Duncan Arthur Walpole Hanes, 32, was a credit manager for J.H. Ashdown Hardware in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Hanes was a member of the Saskatoon Gun Club, and secretary of Imperial Lodge. He was a pioneer in the development of mining in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Hanes came to Saskatoon from Calgary, Alberta, 3 and 1/2 years earlier and was married, with two boys at home. His cabin on Lusitania was C 3 and he shared it with Reverend Henry Wood Simpson and Reverend Canon Ernest Phair. The stewardess in charge of their cabin was May Bird.
The following is Hanes’ first-person account from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, published just weeks after the sinking:
It was just after lunch, about five minutes past two, that the crash came. The torpedo struck the vessel in the starboard sided at about the centre and there was immediately a list to that side. Then followed what appeared to be a shifting of the engines; after this came a very noticeable list.
There was no apparent panic in the part of the boat where I was. We were just oppoosite the lounge door on the port side and following the crash of the torpedo, debris and water came over the back, causing the people to run to cover wherever they could find it. In every case which I saw, the lifeboats which were launched from the port side upset. The great momentum tightened the pulley blocks so that they could not release the ropes and the boats upset.
The speed at which we were travelling as the vessel sank was really great. We must have gone at least two or three miles while the ship was going down. I had a chance to experience for myself how fast she was going when I threw a chair into the sea, hoping that I could jump near it and have something to support me. I had not realized how fast the ship was travelling and was surprised when we left the chair behind.
When the funnels fell over there appeared to be quite a suction and I noticed that many boats were drawn into toward the centre. I decided it was about time for me to leave so I took off my boots and coat. I was still at this time on A deck. The boat was apparently sinking at an angle of 45 degrees with the stern completely out of the water. I went over the side from A deck to C deck, standing on the rail on C deck until the water came to my feet. Several others left the ship at about the same time as I did.
I swam about 25 yards and then there was a great suction. When I came to the surface I looked for the boat, but it was out of sight and the sea was very rough. I was drawn down the second time, but again came to the surface, this time between two upturned lifeboats, which pressed my stomach and back between them severely. I made shift to hold on, however, and was helped on to the bottom of the boat by a cripple named Mannion.
We fastened the two boats together and later got a third, which we fastened also. About the same time Mannion and I got on the lifeboat, quite a number of others did the same. We got a fourth lifeboat later on and fastened the whole four of them together. We were picked up after hours in the water and when we were finally rescued there were 47 persons clinging to those four lifeboats.
Hanes was received into hospital at 10:30 that night and remained there for a week.
He died in hospital in The Pas, Manitoba in 1953, at the age of 70.
Related pages
Prichard Letters: Letter from Julia Bishop dated 15 March 1916
Contributors:
Bob Florence
Mike Poirier
References:
Saskatoon Star Phoenix, May 1915.
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