Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania Ocean Liner (Sinkable)

IMPORTANT NOTES:

-THIS VESSEL IS NOT INTENDED TO HANDLE STORMS AND EASILY CAPSIZES IN WAVES

-This vessel is designed to mimic the design of the original RMS Lusitania so her interior layout is less than intuitive

On May 1st, 1915 The RMS Lusitania left New York for a war torn Europe. She would never reach Liverpool. This is my miniature replica of the Cunard Ocean Liner, the RMS Lusitania as she appeared during her wartime passenger service. At 57m long, she fits snugly within the default spawn area and contains many of the same amenities found aboard the real vessel.

This replica depicts the RMS Lusitania as she appeared during her wartime passenger service from 1914 to her sinking on May 7th, 1915.

SHIP STATS:

Top Speed: 11.5 Knots

Range: 280km

Crew: 10 (2 Officers)

Passengers: 113 (9 First Class)

Functional Lifeboats

Functional Anchors

Sinkable

AMENITIES(Forward to Aft)

D Deck:
-Cargo Hold
-4 Boiler Rooms
-Turbine Engine Room

C Deck:
-Passenger Cabins

B Deck:
-3rd Class Dining Room
-1st Class Dining Room
-Galley

A Deck:
-3rd Class Smoking Room
-3rd Class Ladies Room
-1st Class Writing Room
-1st Class Dining Room (2nd Floor)
-1st Class Saloon Lounge & Music Room
-3rd Class Lounge

Boat Deck:
-Bridge
-Lifeboats

STARTING THE SHIP
Starting at the aft of the vessel, head into the 3rd Class section at the aft end of A-Deck (the last set of doors along the promenade). Head down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs you should see a hinged door, proceed through that door and down the ladder within. Then continue down the stairs at the base of the ladder.

This should put you in the ship’s Turbine Engine Room. Proceed down the length of the ship, opening the watertight doors separating the boiler rooms, turning the keys on each of the vessel’s 8 boilers labeled "Light Boiler" and press the buttons labeled "Stoke Boilers". Once all 8 boilers are lit, proceed through the next set of doors, this should lead to the cargo hold.

From here, head up the ladder on the opposite side of the cargo hold and turn left. There you should see a set of stairs. Continue up the stairs and turn left. Proceed through the door ahead of you into the 3rd Class Dining Room and head up the stairs across the room (you can turn left or right, they both lead the same place). Once at the top of the stairs. Continue aft onto the ship’s A-Deck Promenade where you will find the stairs up to Boat-Deck.

At the forward end of Boat-Deck you will find the bridge. From there, advance both the Engine Room and Boiler Room Telegraphs and the ship should start moving forward.

SINKING THE SHIP
This vessel is designed to replicate the sinking of the actual vessel as best as possible. As such, she sinks in 14 and a half minutes and rolls to starboard while she founders. To ensure the sinking is accurate, please use the following procedure.

While starting the vessel, leave every door you pass through open, including the watertight bulkhead doors in the boiler rooms.

Make sure the vessel is sailing at top speed in at least 75m of water before pressing the Torpedo button on the starboard bridge wing (Likely the first place the torpedo was sighted from). Once the Torpedo button is pressed, set the Engine Room and Boiler Room Telegraphs to 0. If this is not done, the vessel will not sink.

If all of this is done correctly the vessels should start to flood and sink in roughly 7 minutes time.

SHIP HISTORY
In 1897, the North German Lloyd Line launched the SS Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse, seizing the title of the fastest ship on the North Atlantic. With national pride on the line, the British government knew they had to respond, and they put their faith in the Cunard Line to produce Britain’s answer to these new German ships. Cunard would build 2 new massive ships, using classified Royal Navy technology and experimental engines. These ships would be the Lusitania and the Mauretania.

The Lusitania’s keel was laid down at the John Brown & Co yard in Clybank, Scotland on August 17th, 1904 and launched less than 2 years later. When she entered service for the Cunard Line in September of 1907, she wowed spectators on either side of the Atlantic. On her early voyages she quickly seized the Blue Riband (the award for crossing the Atlantic the fastest) however, she would loose just a few months later when her sister, the RMS Mauretania, entered service.

My replica of the RMS Lusitania in her pre-war paint job: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2437066104

My replica of the RMS Mauretania: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2437069769

The Lusitania and the Mauretania quickly gained the nickname "the Ocean Greyhounds" due to their speed and reliability. With 2 massive, impressive liners steaming the North Atlantic, Cunard gained a significant edge over their competition. In fact, it was the success of these ships that forced the White Star Line to build their Olympic-Class Liners (Olympic, Titanic & Britannic). To counter the larger Olympic-Class & Imperator-Class liners, as well as provide a 3 ship weekly service, Cunard began construction of a 3rd express liner to join the Lusitania and Mauretania, the Aquitania.

Shortly after Aquitania joined the fleet in 1914, The First World War broke out in Europe and Britain was at war. With the outbreak of the war, most passenger traffic on the North Atlantic stopped and many liners were recalled for military service. However, before the Lusitania could be stripped of her fittings and prepared for wartime service, it was realized that the prospect of converting large ocean liners into auxiliary cruisers was not functionally viable and Lusitania was allowed to return to her civilian passenger route.

In Response to the Royal Navy’s blockade of ports in Northern Germany, Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around the British Isles. The Cunard Line, who knew the Lusitania would make a tempting target for German U-boats, had her funnels painted grey and a gold stripe added to her superstructure to make her less identifiable.

On May 1st, 1915, Lusitania set off from New York bound for Liverpool with 1,959 people on board, including 139 citizens of the neutral United States. She was scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on the afternoon of May 7th and on the morning of May 7th Lusitania was approaching the southern coast of Ireland when she was sighted by U-20.

The German U-boat fired a single torpedo which struck the Lusitania below her bridge on the starboard side. Moments later, a second, larger explosion ripped through the vessel. The ship immediately took on a heavy starboard list and crew and passengers began lowering the lifeboats.

The Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, rolling to starboard as she went down. Of the 1,959 people on board, 1,198 perished, including 94 children. Of the 139 Americans on the voyage, 128 were lost. The sinking of the Lusitania swayed public opinion in the US firmly against Germany and is often sighted as one of the main reasons the US joined the war a few years later in 1917.

Today, the wreck of the Lusitania rests on her starboard side in about 300 feet of water. She is partially collapsed, covered in snagged fishing nets, and full of holes. She remains a bleak reminder of the cost of war and the lives lost on that May day in 1915.

This was made as a tribute to those lost in the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7th, 1915. The 1,198 souls perished in the Atlantic are lost but not forgotten.

For more images of my Pre-War Lusitania Replica, here’s an Imgur Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/TUVIZQs