Diver finds U.S. ammunition on Lusitania

10-2008

A FERMOY man has played a key role in helping to shed new light on a mystery that has baffled maritime historians on both sides of the Atlantic for almost a century.

Tim Carey, a member of the Blackwater sub aqua club, was among a four-strong dive team that descended on the wreck of the Lusitania off the Old Head of Kinsale last week. What they found there —a considerable amount of ammunition — may amount to a smoking gun, one which triggered the USA's entry into the first world war.

The ill-fated liner sank after being torpedoed by a German UBoat in 1915, with the loss of more than 1,200 passengers and crew.

At the time the German military command claimed that the ship was a legitimate target, as they believed it was carrying munitions from neutral America to help the Allied war effort.

Reports of a second explosion within the bowels of the ship only served to increase speculation.

This week, Timmy Carey said the dive team uncovered what he described as a "significant" amount of ammunition on the Lusitania.

"We found literally thousands of what appear to be Remington .303 bullets of the kind used by troops during World War One," said Mr Carey.

The discovery is arguably one of the most significant historical finds of this century. "Certainly from the amount of we saw it would indeed seem as though the ship was carrying ammunition to the Allies," said Mr Carey.

- BY BILL BROWNE