AUBURN - At age 5, it may not have seemed much more than one of the many dreams of a child, released like a message in a bottle out into the vastness of the future.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Local author and researcher J. Kent Layton has recently published a book, “Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship of Splendor,” which chronicles the ship's history to its tragic end.
Local author and researcher J. Kent Layton has recently published a book, “Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship of Splendor,” which chronicles the ship's history to its tragic end.
Still, as the years went by, who in the family could not notice his never-ending interest in nautical ships? During many evenings, books on the subject replaced attention to television programs, history replaced the here and now.
And always, the promise of the 5-year-old J. Kent Layton to write a book about the glory days of ocean liners remained as constant as the northern star. Now, that message from long ago has materialized as a book, “Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship of Splendor.”
Information regarding the ill-fated British ocean liner abounds in the book - including the many conspiracy theories that rival the elegance of the ship itself. One theory states that the British arranged its sinking as a way to lure the United States into World War I. Of the 1,198 aboard who perished, 100 were U.S. citizens.
“That's a popularly held misconception. There are a lot of conspiracy theories. We will never know everything. But unfortunately, the information points the other way. It would have been detrimental to the allies to draw the United States into the war. In 1915, the United States wasn't war-ready, and the English had miscalculated their weapons supply. The weapons the United States were selling to them would have been diverted to their own troops,” Layton explained.
Incredibly, those weapons were regularly shipped from New York City to Liverpool, England by the Lusitania. None of the civilian passengers knew, according to Layton.
Nevertheless, the night before the attack, as the liner neared the coast of Ireland, many aboard were fearful of an attack. And with good reason. While the rules of warfare stated that any German U-Boat should first surface and allow civilians to disembark prior to firing upon a vessel, the Germans soon found their submarines were much slower than the British merchant and commercial ships. Therefore, no warning was issued. Mercantile ships were attacked regularly, by surprise.
“The Germans had spies in New York. Here's munitions being loaded. It was well-known (by the Germans) she was carrying munitions,” Layton said. “They (the passengers) knew it was dangerous. The night before they were nervous. Some slept on the top deck, just in case. The American civilians shouldn't have been there to begin with. It was tantamount to putting Americans on the front of a British tank.”
It took 15 minutes for the Lusitania, the pride and joy of Britain, to sink. A single torpedo caused the great liner to list 15 degrees. Open cabin windows, and a second explosion, presumably her steam generating plant, did the rest. With passengers scrambling across the deck in their dress shoes and lifeboats haphazardly falling into the water, only 761 of the 1,969 souls aboard survived.
And, while it would be two years before the United States would declare war, the event triggered a series of events that forced the isolationist philosophy of President Woodrow Wilson to concede. It also created a fever pitch of patriotism in Britain. Not only was there the loss of life, but the outrage of destroying what was the national symbol of glory in Britain at the time.
Indeed, Layton fills his book with photographs and illustrations of the ship in its “more happy days” and portraits of the people who were part of the 202 Atlantic crossings it made from 1907 to 1915. It was an era the 26-year-old Layton finds glorious.
“A lot of time, I think I was born 100 years too late. It was a different world then: more peaceful, more settled. People were enthralled by inventions. In 1909, the Wright brothers did a flyby of the Lusitania in New York. People could build the ships, then they would take on a life of their own. Imagine these monstrous machines, braving the Atlantic,” he said.
Imagine is what Layton has done.
“Ever since I was 5, I wanted to write a book about ships,” he said. He has held the drealy nearly all his life. The native of Tully, who, since 1990, has resided in Auburn, has taken two Caribbean cruises, and occasionally boats on Cayuga Lake with a friend. But both of those activities just seem to pale in comparison.
“The cruise liners of today ... they're just not the same. Although, the Queen Mary II, I would like to go on. She weighs 150,000 tons and has electrically powered propellers, that turn instead of rudders. They really try to capture the golden days,” Layton said.
A Jehovah Witness who was home schooled - and is an enthusiastic proponent of doing so - Layton is very family oriented. He is currently studying as an apprentice piano tuner with his father's nationally known business. He also runs his own cleaning business. But the author, who scoured newspaper articles and, from the recognition he received from his first, self-published book, “Atlantic Liners: A Trio of Trios,” was able to network with researchers in England for his latest effort, is constantly busy following his dream.
He plans to rewrite his first text, would like to write a screenplay of the current and is planning the subject of his next book, which he will not reveal.
“This is like the hobby run amok,” he said. “I like writing, and I'm writing about a subject I'm passionate about.”
If you read
What: “Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship of Splendor”
Who: J. Kent Layton
Publisher: Lulu Press
Available: Softcover version can be found in bookstores everywhere; hardcover version is identical in content, but only available through the publisher or at
www.atlanticliners.com
Special offers: Each format is also available in a signed and sequentially numbered series (limited to 500 of each) and can be ordered online
And always, the promise of the 5-year-old J. Kent Layton to write a book about the glory days of ocean liners remained as constant as the northern star. Now, that message from long ago has materialized as a book, “Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship of Splendor.”
Information regarding the ill-fated British ocean liner abounds in the book - including the many conspiracy theories that rival the elegance of the ship itself. One theory states that the British arranged its sinking as a way to lure the United States into World War I. Of the 1,198 aboard who perished, 100 were U.S. citizens.
“That's a popularly held misconception. There are a lot of conspiracy theories. We will never know everything. But unfortunately, the information points the other way. It would have been detrimental to the allies to draw the United States into the war. In 1915, the United States wasn't war-ready, and the English had miscalculated their weapons supply. The weapons the United States were selling to them would have been diverted to their own troops,” Layton explained.
Incredibly, those weapons were regularly shipped from New York City to Liverpool, England by the Lusitania. None of the civilian passengers knew, according to Layton.
Nevertheless, the night before the attack, as the liner neared the coast of Ireland, many aboard were fearful of an attack. And with good reason. While the rules of warfare stated that any German U-Boat should first surface and allow civilians to disembark prior to firing upon a vessel, the Germans soon found their submarines were much slower than the British merchant and commercial ships. Therefore, no warning was issued. Mercantile ships were attacked regularly, by surprise.
“The Germans had spies in New York. Here's munitions being loaded. It was well-known (by the Germans) she was carrying munitions,” Layton said. “They (the passengers) knew it was dangerous. The night before they were nervous. Some slept on the top deck, just in case. The American civilians shouldn't have been there to begin with. It was tantamount to putting Americans on the front of a British tank.”
It took 15 minutes for the Lusitania, the pride and joy of Britain, to sink. A single torpedo caused the great liner to list 15 degrees. Open cabin windows, and a second explosion, presumably her steam generating plant, did the rest. With passengers scrambling across the deck in their dress shoes and lifeboats haphazardly falling into the water, only 761 of the 1,969 souls aboard survived.
And, while it would be two years before the United States would declare war, the event triggered a series of events that forced the isolationist philosophy of President Woodrow Wilson to concede. It also created a fever pitch of patriotism in Britain. Not only was there the loss of life, but the outrage of destroying what was the national symbol of glory in Britain at the time.
Indeed, Layton fills his book with photographs and illustrations of the ship in its “more happy days” and portraits of the people who were part of the 202 Atlantic crossings it made from 1907 to 1915. It was an era the 26-year-old Layton finds glorious.
“A lot of time, I think I was born 100 years too late. It was a different world then: more peaceful, more settled. People were enthralled by inventions. In 1909, the Wright brothers did a flyby of the Lusitania in New York. People could build the ships, then they would take on a life of their own. Imagine these monstrous machines, braving the Atlantic,” he said.
Imagine is what Layton has done.
“Ever since I was 5, I wanted to write a book about ships,” he said. He has held the drealy nearly all his life. The native of Tully, who, since 1990, has resided in Auburn, has taken two Caribbean cruises, and occasionally boats on Cayuga Lake with a friend. But both of those activities just seem to pale in comparison.
“The cruise liners of today ... they're just not the same. Although, the Queen Mary II, I would like to go on. She weighs 150,000 tons and has electrically powered propellers, that turn instead of rudders. They really try to capture the golden days,” Layton said.
A Jehovah Witness who was home schooled - and is an enthusiastic proponent of doing so - Layton is very family oriented. He is currently studying as an apprentice piano tuner with his father's nationally known business. He also runs his own cleaning business. But the author, who scoured newspaper articles and, from the recognition he received from his first, self-published book, “Atlantic Liners: A Trio of Trios,” was able to network with researchers in England for his latest effort, is constantly busy following his dream.
He plans to rewrite his first text, would like to write a screenplay of the current and is planning the subject of his next book, which he will not reveal.
“This is like the hobby run amok,” he said. “I like writing, and I'm writing about a subject I'm passionate about.”
If you read
What: “Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography of the Ship of Splendor”
Who: J. Kent Layton
Publisher: Lulu Press
Available: Softcover version can be found in bookstores everywhere; hardcover version is identical in content, but only available through the publisher or at
www.atlanticliners.com
Special offers: Each format is also available in a signed and sequentially numbered series (limited to 500 of each) and can be ordered online
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