Explosion of the Lusitania

Although a single torpedo penetrated Lusitania, she was in peril almost immediately when a second, massive explosion occurred.

People have debated the cause of the major explosion ever since.  Some believed that American weapons, being provided to Britain, were on board and blew up in the torpedo strike.  Decades later, however, Dr. Robert Ballard investigated the wreck and reported an unusual conclusion.

Ballard and his team did find .303 rifles on board, but they were stored in the bow.  Surveying the wreckage, the investigators determined that Schwieger’s torpedo had struck a coal bunker and concluded that coal dust (which is extremely explosive when it is suspended in mid-air, as it would have been following the torpedo hit) caused the second, fatal explosion.

Credits

This video clip is from the BBC’s recreation of the ship, and the story of her 1915 sinking, entitled Lusitania:  Murder on the Atlantic.