Lusitania mystery ‘must be solved’

The owner of the wreck of the Lusitania is planning another, more detailed forensic dive expedition on the vessel after rejecting the findings of National Geographic-funded research into why it sank.

US multimillionaire Gregg Bemis said the only way to solve the century-old mystery of the ‘second blast’, which he believes was caused by an illegal cargo of ammunition, is to get inside the buckled hull, which lies some 20km off the Old Head of Kinsale.

“In order to stop spinning our wheels we have to get inside the wreck — whatever it takes to get inside the ship where we can get the answers conclusively; the location of the torpedo, the second explosion, the boilers’ condition,” he said.