The Glasgow School of Art

In 1907 the Lusitania was built at John Brown’s Clydebank shipyard. She was one of a new class of large transatlantic liners built for Cunard. In 1915 she was torpedoed off the south coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,195 people. There was a huge international outcry which ultimately led to the participation of the United States participation in the First World War.

To commemorate Clydeside’s part in this story a conference will be held that explores aspects ofLusitania‘s design, construction and sinking. Speakers include many eminent authorities on Clyde shipbuilding and design such as Professor John Hume and Professor Tony Slaven.

The conference will be held in Clydebank Town Hall, close to where Lusitania was built. This is particularly appropriate as the building was designed by James Miller, who also designedLusitania‘s palatial interiors.

This conference is organised by the Clydeside Lusitania Commemoration Group, which was established to help mark the centenary of the sinking of RMS Lusitania in 1915. It is not a formal or permanent organisation.

The members of the group are:

Alan Blackwood (chair)
Professor John Hume
Professor Anthony Slaven
Dr Bruce Peter (Research Supervisor at GSA)
Dr Martin Bellamy
Ian Johnston
Ian Winkle
Duncan Winning OBE

The conference is generously supported by:

West Dunbartonshire Council
The Ballast Trust
The Society for Nautical Research