The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1915-06-12

ship capable of such speed as that
of the illfated liner was practically
immune from torpedo attack and that
vessel so thoroughly equipped with
water tight bulkheads, even IL hit,
could not possibly sink so quickly as
as to endanger the lives of the pas
sengers. The details Of the disaster
furn sh a startling contrast to this
feeling of security. The Lusitania
was capable of making 25. So knots, or
slightly less than 80 miles an hour.
When attacked the liner was alb )ut
ten miles off shore opposite Old Head
OF Kinsale, on the south coast Of Ire
land. 1t was running at about 20
niles an hour, this reduction In speed
having been made to enable the lin.
er to arrive off Liverpool at high tide
and thus avoid the necessity for wait
ing outside the bar at that port. Ac-
counts differ as to whether the ship
was hit by one or two torpedoes, but
in any event she sank within a peri
cd of not more than 20 minutes. The
attack came from the starboard eide,
and with one or more enormous holes
torn in the hull below the water line
the ship began to sink Immediately,
listing so quickly to starboard that 1t
was impossible to launch lifeboats
from the port side, although boa.s had
been swung from the davits az a pre-
caution against just such an emery IN
cy. Some boats were got off rom
the starboard SIDE, but before they
could be filled they were hanging far
out from the side of the ship ami were
practically inaccessible from the
decks. or the 1,9O6 persons on board
1874 lost their lives 115 of these be-
ing Americans.
One may we'll ask how 1t was that
this steamer, representing refine.
ments in construction supposed 10
make her positively unsuitable,
should succumb in 20 minutes, a que
ry which may be further emphasized
by the loss of that other pa'atial
specimen of modern arts the titanic.
The travelling public have thus had
thrust on them two terrible examples
Of supposedly unsuitable ships going
down. In each case with tremendous
loss Of life. and may be excused, with
considerable marg n, II prone to ques-
ton the efficacy Of some OF the claims
Of steamship companies and naval
constructors about ships being un-
sinkable.
II pressed, the naval architect would
contend that his calculations did not
take into consideration the variable
human element, or. rather assumed
that this factor were a perfect one.
That is, the architect cannot take in
to his computations whether or not
the doors In the bulkheads are abso-
lutely water tight when they are call
ed upon for duty, perhaps some years
after their installation; nor can he
tell whether OF not some Of the en-
CINE force may jam the doors pur-
posely, SO that. IL suddenly closed
from the bridge, they will not, In
their descent, crush one Of the crew
passing, or else make his exit i'm
possible. Any Of these things are
likely to happen, but the constructor
in his figuring cannot take them into
consideration. His decision that the
boat Is nonsinkable means that 1t will
not sink If everything Is carried out
according to plans, kept in good or
der, and presupposes, finally, that a
bulkhead is what It is intended to be
"a water tight division member
when called upon.
There can be no doubt but that ev-
erybody on board the Lusitania knew
that an attempt would probably be
made to destroy her. For that rea-
son 1t is natural to suppose that they
would take all ordinary precautions at
least. They would certainly see to
It that all water tight doors were in
good working order, and Captain
Turner has stated that as soon as
he picked up the Irish coast he had
the boats got out and all the water
tight doors closed Therefore, there
is every reason to believe that at the
time of the torpedoing the conditions
on the ship were very near to what
the naval constructor would wish
them to be to justify his calculations.
In other words, bulkhead was prob
ably bulkhead.,
Still the brusque fact remains that
the Lusitania went down in 20 min
utes, taking with her many persons
who perhaps from confidence in her
unsinkability-a thing which her very
SIZE would inspire had not even de-
signed to put on life preservers. She
sank, too, despite all this preparation,
despite all her details of construction