Richard Wylie, 31, was a British subject and the Third Junior Third Engineer aboard the Lusitania‘s last voyage. He survived the sinking.
On the day of the Lusitania disaster, 7 May 1915, Wylie was sleeping in his bunk when the torpedo hit. He helped passengers to the boat deck. Seconds before the ship sank from beneath him, Wylie jumped overboard and swam to a capsized lifeboat. He and a passenger, also clinging onto the overturned boat, pulled 46 others out of the water.
Wylie later became assistant marine engineer of the Cunard-White Star Line, formed after the rival companies Cunard and White Star merged in 1934. In 1935, Wylie attended a crew reunion held in commemoration of the Lusitania‘s 20th sinking anniversary in New York City. The reunion was hosted by former Senior Third Officer but now-captain and marine assistant superintendent John Idwal Lewis. Also in attendance were William Ewart Gladstone Jones, since then promoted to chief electrical engineer aboard the Scythia; Alexander Duncan, since then promoted to chief officer of the Berengaria; and Albert Charles Dunn, since then promoted to chief engineer of the Bantria. They drank a silent toast to their shipmates who were lost in the Lusitania sinking.
Contributors
Jim Kalafus, USA
Michael Poirier, USA
References
Kalafus, Jim & Michael Poirier ( 2005 ) “Lest We Forget Part 2 : As The Lusitania Went Down” Gare Maritime. Online. (ref: #4701, accessed 5 September 2012) <http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lusitania-lest-we-forget-2.html>.
“Three Lusitania Survivors Drink Toast to Shipmates.” Reading Eagle. Tuesday, 7 May 1935, page 13.
I am searching for information on my great grandfather (Patrick Casey ) who died on the Lusitantia and is buried in Cohbn . He was a fire man stocker ? Born in Wicklow ,resident in Liverpool . All the family possession where destroyed in the 1940 blitz s of the city . So I have very little information belonging to him . I would be very grateful for any help .