 n
the 11th April 1912 the newly built Titanic called to the port of
Queenstown (now known as Cobh) on her maiden voyage. Titanic had set out
from Southampton and called to Cherbourg before continuing onto
Queenstown.
The pride of
the White Star Line arrived at Roches Point (the outer anchorage of
Queenstown Harbour) at 11.30am. Meanwhile the intending passengers went
to the White Star Line pier to board the tenders PS Ireland and PS
America which would ferry them to the waiting liner. A total of 123
passengers embarked at Queenstown, three travelled first class, seven
second class while the remainder travelled in steerage (3rd class).
After boarding the tenders they proceeded to the Deepwater Quay (where
Cobh Heritage Centre is now located) to load mail bags from the mail
train. The two tenders then travelled out to the Titanic along with a
number of smaller vessels carrying local vendors selling local
specialities such as lace and crafts to the wealthy passengers onboard.
At 1.30pm an
exchange of whistles indicated that the tenders' business was complete
and the Titanic weighed anchor to the strains of "Erin's Lament" and "A
Nation Once Again" played on the bagpipes by steerage passenger Eugene
Daly. A total of 1,308 passengers were on board as they left Queenstown
together with 898 crew members making a total of 2,206 people on board
as she embarked on her final journey. |
n
May 7th 1915 the Cunard liner Lusitania was en route from New York to
Liverpool, having maintained her Atlantic passage service despite the
outbreak of war. The liner, with 1959 people on board, was about 16KM
(10miles) off the Old Head of Kinsale and travelling at 18 knots when
she was struck by torpedo from a German submarine U20. Once damaged, the
Lusitania quickly listed to one side, making it difficult to launch
lifeboats.
The Lusitania
sank in just 91m (300 ft) of water. A flotilla of rescue boats were
launched and 761 people were saved. The majority of the 1,198 passengers
who lost their lives were never recovered. The survivors were ferried to
Queenstown and were accommodated in local hospitals, lodging houses and
private homes. Nearly three days after the sinking of the Lusitania 150
of her victims were buried in mass graves in the Old Church cemetery, 1
mile north of Queenstown. 80 of them were never identified.
|
he
Titanic and the Lusitania are just two of the many liners and ships
which visited the historic port town of Cobh. Cobh Heritage Centre
traces the evolution of maritime traffic to and from Cobh beginning
with depiction's of the early coffin ships to the latter day
luxurious transatlantic liners.
