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NARRATIVE NONFICTION

Attack at Sea
The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 shocked and horrified the world. This is the incredible true story of a 12-year-old girl
who was there.

By Kristin Lewis From the October 2024 Issue

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Select a Lexile® How does the author help you understand what life was like aboard the Lusitania?
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950L The morning of May 1, 1915, dawned warm and drizzly in New York
City. Twelve-year-old Elsie Hook, her 11-year-old brother, Frank, and
760L her father, George, were about to board one of the most spectacular
ships in the world.

Download and Print Elsie was filled with excitement as she hurried up the gangway. The
Reading Level (760L) pier around her vibrated with activity. Crew members were barking
orders. Motorcars and buggies were depositing passengers and their
mountains of luggage. A band was playing. And throngs of reporters
Spanish-Language
Version and curious onlookers were scrambling to catch a glimpse of the RMS
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Lusitania—a ship so magnificent it was called a “floating palace.”
Elsie Hook

Elsie must have gazed in wonder at the Lusitania’s four towering steel
funnels, which gleamed in the rays of sunshine that briefly pierced the gray clouds. She must have
marveled at the ship’s shiny black hull, which stretched the length of more than two football fields.
She must have felt glamorous to be traveling to England on a ship as grand as a fancy New York hotel.

But as the Lusitania steamed out of New York Harbor, there was something Elsie could not have
known: Thousands of miles away, another boat had also headed out to sea. It was a German war
submarine, or U-boat.

And in just six days, that U-boat would tear the Lusitania apart.

A Rapidly Changing World

Elsie and her family were about to start a new life. Elsie’s mother had
passed away 18 months earlier, and her father had decided to move
the family back to his native country, England. But Elsie’s life wasn’t
the only thing that had recently changed. Over the last few decades,
the whole world had been transformed.

Cities and towns alike were suddenly filled with shiny new
automobiles, bright electric lights, and ingenious machines like the
telegraph, which sent messages around the globe in minutes.
Advances in science and technology had made life safer, more
©Look and Learn/Bridgeman Images
exciting, and more connected than ever before.
POWER AND LUXURY
The Lusitania was one of the
Perhaps nothing symbolized the power of human ingenuity more largest, fastest, and most
than ocean liners like the Lusitania. A journey across the Atlantic luxurious passenger ships of its
Ocean had once taken months. But with its steam-powered engines, day. The wealthiest passengers
bought first-class tickets. They
the Lusitania could cross the ocean in mere days.
enjoyed handsome cabins and
dined in a grand hall, where
At the start of the 20th century, it seemed as if humans could do they feasted on roast duck,
anything—yet by the time the Lusitania set sail in 1915, that optimism broiled sea bass, apple tarts,
was starting to slip away. and chocolate cakes. Others
traveled more simply.

Granger, NYC/The Granger Collection

Some of the Lusitania’s passengers were women and children visiting their husbands and fathers
fighting in the war. Others were doctors and nurses volunteering for the Red Cross.

The Horrors of War

Less than a year earlier, tensions in Europe had exploded into war.
Great Britain, Russia, and France (the Allied Powers) were fighting
Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary (the Central
Powers) in World War I.

In the U.S., most people didn’t want to get involved in Europe’s

problems. So for the most part, life went on as usual. Still, Elsie no
doubt heard stories about what was happening across the Atlantic,
where new weapons were unleashing death and destruction on a
scale the world had never before seen. Elsie may have heard stories of
soldiers huddled in miserable, mud-filled trenches, of once-beautiful
countryside scarred by fire and barbed wire, of thousands killed by
poison gases and rapid-fire machine guns.

Yet the horrors of war likely seemed distant as the Lusitania sailed Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

through the open sea, the cold waters of the Atlantic splashIng across The warning issued by the
its bow. Soon, however, everyone on board would experience the German embassy

horrors of the War In Europe firsthand.

The week before the Lusitania left New York, the German embassy in Washington, D.C., had issued a
warning to Americans that any ships sailing near England were in danger of being attacked.

And England is exactly where the Lusitania was headed.

ullstein bild/The Granger Collection

DANGEROUS WATERS
The German embassy warned that ships traveling in the waters near England were targets for
German U-boats. Few passengers on the Lusitania took the warnings seriously, thinking Germany
would not target a civilian ship.

The Unsinkable Ship

The first two days at sea were cold and dreary. Elsie and Frank explored the Lusitania’s long corridors
and open decks. They mingled with other passengers in the dining room, where they sat at enormous
tables piled high with fried fish, pies, and puddings. Elsie was excited that even as a third-class
passenger, she was allowed to explore the first-class part of the ship, which contained luxuries beyond
her wildest dreams. In first class, wealthy passengers stayed in spacious cabins and ate in an opulent
dining hall, where they feasted on caviar and oysters.

Yet the many wonders of the ship could not protect the Lusitania as it drew closer to its destination. It
was well known that German U-boats prowled the waters near Great Britain, lurking unseen beneath
the waves. They had been torpedoing British supply ships there for months.

If any of the Lusitania’s passengers expressed concern, however, crew members were quick to calm
their jitters. The Lusitania would not be sunk, they said. It was too fast. Nothing could catch it. Even
the ship’s captain, William Turner—who had received notices about U-boat sightings from the British
Navy—seemed unconcerned.

The idea of the Lusitania being in any danger was “the best joke I’ve heard in many days,” he had told
reporters back in New York.

It was easy to trust him. He was a highly experienced captain, having crossed the Atlantic safely
dozens of times.

Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo (masks); ©Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images (Machine Gun)

INSTRUMENTS OF WAR
During World War I, new technology brought destruction on a massive scale. Machine guns fired
bullets at terrifying rates. Airplanes dropped bombs from high above, while submarines torpedoed
boats from deep below. By the time the conflict ended, about 20 million people had died.

Soldiers wore masks like these shown above, to protect against poison gas attacks. After World War
I, many world leaders agreed to ban the use of poison gas in warfare.

On the Hunt

The captain of the German submarine U-20 was a bright and well-respected man named Walther
Schwieger. Like the Lusitania, his U-boat was a technological marvel. Silent and stealthy, it could
creep up on any ship and sink it with a single torpedo. (By the end of World War I, U-boats would sink
more than 5,000 ships.) But unlike the glorious Lusitania, the U-20 was hot and cramped. It reeked of
sweat, chemical fumes, and human waste.

On the afternoon of May 7, Schwieger and his crew were on the hunt. They had sunk two British ships
the day before, and now they were after a new prize. Schwieger peered through his binoculars; in the
distance, he could just make out the four funnels of the Lusitania.

He commanded his submarine to dive beneath the waves and move into position to attack. When the
U-boat was less than half a mile from the Lusitania, Schwieger ordered his crew to launch a torpedo.

Jim McMahon/Mapman ®

A Nightmare

The torpedo slithered through the water like a snake. When it struck the Lusitania, the torpedo
exploded, launching a fountain of water and debris high into the air. A second explosion followed,
sending a mighty shudder through the ship. (The cause of the second explosion is debated—one
theory is that a boiler exploded.) Glass shattered. Fire broke out. Passengers screamed in terror.

There was little doubt about what had happened: The Lusitania had been attacked.

Immediately, Captain Turner ordered the ship to stop, but the controls were no longer working and
the ship plowed forward, taking on more and more water.

Meanwhile, on the deck, Elsie, Frank, and their father fought panic as the ship started to list, or tilt,
sharply. All around them, men, women, and children were slipping, some becoming tangled in the
ship’s ropes.

Both crew members and passengers tried to hoist the 10-ton lifeboats into the water. But as the ship
listed, the boats swung wildly on the ropes being used to lower them, crushing some people and
trapping others.

Elsie’s father quickly decided that they’d be better off in the water. So the three of them clutched the
railing, waiting for the right moment to jump into the cold sea. If they leapt too soon, they could be
hurt or killed in the fall. If they waited too long, they could be sucked down with the ship.

They said a prayer.

Elsie turned to two frantic women beside her and said simply, “Don’t worry, God will save you.”

And then, when the waves began to swirl around their feet, they leaped.

Elsie and her father surfaced.

But Frank?

He was just . . . gone.

Robert Hunt/Windmill Books/UIG via Getty Images

THE CAPTAIN
Captain William Turner was one of the most experienced and respected captains employed by the
Cunard Steamship Company, which owned and operated the Lusitania. After the disaster, though,
Turner’s life changed. He felt deep shame for having survived when so many had not.

An Agonizing Search

It took 18 minutes for the Lusitania to sink. For those who made it off the ship, the ordeal was just
beginning.

Only six of the Lusitania’s 48 lifeboats had been successfully launched. Hundreds of survivors bobbed
in the bone-chilling 55-degree water. They were less than 12 miles from the coast of Ireland—
maddeningly, close enough to see the shoreline, but too far to swim. Many would die of hypothermia,
a condition in which the body’s temperature drops too low.

As for Elsie and her father, they were eventually pulled into one of the six lifeboats. They shouted
Frank’s name again and again, their voices joining the cries of hundreds of others.

No reply ever came.

At last, after three miserable hours, the first rescue boats arrived. Still there was no sign of Frank.

Soon bodies of people who had died began washing ashore. Each was covered with a blanket and
taken to a morgue. Elsie and her father searched for Frank among the dead.

Finally, on the third day of searching, they heard about a boy at a nearby hospital. Could it be Frank?

They raced to find out—and sure enough, there he was, lying in a hospital bed.

“Gee, Dad, it took you long enough to get here!” Frank said.

The young boy’s leg had been broken when a lifeboat fell on top of him, but he would go on to make a
full recovery.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

REUNITED
Elsie Hook (far right) with her father, George, and brother, Frank

The Legacy

News of the Lusitania’s sinking shook the world. Britain was outraged. Of the 1,959 passengers and
crew, only 764 survived. Yet Germany defended the attack. The Lusitania had been carrying many tons
of munitions for Allied armies.

Many historians would later say the disaster was a turning point. It helped change public opinion in
the United States about the war; 128 Americans had gone down with the ship, and anger against
Germany grew.

In 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Over the next year, America would send 2 million
troops to Europe to help the Allies. Germany finally surrendered in 1918.

After the war, Elsie, Frank, and their father moved to Australia. Both Elsie and her brother lived well
into their 90s. Captain Turner also survived the Lusitania; he went on to captain another ocean liner.
It too was torpedoed and sunk. Turner survived yet again and lived to the age of 76. Schwieger, the
captain of the German submarine, was killed in 1917 when his U-boat hit an underwater mine. At the
time of his death, he had sunk 49 ships.

As for the Lusitania?

Its remains lie at the bottom of the sea. Over the years, divers have tried to explore the wreck, but it’s
dangerous work. And so the Lusitania rests in uneasy peace, in the dark and the cold, the mangled
hulk of a magnificent ship that belongs to another world and another time.

Writing Contest

Choose one element of the article to focus on:

the Lusitania, the early 20th century, the
German U-boat, or the torpedo. Compile a list
of descriptive words, phrases, or lines the
author uses for your chosen element. Then
write a poem or create a visual art piece
reflecting this powerful imagery and
emotion. Entries must be submitted to
Lusitania contest by a teacher, parent, or
legal guardian.* Three winners will each get
a copy of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young
*Entries must be written by a student in grades 4-12 and
Readers
submitted by their teacher, parent, or legal guardian,
who will be the entrant and must be a legal resident of the U.S. age 18 or older. See Contest Page for
details.

This article was originally published in the October 2024 issue.

Multimedia

Video Audio

Narrative Nonfiction: Attack at Sea

Article Read-Aloud: “Attack at Sea”

(13:25)

Vocabulary Words & Definitions

(02:03)

Behind the Scenes: Attack at Sea

Kristin Lewis discusses how she researched
and wrote her article about the sinking of
the Lusitania.

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