Miss BRIDGET LEE,
Second Cabin Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
Bridget Lee, was originally from Denn, County Cavan, Ireland, but had
lived in New York City, New York, United States for the last 25 years
and crossed the Atlantic frequently. She was traveling on the Lusitania's
last crossing with her niece, Margaret
Galligan. Margaret and Bridget
originally booked passage on the Cameronia to visit friends in
Denn, but when the British Admiralty requested that ship at the last
minute, they and many of those originally traveling on the Cameronia were transferred to the Lusitania.
On Friday, 7 May 1915, Bridget and Margaret were sitting at lunch
talking about submarines when the ship was torpedoed. All in the
room
got up at the impact, but the stewards and waiters assured them that
nothing was the matter. Bridget and Margaret sat back down in
their
seats. When the second explosion happened, they had a difficult
time
getting out and reaching the boat deck.* Margaret and Bridget
were
supplied with lifebelts but the launching of the lifeboats was slow and
disorganized. The two women held onto each other and the Lusitania sank so quickly that they
went under with the ship.
The two women were still holding on to each other when they surfaced,
and they struck for a floating deck chair. A nearby man also made
for
the chair and the three of them clung onto their piece of flotsam for
two hours until they were picked up by a lifeboat then holding 20
people. From the lifeboat they were transferred to a tugboat that
took
them into Queenstown. Margaret and Bridget stayed there until
Monday,
10 May before leaving for Co. Cavan. In Queenstown they looked
for their shipboard acquaintances,
Susan Coleman and Ernest Moore. Coleman was saved, Moore was not.
* According to the 15 May Irish
Post and Telegraph, Bridget and Margaret made their way up top
after the torpedo hit and were on deck when "the second torpedo found
its mark."
Contributors:
Senan Molony
Judith Tavares
Hildo Thiel
References:
Anglo-Celt, 15 May
1915, pg. 1.
Irish Post and Telegraph,
15 May 1915, pg. 3.
Molony, Senan. Lusitania: An Irish Tragedy.
Mercier Press, 2004.
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