Survivor/Dead
Breakdown
How many people died when the Lusitania
went down? How many survived? From the list on this site,
the numbers compiled differ slightly from the official version.
As to why, the web editor has no idea. I really don't like the
idea of reducting facts to statistics, but there was a demand for it;
here are the numbers from the passenger and crew lists on this site:
|
Total
|
Survived
|
Died
|
Survival rate
|
Saloon
Class
|
290
|
113
|
177
|
38.9%
|
Second
Cabin
|
599
|
238
|
361
|
39.7%
|
Third
Class
|
369
|
133
|
236
|
36.0%
|
Deported
Seamen (Third Class)
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
0.0%
|
Total
Passengers
|
1261
|
484
|
777
|
38.3%
|
Stowaways
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
0.0%
|
Band
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
60.0%
|
Deck
Crew
|
66
|
37
|
29
|
56.1%
|
Engineering
Crew
|
313
|
112
|
201
|
35.8%
|
Victualling
Crew
|
303
|
137
|
166
|
45.2%
|
Total
Crew (including Band)
|
687
|
289
|
398
|
42.1%
|
Total
Complement (with stowaways)
|
1951
|
773
|
1178
|
39.6%
|
I have not yet done breakdown by nationality or age group, but those
are worth considering for future updates. Contrast this with the
figures in the Ballard/Dunsmore book -- again, I don't know where the
discrepancy comes
from:
|
Total
|
Survived
|
Died
|
Survival rate
|
Saloon
Class
|
291
|
113
|
178
|
38.8%
|
Second
Cabin
|
601
|
227
|
374
|
37.8%
|
Third
Class (including Deported Seamen)
|
373
|
134
|
239
|
35.9%
|
Total
Passengers
|
1265
|
474
|
791
|
37.5%
|
Total
Crew (department breakdown unavailable)
|
694
|
290
|
404
|
41.8%
|
Total
Complement (not including the 3 stowaways)
|
1959
|
764
|
1195
|
39.0%
|
From Hoehling/Hoehling, the number of dead passengers is 785 out of a
total complement of 1959. Unsure if stowaways are factored into
the numbers. Also from Hoehling/Hoehling:
159 Americans on board, 124 perished.
124 children on board, 94 perished, including 31 of 35 infants.
If there ends up being more repetition in the list
(particularly among the crew) than previously thought, then the overall
total and numbers lost could be smaller than previously thought.
People removed from the passenger and crew lists because researchers
have found them to not have been on board include:
A. Trainor (Engineering Crew,
who might have been the same person as Thomas Pilcher)
R. A. Sterberg (Engineering Crew, same person as August
Österberg)
Alexandra Munro (Saloon Class, did not sail)
Robert Ernest Foden is listed twice in the crew lists, though I don't
remember if I
removed the duplication. Also under scrutiny is the existence of
John Neil (or Neal) Leach, reportedly a British mercenary spy working
for the Germans as popularized in Simpson, Hickey/Smith, and Preston.
Contact me if you know why else the figures
are different, and what the numbers really should be.
Contributors:
Peter Engberg-Klarström
Mike Poirier
Hildo Thiel
References:
Ballard, Robert D. and Spencer Dunmore. Exploring the Lusitania.
Warner Books, 1995.
Hoehling, A. A. and Mary Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania. Madison Books, 1956.
[Lusitania
Resource Home]