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Famous conflict throughout the world In the newspapers it said Dreadful deeds, horrible to look upon Let the story be told
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Source: Hawaiian Historical Society Translated by Leialoha Kamai and Lalepa Koga Recorded by Pound 4 Pound - The sinking of the Lusitania is immortalized in this mele. The Lusitania was a British cargo and passenger ship that sailed the Atlantic between England and the United States. She was proclaimed a floating palace by her passengers on her maiden voyage June 7, 1906. Voyages across the Atlantic were peaceful, but as World War I escalated, the situation became precarious as German U-boats roamed the seas. Over-confident because of her reserve speed capabilities, which would enable her to flee under attack, the ship set out from New York to England May 1, 1915, in spite of threats by German authorities. A number of Americans were aboard, including tycoon Alfred Vanderbilt and noted theatre producer, Charles Frohman. May 7, with the coast of Ireland in sight, a German submarine torpedoed the Lusitania. She took a solid hit, but there was no explosion. Water rushed into the first and second boiler rooms causing the ship to shake from side to side, before a second massive explosion took her down to the sea within 20 minutes. The Lusitania may have been torpedoed a second or third time taking 1,195 souls, 123 of them American. 764 were saved. When news of the tragedy finally reached Hawai`i, the anger and grief was not diminished. The inspiration to remember this event may have been generated by a recent submarine tragedy. March 25, 1915, the U.S. submarine Skate, with a crew of 21 men, exploded and sank outside Honolulu harbor. Desperate attempts to make contact with the vessel, submerged in more than 300 feet, were fruitless and deep sea divers were unable to reach that depth, the local diving record being 215 feet in those days. The 350 ton, 142 foot craft arrived in Honolulu, August 1914, as part of a flotilla of 4 submarines of the First Submarine Division of the Pacific Fleet. Three times a week at 9 a.m, the subs would go on a one hour practice run, but ever since their arrival at Pearl Harbor, one thing after another seemed to go wrong for the Skate. On the last run, the sub cruised to about a mile and a half south of the harbor and made its dive. Later that morning, the empty sub's berth was not of immediate concern, but as the afternoon passed, anxiety heightened. At 3 p.m. the commander of the unit ordered a search party. The lighthouse keeper at the entrance of Honolulu Harbor reported hearing an explosion just after the Skate disappeared. Oil bubbles were spotted in the water where the submarine had slipped beneath the surface. As darkness descended and news of the disaster spread, locals gathered at the piers to pray and watch for the rescue ships. The rescue, turned into salvage operation, would last 5 months and was unprecedented in maritime history. The wreckage of the Skate was raised and towed to Honolulu harbor August 29. Navy Board of Investigation's report found many defects in American submarines and suggested all F-class submarines were not in a safe conditon for use on long dives. Immediate improvements in submarine construction and performance was ordered. After the investigation, the wreckage was towed to Pearl Harbor, re-sunk and forgotten. It's final resting place is not far from the USS Arizona Memorial. |
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