47 pages • 1 hour read
Erik LarsonDead Wake: The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania
Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3: “Dead Wake”Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Irish Sea: Engines Above”
On the morning of Friday, May 7, the Lusitania enters the heavy fog that has been plaguing the U-20. Turner orders the ship to travel at slower speeds and to sound a foghorn once every minute. Though the horn brings attention to the Lusitania, the heavy fog means that a submarine is unlikely to spot or attack the ship. Two sailors are stationed in the crow’s nest to keep a lookout for any obstacles.
The Cunard Steamship Company’s chairman, Alfred Allen Booth, learns of the U-20’s attacks. The news makes Booth fearful that the Lusitania is at risk. Booth is unable to directly warn the Lusitania because the ship is managed by the Admiralty during wartime. Instead, Booth approaches a navy officer, Captain Harry Stileman, who promises him that a message will be sent to the Lusitania. Later that morning, the Lusitania receives a message that warns the ship about multiple submarines that are “active in Southern part of Irish channel” (220). However, the message does not explain that submarines have already sunk several ships. By this time, the fog has dispersed, and the Lusitania starts sailing under a clear sky, making it visible to any nearby submarines. The passengers head to the ship’s deck where they enjoy the sun and play games. Captain Turner receives a second message explaining that submarines have been spotted by Cape Clear, a landmark which the Lusitania had already sailed past. However, one of the earlier messages warned him about submarines in St. George’s Channel, which the Lusitania has not passed yet.
As the fog clears, a British ship spots the U-20. Schwieger orders the U-20 to submerge. It remains submerged for several hours until the crew hears a large ship traveling above them. The U-20 returns to the surface, and Schwieger uses his periscope to identify the ship—“a large armored cruiser” (225). Though warships of this size are rarely spotted by U-boats, Schwieger lets the warship pass unscathed because it is traveling too quickly for his submarine to attack it. By this time, the fog has completely cleared, and Schwieger spots the Lusitania in the distance.
Chapter 2 Summary: “London: Washington: The King’s Question”
Colonel House, President Woodrow Wilson’s close friend and “unofficial emissary,” meets with Britain’s foreign secretary in London (227). House speculates that an attack on an American ship might spur America to enter the war. Later, House meets with King George V, who speculates that the Germans might attack the Lusitania. Winston Churchill, meanwhile, remains in France where he travels to the British war headquarters to better understand what life is like on the front. Though Churchill does not see any combat, he witnesses numerous injured and dead soldiers. In Washington, D.C., Wilson remains consumed with his love for Edith Galt.
Chapter 3 Summary: “The Irish Sea: Funnels on the Horizon”
Captain Turner does not know how the Lusitania should proceed to Liverpool. The Admiralty’s messages lead him to believe that submarines lie in St. George’s Channel, which is ahead of him. However, he cannot stop the Lusitania because he believes that it just passed a group of submarines. Turner is also anxious about the fact that the Lusitania can only enter Liverpool’s port at high tide. If the Lusitania arrives after high tide, it will have to circle around the Irish Sea until high tide occurs again. After consulting with some of the ship’s officers, Turner decides to use a maneuver called “four-point bearing” to determine the Lusitania’s precise location, which will help him calculate how fast the Lusitania must go to reach Liverpool at high tide (231). In order to accomplish this, the Lusitania must turn around and head closer to the coast so that it can compare its location to a physical landmark. The Lusitania begins its change of course at 1:30 p.m. when many of its passengers are having lunch. The passengers are unconcerned about the possibility of submarine attacks.
Schwieger is overjoyed when he spots the Lusitania, though he is unaware of the ship’s identity. The U-20 pursues the Lusitania, but its sudden change of course means that the U-20 will not be able to catch up to it. Despite this, Schwieger continues to pursue the Lusitania in case it changes course again and comes towards the U-20. At 1:35 p.m., a “miracle” occurs, and the Lusitania changes direction again, placing itself directly in the U-20’s line of fire (230). Schwieger’s crew prepares a torpedo for launch.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Lusitania: Beauty”
At 2:00 p.m., the Lusitania’s crews are set to change shifts. During the change, some of the sailors spot an unknown object in the sea, which they assume is a buoy. Sailor Leslie Morton is assigned to the forecastle, a lookout on the ship’s starboard side. At 2:10 p.m., Morton sees a “burst of foam” emerge from the ocean (239). Afterwards, he spots the “dead wake”—a name for trails left in the ocean—of a torpedo heading towards the ship (241). Captain Turner is informed of the torpedo. Many of the passengers see the torpedo from the deck, and they are shocked that the Germans would actually attack a passenger liner like the Lusitania.
Chapter 5 Summary: “U-20: ‘Treff!’”
This one-page section describes Schwieger’s log entry at 2:10 p.m. In his log, Schwieger records the torpedo’s impact on the ship. The explosion is larger than he expected, which probably means that the torpedo caused one of the ship’s boilers to explode. Schwieger’s pilot, Lanz, identifies the ship as the Lusitania.
Part 3 Analysis
In Part 3, the U-20 and the Lusitania’s paths have finally converged. Larson emphasizes this development by setting the two vessels’ narratives in “The Irish Sea” and switching freely between events on the U-20 and the Lusitania within the same section. In Part 3, Larson mostly focuses on describing the events leading up to the U-20’s attack on the Lusitania, showing how a series of small incidents and decisions allows the U-20 to successfully torpedo the passenger liner.
When Schwieger spots the Lusitania on the horizon, the ship is initially out of the U-20’s range of attack. The Lusitania is also able to sail at faster speeds than the U-20, meaning that Schwieger has no chance of catching up to it. Despite the unlikelihood of being able to attack it, Schwieger orders the U-20 to trail the Lusitania, hoping that the ship will change course. On board the Lusitania, Captain Turner has no idea that a submarine is trailing the Lusitania. After receiving vague information about nearby submarine activity from the British Admiralty, Turner does not know how he should bring the Lusitania to its destination. Turner ultimately orders his crew to perform a four-point bearing, allowing him to pinpoint the ship’s geographic location. At first, the maneuver seems like a wise decision to make in the face of uncertainty. But finding the ship’s location ultimately brings about a tragic result—the loss of many lives at sea. The four-point bearing maneuver changes the Lusitania’s course and places the ship directly in the firing line of the U-20. For Schwieger, the Lusitania’s change in course is a “miracle” because it allows Schwieger to successfully fire a torpedo at the ship (230). For Larson, the Lusitania’s sudden change in course is the culmination of a series of small events that result in the Lusitania’s unexpected and unlikely destruction.
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