The Brits, the IRA, the Lusitania, and the QE2
By: The Wolfhound | Published Thursday, January 10, 2013, 10:32 AM | Updated Thursday, January 10, 2013, 10:32 AM
So the news is that the IRA used the luxury British ocean liner, the QE2, to smuggle weapons in the '70s to use against the Brits and their sympathizers holding Ireland hostage.
For experts on history (and all other matters), like your beloved Wolfie, the ironies are irresistible.
The QE2 was owned by the Cunard Line, which, coincidentally, also owned the luxury passenger ship RMS Lusitania many years earlier. Although ocean liner and history buffs still fight over the details and just about everything else, everybody now knows that the Lusitania was also in the business of transporting arms -- though in this case, the arms were "smuggled" by the Brits for the Brits in World War I.
It was all supposed to be top-secret, but as is often the case with "British Intelligence," a lot of people had a pretty good idea what was in the cargo hold next to their steamer trunks. In fact, the German Embassy took out ads in 50 American newspapers warning passengers they were risking their lives by traveling the high seas on a ship flying the British flag. After all, the two nations were already at war.
Ironically, the New York Times ad appeared right below an ad for the Lusitiania herself.
The Lucy's last voyage from New York in May 1915 was going splendidly until Ireland was literally in sight, though the luck of the Irish was nowhere to be found. It was there, just eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, that a clunky German submarine (U-boat) -- with just one torpedo left -- surfaced.
With its stinky lawnmower-like engines, the sub had been barely able to keep up with the speedy Lusitania until this critical moment, but caught a clear line of fire when the giant ship changed course and turned toward her destination.
The sub fired its last-chance torpedo, which hit the Lucy below the water line with a mighty blast. Then, a second and even-stronger explosion rocked the ship -- almost certainly the explosion of it "special cargo." Mortally wounded and flooding fast, the Lucy heeled over and sank in less than 20 minutes (much faster than the Titanic, in case you were wondering).
Of the 1,959 souls aboard, 1,198 were killed. Crucially, more than a hundred were Americans, some of them prominent personalities.
The sinking of the great British liner provoked outrage around the world on an unprecedented scale. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's resolve to stay out of the war began to melt, and America signed up in April 1917. "Remember the Lusitania! Avenge the Lusitania!" inspired many young Americans to volunteer for service.
But... Was the sinking of the Lusitania planned by then-Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill to bring the United States into the war? It's the stuff of some of the best conspiracy theories ever concocted, and if you think I'm going to give you my (actual) opinion, you're nuts. You think I want my doghouse torpedoed?
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.FallsRNat | Dec 20, 2012, 12:55 PM EST
who do u think been funding the provies all this time, if u look at the number of troops killed each year on maneouvres, it is on a par with the worse times in Ulster, soldiers are better with combat experience. We can blame the brits all we like, but people like De Valera ruined the chances of a Free State by getting rid of the Anglo Protestants, no wonder the loyalists have no time for us. I lost family members in the IRB, RA, BA, to provies & loyalists, was it worth it, of course not, we don't have a UI because we nationalists can't explain to the NI Unionists why it is in their interests to join, that was a sad fact 80, 40, 20 years ago & now, that's our fault, nobody else
Barbaracvm | Aug 24, 2011, 05:27 PM EDT
Prior to sinking the Lusitania the Germans would shoot a warning shot over the bow of the ship, to halt. Churchill issued an order to all ships to fire on any German ship first. This order was captured by the Germans in the captains orders. It was known that ships going to Britain were carrying arms.
timbobdennehy | Aug 05, 2011, 05:22 PM EDT
sure the english were taking over the world with their want of empires ever before hitler,they just did,nt use gas chambers or have a hatred for jews,just the catholics.they just were not content,with their own country of england,greedy and power hungry.
pounder | Aug 05, 2011, 03:15 PM EDT
My father told me the sad tale of the bodies being laid out at the Harbor.There is a monument at this site now.And as to the comment left by YoungPike,it was the USA that saved Britains arse,and that fat bastard Churchills politcal career and legacy.Remenber.it was called QUEENStown then,before Cobh.
YoungPike | May 10, 2010, 05:59 AM EDT
The Lusitania was sunk by the Germans. Winston Churchill had nothing to do with it. Suspend your Anglophobia for a few seconds and consider this unthinkable proposition: If Great Britain hadn't stood up to Germany, all of us would have either gone to the gas chambers or been subject to the most evil tyranny the world has ever seen.
mickeyl | Apr 25, 2010, 04:58 PM EDT
A few of us here in the states suspect that anything dirty and underhanded involving the sinking of the Lusitiania and our nation's entry into WW1 had it's origins in the heart and mind of our first Globalist-Socialist President. Most likely it was a combination of stupdity and good fortune (depending on your point of view)
peterrocco | Apr 09, 2010, 12:22 PM EDT
You are quite correct that the QEII did transport arms to the IRA. I know because the man responsible for the whole operation told me how it was done. He was a true supporter of Republicanism and would never have been bought off by this bogus peace process which he would have considered a total unilateral surrender.
DrTrelawney | Mar 30, 2010, 08:50 AM EDT
Oh, for goodness sake, this Anglophobic, chip-on-the-shoulder column really has completely disappeared up its own pathetic inferiority complex. "Was the sinking of the Lusitania planned by then-Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill to bring the United States into the war?" Erm, no. This goes beyond paranoid nonsense and into genuine certifiable lunacy. Either state the evidence or don't ask the question.
safarimayo | Mar 29, 2010, 04:00 PM EDT
AND GET MY DOGHOUSE SUNK.