I was on the bridge of the _Lusitania_ (at 2:08 Friday afternoon, May
7, 1915, off Old Head of Kinsdale on Irish Coast) when I saw a torpedo
speeding toward us, and immediately I tried to change our course,
but was unable to manoeuvre out of its way. There was a terrible
impact as the torpedo struck the starboard side of the vessel, and a
second torpedo followed almost immediately. This one struck squarely
over the boilers. I tried to turn the _Lusitania_ shoreward, hoping to
beach her, but her engines were crippled and it was impossible. Until
the _Lusitania_ came to a standstill it was absolutely out of the
question to launch the boats--they would have been swamped. It has been
suggested that it was impact with ammunition in the cargo that made
the work of the torpedoes so deadly, but if there had been ammunition
in the cargo the _Lusitania_ would have been blown to pieces. I saw
the torpedoes with my own eyes as did many others. It was cold-blooded
murder.
I was in the water four hours after the _Lusitania_ sank. I am a strong
swimmer, and so was able to keep afloat until I was rescued. When I was
swimming about, suddenly a German submarine rose to the surface amid
the wreckage, then submerged again. Some persons in lifeboats nearby
saw the submarine even better than I did.
(As Captain Turner went about the streets of Queenstown he tried
bravely to cheer the survivors, but he seemed stunned. For the most
part he walked with bowed head, and many of those he met did not
recognize him. When told of the recovery of Charles Frohman's body, and
of the finding of many other Americans among the dead, tears came to
his eyes.)