The Sinking of the Lusitania

Battle of Jutland

This is the memorial in Thyborøn, Jutland, Denmark to the Battle of Jutland – probably the greatest ever sea battle in the history of world. 25 ships were destroyed in one day and just under 9,000 men died when two incredibly powerful navies faced off. Each stone represents one of the ships lost and the little figures in white, represent those who died. It is a project in the making. It is hoped one day to fill the dune with the full number of little white figures, just under 9,000.

The battle took place over 24 hours – between May 31st and June 1st. 250 ships and over 100,00 men faced off and for 24 hours kept up a barrage of big guns, torpedoes, small fire.

The museum , called the Sea War Museum of Jutland, is the town of Thyborøn. The nearest airport is Billund ( home of Lego among other things), hopes to add more Irish stories of the Lusitania. If you can help with stories, titles of books you could recommend please  let us know. If you have photos you might share them with us. The map below gives you an idea of where Jutland is  (just in case!). There is another museum a few kilometres away dedicated to other shipwrecks because the coast of Jutland has proved to be a graveyard for hundreds and hundreds of ships over the centuries.

Map of Jutland

Map of Jutland

The nearby museum contains much of what was salvaged form the wrecks of the ships, plus paintings and photographs of the battle.

From an Irish point of view, the U2 submarine which sank the Lusitania is there – parts of it -the conning tower, some memorabilia, the periscope, the little flag created as a memento of the sinking of the Lusitania and some newspaper accounts from the time. The submarine was beached on the shores of Jutland some time later and parts were salvaged.

The crew of the U2

This is the crew of the U2.

Souvenir pennant

A pennant was made to commemorate each “hit”.

 

Conning Tower of the U2

This is the conning tower of the U2. There are other conning towers also. One os the E50, a British submarine which survived a crash, underwater, with a German submarine. The E50 survived only to hit a mine shortly afterwards. The conning tower of the E 50 weighs 11 tons!

The Battle of Jutland

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Torpedoes were huge!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kaiser William addressing the officers before the Battle of Jutland

screen-shot-2016-10-23-at-07-58-11The awful panic when a ship begins to sink.

 

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The E 20 being lashed by the stormy seas, unable to budge. slowly breaking apart.

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Rudimentary medical conditions on board a ship, Notice the little funnel clamped over the mouth of the patient,stuffed with a piece of cloth onto which would be put some form of ether, chloroform to keep the patient asleep.

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Some of the paintings of the battle scene.

 





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One of the 25 memorial stones to those ships and men lost in the battle. HMS Invincible went down with a loss of 1026 lives.

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