Owner of The Lusitania to Discuss 1915 Shipwreck

Photo: Winnetka/Northfield Library

The sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania on May 7, 1915 is one of the most remembered events of World War I a century later.

But what’s even more interesting is that although at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean some 11 miles off the coast of Ireland, the rights to the ship were purchased years later.

Retired venture capitalist and life-long diver Gregg Bemis bought the salvage rights to the ship in 1982. Since then, he has made it his life’s work to solve the mystery of the ship’s doom.

Bemis will deliver a lecture on the maritime disaster on Sunday, August 30 at 2 p.m. at the Winnetka Library.

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Bemis is the former Director, Chairman and principal owner of The Ocean Corporation, the world’s leading educational facility for commercial divers. He also served as Chairman of Deep Ocean Engineering, a world leader in the production of remotely operated underwater vehicles.

In 2008, he mounted an expedition to explore the shipwreck, where he discovered several previously unknown tidbits regarding the wreck.