- Hakakā kaulana puni i ke ao lā
- Ke kaua weliweli ma Eulopa
- Ma ka nūpepa i haʻi maila lā
- ʻO ka topeto kau i ka beli
-
- Weliweli nā hana ke ʻike aku lā
- ʻO nei lima koko he aloha ʻole
-
- Haʻina ʻia mai ana ka puana lā
- Ke kaua weliweli ma Eulopa
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Famous conflict throughout the world
The terrible war in Europe
In the newspapers it said
The torpedo struck the belly (of the ship)
Dreadful deeds, horrible to look upon
Merciless bloody hands
Let the story be told
Of the terrible war in Europe
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Source: Hawaiian Historical Society
- Translated by Leialoha Kamai and Lalepa Koga Recorded by Pound 4 Pound - The sinking of the Lusitania is
immortalized in this mele. The Lusitania was a British cargo
and passenger ship that sailed the Atlantic between England
and the United States. She was proclaimed a floating palace
by her passengers on her maiden voyage June 7, 1906. Voyages
across the Atlantic were peaceful, but as World War I
escalated, the situation became precarious as German U-boats
roamed the seas. Over-confident because of her reserve speed
capabilities, which would enable her to flee under attack,
the ship set out from New York to England May 1, 1915, in
spite of threats by German authorities. A number of
Americans were aboard, including tycoon Alfred Vanderbilt
and noted theatre producer, Charles Frohman. May 7, with the
coast of Ireland in sight, a German submarine torpedoed the
Lusitania. She took a solid hit, but there was no explosion.
Water rushed into the first and second boiler rooms causing
the ship to shake from side to side, before a second massive
explosion took her down to the sea within 20 minutes. The
Lusitania may have been torpedoed a second or third time
taking 1,195 souls, 123 of them American. 764 were saved.
When news of the tragedy finally reached Hawaiʻi, the anger
and grief was not diminished. The inspiration to remember
this event may have been generated by a recent submarine
tragedy. March 25, 1915, the U.S. submarine Skate, with a
crew of 21 men, exploded and sank outside Honolulu harbor.
Desperate attempts to make contact with the vessel,
submerged in more than 300 feet, were fruitless and deep sea
divers were unable to reach that depth, the local diving
record being 215 feet in those days. The 350 ton, 142 foot
craft arrived in Honolulu, August 1914, as part of a
flotilla of 4 submarines of the First Submarine Division of
the Pacific Fleet. Three times a week at 9 a.m, the subs
would go on a one hour practice run, but ever since their
arrival at Pearl Harbor, one thing after another seemed to
go wrong for the Skate. On the last run, the sub cruised to
about a mile and a half south of the harbor and made its
dive. Later that morning, the empty sub's berth was not of
immediate concern, but as the afternoon passed, anxiety
heightened. At 3 p.m. the commander of the unit ordered a
search party. The lighthouse keeper at the entrance of
Honolulu Harbor reported hearing an explosion just after the
Skate disappeared. Oil bubbles were spotted in the water
where the submarine had slipped beneath the surface. As
darkness descended and news of the disaster spread, locals
gathered at the piers to pray and watch for the rescue
ships. The rescue, turned into salvage operation, would last
5 months and was unprecedented in maritime history. The
wreckage of the Skate was raised and towed to Honolulu
harbor August 29. Navy Board of Investigation's report found
many defects in American submarines and suggested all
F-class submarines were not in a safe conditon for use on
long dives. Immediate improvements in submarine construction
and performance was ordered. After the investigation, the
wreckage was towed to Pearl Harbor, re-sunk and forgotten.
It's final resting place is not far from the USS Arizona
Memorial.
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