RMS Lusitania
On 7 May 1915, a German torpedo struck the Cunard liner RMS Lusitania off the south coast of Ireland. She sank in just eighteen minutes. This archive remembers every soul on board her final voyage.
On Board
1963
Crew
697
Passengers
1266
Survived
770
Lost
1193
The Tragedy
RMS Lusitania was one of the largest and fastest ocean liners of her age. Built by John Brown & Company on the Clyde for the Cunard Line, she entered service in 1907 and held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing.
On 7 May 1915, during the First World War, she was torpedoed without warning by the German submarine U-20 approximately eleven miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. A second explosion followed almost immediately and the ship listed heavily to starboard. She sank in just eighteen minutes.
Of the 1,960 passengers and crew on board, 1,198 lost their lives. The sinking shocked the world and became a turning point in public opinion towards the war.
The Archive
This database is a memorial record of every known person aboard Lusitania's final voyage from New York to Liverpool. It brings together passenger and crew lists, survival records, and biographical details compiled from official documents, contemporary accounts, and ongoing research.
National Museums Liverpool maintains this archive so that the people on board are not forgotten. Each entry represents a life — crew members who kept the ship running, passengers travelling for work, family, or adventure, and the children who were among them.
The records continue to be updated as new information comes to light. If you have information about anyone on board, we welcome your contribution.
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