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Riddle of Lusitania sinking may finally be solved
The Times (London) ^

Posted on 07/23/2008 1:00:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway

American entrepreneur Gregg Bemis finally gets courts go-ahead to explore the wreck off Ireland

It is the best known shipwreck lying on the Irish seabed, but it is only today that the owner of the Lusitania will finally begin the first extensive visual documentation of the luxury liner that sank 93 years ago.

Gregg Bemis, who bought the remains of the vessel for £1,000 from former partners in a diving business in 1968, has been granted an imaging licence by the Department of the Environment. This allows him to photograph and film the entire structure, and should allow him to produce the first high-resolution pictures of the historic vessel.

The RMS Lusitania sank off the coast of Cork in May 1915 when a German U-boat torpedoed it. An undetermined second explosion is believed to have speeded its sinking, with 1,198 passengers and crew losing their lives.

Bemis is hoping that the week-long filming project, which begins today, will prove his theory that the Lusitania was carrying explosives, and that these were the cause of the mysterious second blast.

“I want to find out where the second explosion took place and why,” he said. “I believe there were explosives on board. I can tell the whole world that, but they’re not going to believe me until we get down there and get proof.”

JWM Productions will film the project for a television series to be shown on the Discovery Channel next year.

The 80-year-old entrepreneur only won the right to explore the wreckage,

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: documentary; fartyshadesofgreen; germany; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; greggbemis; ireland; lusitania; shipwreck; uboat; uboats; worldwar1; worldwari; wwi
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To: WoofDog123
In any event, if we are waiting for ‘documentation’ aside from the above you might have found a mechanism to defer the matter for decades if not centuries. In the meantime, intelligent people can at least speculate in some circles.

I'm not trying to impart any malicious motives on your part and I apologize if I came across that way. Churchill is one of my heroes and I really don't think he would have callously placed the lives of thousands of American civilians in jeopardy that way.

61 posted on 07/23/2008 1:35:54 PM PDT by jalisco555 ("My 80% friend is not my 20% enemy" - Ronald Reagan)
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To: tarheelswamprat
It was attitudes like yours that led to the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor...

You know your history as well as Jerome Brown I see:

Did the Japanese go and sit down and have dinner with Pearl Harbor before they bombed 'em?

;)

62 posted on 07/23/2008 1:36:48 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("They're not Americans. They're liberals! "-- Ann Coulter, May 15, 2008)
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To: nina0113
"Human shields won't work."

Yeah. That's it. That's the ticket.

I guess that's why we are planning on sending diplomats to Iran, again...

63 posted on 07/23/2008 1:38:55 PM PDT by null and void (Barack Obama - International Man of Mystery...)
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To: nickcarraway
If you question whether we should have gotten into World War I, you are anti-Hitler. Is there really any justification now for us enterting World War I? Most of our problems in the last century could have been prevented by not entering it.

Historian Niall Ferguson, now at Harvard, says that the single most catastrophic decision of the 20th Century was Britain's decision to enter WWI. If they hadn't done this, he says, the Germans would have quickly beaten the French and Europe today would be a peaceful continent under benevolent German hegemony, a bit like the EU of today. But no Russian Revolution, communism, Nazism, Holocaust, etc. An interesting thesis. Not sure I agree but he makes an interesting point.

64 posted on 07/23/2008 1:41:43 PM PDT by jalisco555 ("My 80% friend is not my 20% enemy" - Ronald Reagan)
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To: jalisco555

“Churchill is one of my heroes and I really don’t think he would have callously placed the lives of thousands of American civilians in jeopardy that way. “

First, leaders make sacrifices. Coventry was not good for the local residents, but it was done in WWII.

It is hard to go back 90+ years and speculate well, but at one point I was well-read on the subject and the idea that the decision (and it WAS a decision, presumably taken by the admiralty) to place armaments on the largest UK-flagged passenger liners (note - I don’t know if Mauratania or Olympic carried them, Britannic was a hospital ship in the Med. and never saw passenger service iirc) was taken unaware of the implications *if one was sunk* seemed and seems very unlikely. They knew damn well it would PO the yanks and the yank press.

The fact churchill was sacked almost immediately afterward raises at least the possibility that someone was very unhappy with what they were told about the legality/cargo involved in the sinking.


65 posted on 07/23/2008 1:41:57 PM PDT by WoofDog123
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To: Virginia Ridgerunner
Coal Dust Explosion

My Gandfather use to tell stories of working as a stoker on Coal ships in Ireland when he was 14 years old or so (1912). The trick was to throw the coal in and then duck forward all in one motion. Failure to do it correctly resulted in a flash fire of coal dust hitting you in the face. He'd say:

"Not enough to seriously hurt you though, just singe your hair and eyebrows off"

Wood mills are subject to the same explosive force with wood dust explosions.

66 posted on 07/23/2008 1:42:57 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("They're not Americans. They're liberals! "-- Ann Coulter, May 15, 2008)
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To: tarheelswamprat; Arthur McGowan
It was attitudes like yours that led to the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor...

And that was after Japan bombed London, doncha know...

67 posted on 07/23/2008 1:43:14 PM PDT by bcsco (To heck with a third party. We need a second one....)
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To: nickcarraway

***The RMS Lusitania sank off the coast of Cork in May 1915 when a German U-boat torpedoed it. An undetermined second explosion is believed to have speeded its sinking, with 1,198 passengers and crew losing their lives. ***

If I remember my history, the German embassy took out adds in the NY newspapers warning passengers that the ship was carrying munitions of war to the English and would be a legitimate target.


68 posted on 07/23/2008 1:44:52 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: DainBramage

Good one!


69 posted on 07/23/2008 1:45:07 PM PDT by colorado tanker (Number nine, number nine, number nine . . .)
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To: maddawg99
This telegram was a proposal by the German government for Mexico to invade the United States.

And, by God, they did. We still have more than 10% of their working population living illegally in our Country. Some wars never seem to end.

70 posted on 07/23/2008 1:45:24 PM PDT by Prokopton
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To: nickcarraway

Riddle of Lusitania sinking may finally be solved

“The RMS Lusitania sank off the coast of Cork in May 1915 when a German U-boat torpedoed it.”

Riddle solved.


71 posted on 07/23/2008 1:45:27 PM PDT by weegee (Obama loves America like Bill loves Hillary.)
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To: WoofDog123
IIRC, Churchill's sacking came about because of the Dardanelles debacle. He was the scapegoat there, the real fault lie with the commanders on the scene, but that's another discussion.

As for Coventry, I recently read that the story of Churchill knowing Coventry was a target but deliberately didn't warn the city is a myth. All the British knew in advance was that there would be a raid that day, but they didn't know the target. Can't recall where I read that, unfortunately.

72 posted on 07/23/2008 1:46:41 PM PDT by jalisco555 ("My 80% friend is not my 20% enemy" - Ronald Reagan)
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To: Hazwaste
Man those were the bee's knees. Why can't OUR army have spikes on our helmets?

Nah. Those spikes were so the guys could stick it upside down in the ground and use it to poop in...or so I've always thought :)

Our guys don't need that kinda thing anymore.

73 posted on 07/23/2008 1:47:04 PM PDT by bcsco (To heck with a third party. We need a second one....)
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To: WoofDog123
IIRC, Churchill's sacking came about because of the Dardanelles debacle. He was the scapegoat there, the real fault lie with the commanders on the scene, but that's another discussion.

As for Coventry, I recently read that the story of Churchill knowing Coventry was a target but deliberately didn't warn the city is a myth. All the British knew in advance was that there would be a raid that day, but they didn't know the target. Can't recall where I read that, unfortunately.

74 posted on 07/23/2008 1:47:23 PM PDT by jalisco555 ("My 80% friend is not my 20% enemy" - Ronald Reagan)
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To: Wil H
Do not laugh. The “Center Fuel Tank” was a coal bunker. Coal dust is quite explosive.
75 posted on 07/23/2008 1:48:04 PM PDT by fireforeffect (A kind word and a 2x4, gets you more than just a kind word.)
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To: Wil H
Do not laugh. The “Center Fuel Tank” was a coal bunker. Coal dust is quite explosive.
76 posted on 07/23/2008 1:48:06 PM PDT by fireforeffect (A kind word and a 2x4, gets you more than just a kind word.)
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To: SolidWood; LS

Hundreds of U.S. Ships? Could you provide proof? I am only aware of two U.S. ships sunk: the SS Housatonic, and the SS California, both in February, 1917. (Germany had ended unrestricted submarine warfare from September 1915- February 1917)


77 posted on 07/23/2008 1:48:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway (Don't blame me, I voted for Hughes)
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To: Wil H

Oh - another conspiracy nut.

Every one knows it was Bush’s fault!


78 posted on 07/23/2008 1:51:40 PM PDT by Tennessee_Bob ("Those who "abjure" violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf.")
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To: LAforme2008; WoofDog123
Who was shipping the munitions on that vessel? Whose munitions were being shipped?

Not that it's relevant in this case, but under U.S. railroad regulations the shipper bears nearly all the responsibility for what they are shipping when it comes to safety, regulatory requirements, etc. -- not the carrier.

79 posted on 07/23/2008 1:52:16 PM PDT by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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To: jalisco555

Very interesting point. A friend of mine astutely pointed out that Europe today looks an awful lot like the Germans wanted it to look back in the early 20th century . . . a largely pacified, modern continent with a robust economy dominated by Germany.


80 posted on 07/23/2008 1:54:08 PM PDT by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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