After reading Dead Wake, what was your impression of Captain Turner? Was he cautious enough? How did you react to the Admiralty's attempts to place the blame on him?

After reading Dead Wake, what was your impression of Captain Turner? Was he cautious enough? How did you react to the Admiralty's attempts to place the blame for the Lusitania's sinking squarely on his shoulders?

I think Captain Turner acted appropriately with the information he was given, and the directives he was under orders to follow. I think the Admiralty, in their attempts to blame Turner for the Lusitania, were trying to draw attention away from themselves and their poor handling of the intelligence they possessed and their response, allegedly to maintain their secrecy regarding the existence of Room 40.

As a seasoned captain he followed the rules set out in front of him to the best of his abilities. He could only work with the information given to him and because of and due to lack of communication was never aware that danger lurked ahead.

I completely agree with the other comments. Turner was working with the inadequate information that he had available and did what he could. I also agree that attempts to blame him where most likely to cover up the code breaking happening in Room 40.

I was disgusted, but sadly not surprised, when the Admiralty tried to place the blame on Captain Turner. I guess the movie "The Imitation Game" showed the lengths to which a government might go to prevent others from learning a code has been broken.

Plus, it is always easier in hind sight to conclude what should have been done. It was a beautiful day, Ireland was in sight, no real information to take additional precautions.

Captain Turner was a seasoned captain who did his utmost to reach his destination. He was the last to leave the sinking ship. He was fortunate to survive not only this sinking but, I believe, one or two others. As Larson pointed out in the last chapters, everything that happened here accidentally turned out to be the perfect target for the U-boat.

He must have suffered terribly from the accusation that he was to blame for this disaster.

I think he captained the Lusitania according to the directions he was given...and what happened was beyond his control.

Captain Turner was certainly a very seasoned, experienced captain, and the infomation that Larson provided makes me think that he acted responsibly and with a lot of common sense. But people are always looking for a scapegoat to place blame on, so that nothing comes back on them.

Certainly Turner did not have the kind of information that ship captains have today. He acted responsibly given what he knew. His suffering over the death of so many of his passengers must have eaten at him for a long time. Shame goes to the Admiralty for trying to shift the blame.

I agree with many of the comments here. Turner was working with the information he was given. The company probably bears the greatest responsibility for sending the ship on that voyage in the first place. The admiralty's decision not to do anything to help and then to lay the blame on Turner was reprehensible. I agree that it was probably done to avoid revealing their code-breaking success. If they acted on every message they intercepted, it would quickly become obvious that they knew more than they should. After the scene where Turner remains with the ship, I was surprised to learn that he survived.

Most everyone here is right. Capt. Turner did a great job and the Admiralty should be ashamed of themselves.

I agree with the above comments about the lack of appropriate information that Capt. Turner should have received that might have saved the Lusitania on that fateful crossing. I also feel that making him the scapegoat for the sinking was outrageously unfair and I feel that the eventual resolution of lifting that blame was justified.

I do believe that Captain Turner was grossly under-informed about the dangers that presented. However I also feel that there was some indication that problems could arise and the command, crew, and passengers all seemed to fluff it off. Interesting that this was the case.

I agree with all of the other readers--he did his best with what he had. It is, unfortunately, Navy tradition both here and in England to blame the loss of a ship on its Captain.

I was upset to learn that the Admiralty placed blame on Captain Turner when sole blame resides with the Germans. I was dismayed that the navy didn't provide an escort or reroute the Lusitania to safer waters.

I also agree with the other readers. Captain Turner did the best he could with the information he had to work with. I was sickened that he became the one on trial. It was shameful the way the Admiralty turned on him, all they cared about was covering up the whole Room 40 situation. Even though he eventually was absolved from any wrongdoing the whole event must have haunted him to his final days. The poor man.

Captain Turner, being an experienced captain, knew the danger of traversing those waters during wartime. He did the best with what he had information-wise to go on. Too many pieces were stacked against him and his ship, from lack of current information about the north channel opening to the disgusting lack of even a single warship as protection as the Lusitania tried to get to Liverpool.

I was actually angry that Captain Turner was thrown under the bus like that, when it was so utterly obvious to most that he was innocent of all charges.