Dining on the Luxury Liner Lusitania

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose

#tastinghistory #lusitania

[AuntieVonn]

My grandmother would swear she remembered when the Titanic sank. We had to remind her that she would have been a toddler and that she was actually remembering the Lusitania sinking. Then she’d say “oh yeah” 😁

[LaundryFaerie]

Fun(?) fact: later that same month, in May 1915, the steamer Rotterdam made it to Ellis Island from the Netherlands, after a perilous Atlantic crossing where the ship's crew literally used long poles to gingerly push floating German mines out of the way so they could pass through. According to the ship's manifest kept at Ellis Island, the very first passenger off that ship was a little Dutch lady named Catharina (pronounced like "Katrina") Witteveen. She had spent the entire trip in steerage, the only class of passage she could afford, and she was SO ready to be off that boat. And that's how my great-grandmother arrived in America.

[stephenhancock]

A quick fun fact, the Lusitania would have probably used now nearly extinct Gros Michel banana (nearly wiped out in the 1950's), so the flavor would have been wildly sweeter and different firmer texture than the recipe Max used. That's a whole different story for another day though, great video Max.

[gagetolinwrites]

One of my favorite stories from the sinking of the Lusitania involves Alfred Vanderbilt.

During the sinking, he and his valet, Ronald Denyer, helped people on lifeboats. Alfred promised a young woman an extra life vest for her infant, but failed to find one. So he removed his own, keep in mind that he would've been a first class passenger, and tied it around her.

Alfred couldn't swim and no lifeboats remained. He and Ronald both perished in the sinking, Alfred's body was never recovered.

[Monicalia]

Captain Turner describing the passangers as bloody chattering monkeys and prefering to eat alone in the cabin is such a mood.

[cunard]

Captain William Turner, after surviving the sinking of the Lusitania, considered retiring from the sea all together. But the Cunard Line, owners of the Lusitania decided to give him another chance. In late 1916 he was given command of the liner Ivernia, a slightly larger sistership of the famed rescue ship Carpathia, both of which were serving as troopships. He would have the Ivernia torpedoed out from under him in January 1917, as the ship was passing Cape Matapan Greece. He survived that sinking too, but he wisely chose to call it quits right after he got back to England.

[zelithfang]

"Gee dad, took you long enough to get me" probably was delivered with the biggest smirk.

[History]

9:10 Fun Lusitania Fact: If you’re wondering why it looks like there’s an awkward number of columns in this dining space? Lusitania, right from the get-go, had a notorious vibration problem in her stern due to wake interference amongst her 4 propellers. At higher speeds, the interference would resonate through her hull, making her stern vibrate violently, rendering Second Class spaces basically unusable. She eventually had to go back to the builders, where these spaces were gutted, and extra steel supports were installed (cleverly disguised as fancy pillars). The vibration was lessened enough to make these spaces usable, but it was never fully resolved.

Have fun picturing someone trying to enjoy a fancy jelly! 😂

[peabody]

I feel like the Titanic gets all the attention, despite the Lusitania being still a monumental sinking within history. Thank you for this reminder, ahead of its anniversary.

[CynUnion-jiuj]

"It could out run a u-boat if it knew it was there"

Now, I'm no big city boat captain, german officer, or military historian, but I'm pretty sure "not knowing they're there" is the whole point of a U-Boat

[rebasack]

I got so absorbed in that history story that when you transitioned back to the food you had made i had forgotten that was part of this video. You are an amazing storyteller and bring these stories to life in the way history needs to be taught.

[caspenbee]

Man with no plot armour: "I sure hope no torpedos hit me before I finish this ice cream"

[sanctusfaeces]

“Here’s a video about a delicious dessert. Oh, except it’s also going to make you cry. Enjoy!” Absolute kudos on balancing all the disaster videos so masterfully.

[authentikata]

"I've learned a devil of a lot in the last five minutes" is THE MOST BRITISH exchange.

[midoriya-shonen]

I find a sense of peace in knowing how competent the captain seemed in the face of this tragedy. He had a plan, a back up plan, and a back up back up plan to ensure as many people's survival as possible. It was a tragedy no matter the circumstances, but at least they handled it the best they could have and avoided more senseless tragedy through neglect, like the Titanic lifeboat situation.

[TreeDragon]

There's a funny error in the subtitles: "...As we died on the Lusitania, this time on Tasting History." 11/10 commitment to immersive historical retelling, you will forever be in our hearts
Edit: I'd like to point out Jellicent's pokedex entries (along with its typing, Water Ghost.) "The fate of the ships and crew that wander into Jellicent's habitat: all sunken, all lost, all vanished." -Black, Y and Alpha Sapphire; "Jellicent is always hanging around fancy cruise ships and tankers, hoping to drag away its prey." -Ultra Sun
Max. We love you. Never stop.

[elbiesee]

The description of the torpedo heading towards the ship - especially the "line of chalk" - gave me chills. Imagine watching the device of your would-be demise heading your way.

[queenoflammersland]

My Grandfather’s brother was a second class passenger from Ireland who survived the sinking of the Lusitania. Nice to know he dined well before his ordeal. 😊. His name was Patrick O’Donnell.

[KTheFirst]

Some facts about the disaster:

1) The Staff Captain position I am pretty sure was an invention from the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, so the ship captain can delegate evacuation duties if necessary.

2) Another reason they stopped was due to fog, which are other reasons to not speed.

3) The Lusitania actually had an entire boiler room shut down. The Admiralty ordered Cunard to cut back on Lusitania 's coal consumption for the war effort, so she was already going well below her full speed to begin with.

4) Lusitania was indeed carrying munitions - which as a passenger ship was a war crime.

5) Lusitania and her sister ship Mauretania were partly funded by HM Government for use as "Auxiliary Cruisers" for wartime. As such their hull plates were made to Royal Navy standards, and the designs were set to naval standards. One element of this was putting the coal bunkers on the sides of the ship, technically making them the largest Protected Cruisers in the world. Unfortunately...
5a) This meant that the German Navy was expecting the ships to be requisitioned for military uses, hence the eagerness to sink Lucy.
5b) Those fuel bunkers made the sinking so bad, because they concentrated the flooding on the damaged side of the ship, rather than letting her flood evenly.

[southernwanderer]

I'm so glad you brought up the fact that there were actually munitions on the Lusitania heading to Europe, which brought on its sinking, which always seems to be forgotten by others. The newspaper ads stating the Lusitania would be fired on were, indeed, real.