History, Passenger & Crew Biographies, and Lusitania Facts
…utral American ships in service. The family was at lunch when the torpedo hit on 7 May. Joseph, who was trained in munitions in the French army, believed that illegal munitions caused the second explosion that caused Lusitania to sink in 18 minutes. Glass, china, and chandeliers crashed as the ship listed violently to starboard. Joseph and Jessie had insisted that their children dine with them in the main second-cabin dining room instead of in the…
…sie was pregnant with another child. In April 1915, Joseph resigned his position and booked second-cabin passage for his family on the Lusitania. They would reestablish themselves in Birmingham, England. Knowing the danger posed by German submarines, they had booked the Lusitania in preference of a fast ship over an American one. Lusitania Lusitania departed New York on 1 May 1915. As the ship neared Ireland it seemed possible that they would reac…
…fter the first crash a second one came along, with the same sinking sensation on the one side. The men did a great deal for the women and children, but remember, the boat sank to the bottom in less than twenty minutes. The lifeboats that were lowered were either overturned or smashed against the side of the boat, dumping the human loads into the ocean. I don’t pretend to describe the total scene; it was too horrible, but I did everything I could t…
…which was probably the boilers exploding. Soot and coal dust covered everyone on deck, and the ship plunged into the water. Thomas King was lost in the Lusitania disaster. His body returned to New York City on the ocean liner New York on Monday, 24 May 1915. His funeral was held at Christ’s Church, Rye, New York, on Tuesday 25 May 1915, after the 10:05 a.m. train arrived with his body from Grand Central Terminal. King is buried in Greenwood Union…
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