After Brandell had played on Broadway in the spring of 1915 on May 1 she boarded the RMS '' Lusitania '' to return to London . She was accompanied by Mrs Mabel Crichton , the wife of a friend . The actress knew of the danger of being hit by a submarine in British territorial waters and she was not confident that the ship could outrace a submarine and , as she put it , was " in a state " for much of the voyage . She and Mabel Crichton ( who did not survive the sinking ) became friendly with their tablemates : Max Schwarcz and Francis Bertram Jenkins . However , despite the convivial company on board Brandell never got over her feeling of dread . Jenkins did not help matters by pointing out the shortage of lifebelts on board . Brandell begged Mabel Crichton to allow her to stay the night in Crichton 's cabin because she was so frightened . Crichton welcomed Brandell into her cabin and spent most of the night trying to reassure her that nothing would happen to them . However , Brandell 's fears were proved right and the next day on May 7 1915 the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank . In her written deposition to the authorities Brandell wrote : " Dear Sir , I am replying to your request in giving my statement to the best of my recollection about the sinking of the Lusitania
was torpedoed
Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
Josephine Brandell