LibGuides: Primary Sources: World War I: The Lusitania

Online Sources: Sinking of the Lusitania

Kapitänleutnant Walter Schwieger
more... less...

"Kapitänleutnant Walter Schwieger was the thirty-year-old commander of the submarine U-20 that sank the Lusitania. His war diary describes the attack and the rapid sinking of the great liner as he viewed it through his periscope."
Online diary excerpts are provided by the National Archives.
Chronicling America - Sinking of the Lusitania
more... less...

"The information and sample article links below provide access to a sampling of articles from historic newspapers that can be found in the Chronicling America: American Historic Newspapers digital collection (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). Use the Suggested Search Terms and Dates to explore this topic further in Chronicling America."
THE LUSITANIA 251 Fed. Rep. 715
more... less...

"United States District Court, Southern District of New York.- In the matter of the petition of the Cunard Steamship Company, Ltd., as owner of the steamship LUSITANIA, for limnitation of its liability."

Lusitania Claims by United States
Call Number: Online - free - HathiTrust

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting, in response to Senate resolution of August 16, 1921, report of the secretary of state concerning American passengers on the Lusitania when sunk ...
From HathiTrust Digital Library
Shipping Casualties. (Loss of the steamship "Lusitania.") by Great Britain
Call Number: Online - free - HathiTrust

Report of a formal investigation into the circumstances attending the foundering on 7th May, 1915, of the British steamship "Lusitania," of Liverpool, after being torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland...
From HathiTrust Digital Library
The Lusitania's Last Voyage by Charles E. Lauriat, jr
Call Number: D592.L8 L384

Being a narrative of the torpedoing and sinking of the R. M. S. Lusitania by a German submarine off the Irish coast May 7, 1915, by Charles E. Lauriat, jr., one of the survivors.
Also online from HathiTrust Digital Library
The United States and the War...
Call Number: Online - free - HathiTrust

President Wilson's notes on the Lusitania and Germany's reply; diplomatic correspondence between Germany, England and the United States on events preceding, ... a complete official record.
From HathiTrust Digital Library

Suggested terms to look for include - diary, diaries, letters, papers, documents, documentary or correspondence.

Combine these these terms with the event or person you are researching. (example: civil war diary)

Also search by subject for specific people and events, then scan the titles for those keywords or others such as memoirs, autobiography, report, or personal narratives.

An additional option is to do a search on a topic and use the "Resource Type" limiter on the left side of the results and choose the option "Primary Sources" - please note this is extremely limiting as most primary source materials are not marked in records with this resource type and you will miss seeing a large number of useful items.