Mr.
HERBERT W. EHRHARDT, Second Cabin Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
Herbert Ehrhardt, about 21, was an Englishman studying for his M. A. in
chemistry at the University of Toronto. Wartime semesters had been foreshortened
in Canada and he was on the Lusitania in May 1915 to go home for the
summer. During the trip six or seven children had decided to cling
onto him and would not leave him alone. Fortunately, a girl of sixteen
(Molly Mainman or Evelyn Neville?) helped relieve him of the constant attention.
Ehrhardt was finishing his lunch when the torpedo struck. Noticing
that several of the second cabin dining room's portholes were open, he,
his roommate Wilson [?], and a number of other passengers and stewards,
quickly shut the ports and bolted them. Ehrhardt noticed that the
dining room had emptied without any panic. As the smell of smoke crept
in, Herbert decided that it would be best if he fetched his lifebelt.
His cabin was next to the stairs and once inside he discovered that someone
had already taken his lifejacket. As Ehrhardt was a strong swimmer
and had been dunked fully clothed before this development did not bother
him. At the time he did not consider it unreasonable to swim to Ireland
without a lifejacket if necessary. Before leaving his cabin, he opened
his suitcase and took out the money inside and transferred it into his pocket.
He had earned this money as a demonstrator in the University of Toronto's
chemistry department and it was the first salary that he had ever received.
Ehrhardt saw the situation on deck as calm as the passengers waited for
lifeboats to be launched. He encountered the girl who had helped him
babysit throughout the voyage; she was distressed that her brother had been
separated from the family. Ehrhardt went to look for him. Ehrhardt
felt fear developing inside of him but was determined not to let fear cloud
his common sense.
The chemistry student reunited the brother with the family and noticed
the increasing list had made walking extremely difficult. As he realized
that the ship could sink before all the lifeboat were launched, he truly
became afraid. He had to sit to prevent himself from falling. Others
were already slipping and sliding down the deck all the way to the rails.
He wasn't sure if he could avoid bumping into people or if he would
hurt anyone if he slipped.
The bow plunged underneath, causing a "tremendous turmoil in the water[.]"
Ehrhardt seriously doubted that anyone would be able to swim in that.
Perhaps, he realized, his life would be ending within a few short
seconds. He slipped and rolled, hoping to avoid hitting anyone else.
He said to himself, "I'm better off than most of these as I've nobody
dependent on me."
Silently, Herbert Ehrhardt then prayed for his mother and his fiancée.
Jumping, he reminded himself to keep his eyes open and mouth shut. For
a moment in the water, Ehrhardt felt that he was only sinking, but soon
the water grew brighter and he broke the surface. A wave and empty
lifeboat were heading right at him. Ehrhardt put up his arms to shield
himself and was pulled under once again. He surfaced again in a spot
of relative calm and floated quietly, catching his breath.
Herbert was next to two boats, one right-side up, the other upside-down.
On each boat were two of his cabin mates who were brothers. Ehrhardt
and the older brother were on the upside-down boat and the two boats quickly
drifted apart. The two men on the upturned boat helped people onto
their craft. One woman they had helped died not long afterward. When
the craft was almost full an exhausted man was pulled aboard. Looking
around, the man broke into tears. The dead woman, still on the boat,
was his wife. Ehrhardt saw a corpse drift by and saw that it was his
cabin mate's father.
A small steamer seemed to be approaching and then apparently left. Next,
the auxiliary Indian Prince came within hailing distance and asked
if they were all right.
"Yes!" Ehrhardt answered.
The Indian Prince promised to come back later. In the meantime,
the chemistry student had not given up on resuscitating the dead woman.
He also gave his shoes to a shivering passenger in the lifeboat.
Upon reaching Queenstown, Ehrhardt slept so soundly that a policeman had
to shake him several times before he awoke. He found two of the mothers
of the children he had befriended, but none of the children. He, however,
did find his shoes again, discarded on the floor of a Queenstown shoe store.
The escalating war tensions forced Herbert Ehrhardt to change his name
to Herbert Hereward, which he lived by for the rest of his life.
References:
Hoehling, A. A. and Mary Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania.
Madison Books, 1956.
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