Last Voyage of the Lusitania.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Bob Ballard, who previously uncovered the wrecks of the Titanic and Bismark, this time has come up with, at best, a tease. Having set out to uncover the mystery behind the controversial World War I sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania by a German Uboat, he wound up with nothing more than another theory of what caused the massive explosion that sent it to the bottom off the south coast of Ireland. Nevertheless, as usually is the case with National Geographic videos, there is enough to keep viewers interested despite the unsatisfactory ending.

Lusitania had sailed from New York on May 1, 1915, for Liverpool with 1,265 passengers and a crew of 694. It was a poorly kept secret that British ships of all sorts--even passenger liners--were being used to transport war materiel in hopes of getting desperately needed armaments, ammunition, and other military goods past the submarines. The German government had gone so far as to publish warnings that any ship suspected of transporting such contraband would be subject to attack, even if civilians were aboad. A notice to that effect had appeared in the New York papers next to Cunard's announcement of the sailing of Lusitania. This generally was ignored, leading to the ill-fated final voyage.

On May 5, a single torpedo struck Lusitania, followed by a massive second...