After Brandell had played on Broadway in the spring of 1915 on May 1 she boarded the RMS "Lusitania" to return to London. She was accompanied by Mrs Mabel Crichton, the wife of a friend. The actress knew of the danger of being hit by a submarine in British territorial waters and she was not confident that the ship could outrace a submarine and, as she put it, was "in a state" for much of the voyage. She and Mabel Crichton (who did not survive the sinking) became friendly with their tablemates: Max Schwarcz and Francis Bertram Jenkins. However, despite the convivial company on board Brandell never got over her feeling of dread. Jenkins did not help matters by pointing out the shortage of lifebelts on board. Brandell begged Mabel Crichton to allow her to stay the night in Crichton's cabin because she was so frightened. Crichton welcomed Brandell into her cabin and spent most of the night trying to reassure her that nothing would happen to them. However, Brandell's fears were proved right and the next day on May 7, 1915 the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank. In her written deposition to the authorities Brandell wrote: