CLASS PASSENGERS SAILING TODAY

ARE 47-YEAR-OLD GEORGE HOOK AND HIS CHILDREN.

Woman: THE HOOK FAMILY WERE ORIGINALLY FROM KENT.

GEORGE HOOK AND HIS WIFE

HAD TAKEN THEIR TWO CHILDREN TO CANADA.

UNFORTUNATELY, IN 1908,

HIS WIFE CONTRACTED PNEUMONIA AND DIED,

LEAVING HIM A WIDOWER.

Narrator: NOW, ON THE GANGPLANK

OF WHAT THEY SIMPLY CALLED "THE BIG SHIP,"

YOUNG ELSIE AND FRANK HOOK

ARE RETURNING HOME TO ENGLAND WITH THEIR FATHER.

AND THE WHOLE FAMILY IS JUST A LITTLE NERVOUS.

Alexandra Churchill: ELSIE WAS QUITE TALL FOR HER AGE.

SHE WAS A YEAR TOO OLD TO BE CLASSED AS A CHILD,

BUT GEORGE HAD BOOKED HER A CHILD TICKET,

AND SHE HAD TO DUCK AS THEY BOARDED THE SHIP

TO MAKE HERSELF LOOK SLIGHTLY YOUNGER.

Narrator: THE 601 SECOND-CLASS PASSENGERS

INCLUDE NETTIE AND WALTER MITCHELL

FROM THE NORTH OF IRELAND.

CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS,

THEY HAD IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA

WHEN WALTER WAS OFFERED A JOB IN A FLAX MILL.

Colleen Watters: WHEN HE WAS OFFERED THIS JOB

IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY,

HE JUST SAID TO NETTIE, "WILL YOU COME WITH ME?"

AND SHE SAID YES.

THEY GOT MARRIED JUST AFTER CHRISTMAS,

AND THAT WAS IN DECEMBER 1912.

THEY REALLY SEEM TO HAVE LOVED AMERICA.

Narrator: THREE YEARS LATER,

NETTIE AND WALTER HAVE DECIDED TO RETURN HOME TO IRELAND

WITH THEIR 10-MONTH-OLD SON.

Watters: THEY ALSO CALLED HIM WALTER DAWSON MITCHELL, TOO,

SO HE'S BABY WALTER.

AND THERE'S THIS ONE HERE

THAT SHOWS THE BABY LOOKING OUT OF HIS BASKET,

AND ON THE BACK IT SAYS,

"ROWING FOR THE SHORE

AT 16 WEEKS OLD."

Narrator: TRAVELING WITH THE MITCHELLS

IS NETTIE'S BROTHER, JOHN,

WHO IMMIGRATED TO CONNECTICUT FIVE YEARS AGO.

DURING THE MITCHELLS' TIME AWAY FROM HOME,

THE WORLD HAS SEEN A CATACLYSMIC CHANGE.

WHILE AMERICA REMAINS NEUTRAL,

BRITAIN AND GERMANY ARE AT WAR.

THEIR ARMIES ARE LOCKED IN STALEMATE

ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT.

CASUALTIES HAVE REACHED MORE THAN HALF A MILLION.

AT THE END OF 1914,

THE BRITISH IMPOSE A TOTAL SEA BLOCKADE,

PREVENTING EVEN FOOD FROM REACHING GERMANY.

Axel Niestlé: THIS BLOCKADE WAS SURELY FELT IN GERMANY,

SO THE GERMAN PUBLIC AS WELL AS THE GERMAN MILITARY CIRCLES

ASKED FOR SOMETHING IN ORDER TO RETALIATE ON THE BRITISH.

Narrator: THE GERMAN HIGH COMMAND'S RESPONSE

COMES IN THE FORM

OF A NEW, RELATIVELY

THE U-BOAT.

Eric Grove: THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT DECIDED

THAT IT WOULD DECLARE A WAR ZONE AROUND THE BRITISH ISLES,

AND IN THAT WAR ZONE

SHIPS COULD BE TORPEDOED ON SIGHT.

Narrator: AS THE LUSITANIA PREPARES TO SAIL,

THE GERMAN ATTACK SUBMARINE U-20 IS HEADED FOR THE WAR ZONE.

TO DESTROY ANY BRITISH VESSELS IN ITS PATH.

28, LUSITANIA WEIGHS ANCHOR.

SETTLING INTO HIS SALOON-CLASS CABIN ON THE PROMENADE DECK

IS NEW YORK THEATRE PRODUCER CHARLES FROHMAN.

Preston: CHARLES FROHMAN WAS ONE OF THE LEADING

THEATRICAL IMPRESARIOS OF HIS DAY.

HE WAS A GREAT FRIEND OF J.M. BARRIE.

HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON

TO PERCEIVE THAT A PLAY LIKE "PETER PAN"

COULD BE A HUGE SUCCESS.

HE BOUGHT THE RIGHTS AND STAGED IT.

Narrator: FROHMAN IS AMONG THOSE WHO READ THE NOTICE

PLACED IN THE AMERICAN PRESS

A WARNING TO ALL PASSENGERS

THAT BRITISH SHIPS ENTERING THE WAR ZONE

DO SO AT THEIR OWN RISK.

Preston: BUT HE JUST SORT OF SHRUGGED ALL THIS OFF.

WHEN ONE FRIEND SAID, YOU KNOW, "DO YOU FEAR THE U-BOATS?"

HE SAID, "I'M NOT AFRAID OF U-BOATS.

I'M ONLY AFRAID OF IOUs."

Brian Hawley: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE

EVEN ON A NORMAL CROSSING,

BUT THIS WAS NOT A NORMAL CROSSING.

PEOPLE KNEW THEY WERE GOING INTO A DANGEROUS SITUATION.

Preston: MANY MORE PEOPLE EVEN THAN USUAL

HAD COME TO SEE THE LUSITANIA DEPART,

LOTS OF PRESS MEN, LOTS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS

RATHER MACABRELY TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF PEOPLE,

SAYING, "LOOK, IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO YOU,

AT LEAST WE'VE GOT YOUR PICTURE, HAVEN'T WE?"

Narrator: LEAVING PIER 54 AND AMERICA BEHIND,

LUSITANIA EMBARKS ON HER VOYAGE...

CARRYING THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF 2,000 PEOPLE

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC...

INTO THE DANGER ZONE.

DAY TWO OF LUSITANIA'S 202nd CROSSING OF THE ATLANTIC.

NO ONE ON BOARD IS AWARE

THAT THIS IS DESTINED TO BE HER LAST.

NEW YORK THEATRE PRODUCER CHARLES FROHMAN

SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME IN HIS FIRST-CLASS CABIN,

ACCOMPANIED BY PILES OF SCRIPTS.

Preston: FROHMAN WAS A REAL WORKAHOLIC.

THAT'S PROBABLY WHAT HAD MADE HIM SUCH A SUCCESS,

BUT HE SUFFERED QUITE BADLY FROM RHEUMATISM.

HE WALKED VERY SLOWLY, LEANING ON A STICK,

A STICK WHICH WAS SO CLOSELY ATTACHED TO HIM,

HE CALLED IT HIS WIFE.

SO HE WASN'T OFTEN SEEN OUT AND ABOUT THE SHIP.

Narrator: FROHMAN WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED TO DISCOVER

THAT A CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND IS ALSO TRAVELING IN FIRST CLASS.

TWO DECKS BELOW, IN CABIN D15,

STAR OF THE SILENT SCREEN,

25-YEAR-OLD FRENCH ACTRESS RITA JOLIVET.

Preston: SHE HAD IN FACT, IN SPITE OF THE WARNING,

ONLY BOUGHT HER TICKET THAT MORNING.

SHE HAD A BROTHER WHO WAS IN FRANCE

WHO SHE BELIEVED WAS ABOUT TO BE POSTED TO THE WESTERN FRONT,

AND SHE WANTED TO GO OVER TO FRANCE TO SEE HIM

BEFORE HE GOT INVOLVED IN THE FIGHTING.

Narrator: DURING THE CROSSING,

THE FLAGSHIP PASSENGER LINER LIVES UP TO HER NICKNAME,

"GREYHOUND OF THE SEAS."

DRIVEN BY FOUR GIANT PARSONS TURBINE ENGINES

PRODUCING 68,000 HORSEPOWER,

LUSITANIA'SUNRIVALED TOP SPEED OF 25 KNOTS

HAS ALREADY MADE HER THE PRIDE OF HER COUNTRY.

Hawley: THE LUSITANIA

REPRESENTED BRITAIN'S MARITIME MIGHT