Montagu Grant, 47, was traveling aboard Lusitania with his wife Chastina to visit his three sisters, presumably in Liverpool, whom they had not seen in years. The Grants were British subjects living in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He was a traveling salesman for American Can Company, and he and Chastina lived at 1412 Hyde Park Boulevard in Chicago.
The Grants were with James Brooks when the torpedo struck the ship and the second explosion enveloped them in a cloud of dust and steam. The Grants were lost in the Lusitania disaster.
Lusitania
The Grants were in cabin D-39 for the last voyage of the Lusitania.
Just before the Lusitania disaster, on 7 May 1915, Montagu and Chastina Grant were on the sun deck (also variously referred to as navigation deck, Marconi deck, and hurricane deck). They saw James Brooks on the boat deck below and called out to him.
Brooks climbed the companionway to join the Grants. They made plans to play shuffleboard and were waiting for a fourth to join them when Brooks noticed a white streak approaching diagonally from the starboard side. Brooks said flatly, “That’s a torpedo.”
A solid shock went through Lusitania and, in Brooks’ words, “instantly up through the decks went coal, debris of all kinds . . . in a cloud, up in the air and mushroomed up 150 feet above the Marconi wires.” This was accompanied by “a volume of water thrown with violent force” that knocked the Grants and Brooks flat on the ground.
Chastina weakly called for her husband, “Oh Monty.”
Brooks got up and ran between the second and third funnels to find Montagu and Chastina lying on the deck on the starboard side. Then came “a slight second shock” that enveloped him in steam. He felt that he was going to suffocate. When the steam cleared, the Grants were gone.
Both Montagu and Chastina Grant were lost in the Lusitania sinking. Montagu’s body was recovered as of Thursday, 20 May 1915, as #230. Chastina’s body was also recovered.
Contributors
Judith Tavares
References
Hoehling, A. A. and Mary Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania. Madison Books, 1956.
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy. Berkley Books, 2002.
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