<P> It was during the closed hearings that the Admiralty tried to lay the blame on Captain Turner , their intended line being that Turner had been negligent . The roots of this view began in the first reports about the sinking from Vice-Admiral Coke commanding the navy at Queenstown . He reported that `` ship was especially warned that submarines were active on south coast and to keep mid-channel course avoiding headlands also position of submarine off Cape Clear at 10 : 00 was communicated by W / T to her '' . Captain Webb , Director of the Trade Division , began to prepare a dossier of signals sent to Lusitania which Turner may have failed to observe . First Sea Lord Fisher noted on one document submitted by Webb for review : `` As the Cunard company would not have employed an incompetent man its a certainty that Captain Turner is not a fool but a knave . I hope that Turner will be arrested immediately after the enquiry whatever the verdict '' . First Lord Winston Churchill noted : `` I consider the Admiralty 's case against Turner should be pressed by a skilful counsel and that Captain Webb should attend as a witness , if not employed as an assessor . We will pursue the captain without check '' . In the event , both Churchill and Fisher were replaced in their positions before the enquiry because of the failures of the Gallipoli campaign . </P>
<P> It was during the closed hearings that the Admiralty tried to lay the blame on Captain Turner , their intended line being that Turner had been negligent . The roots of this view began in the first reports about the sinking from Vice-Admiral Coke commanding the navy at Queenstown . He reported that `` ship was especially warned that submarines were active on south coast and to keep mid-channel course avoiding headlands also position of submarine off Cape Clear at 10 : 00 was communicated by W / T to her '' . Captain Webb , Director of the Trade Division , began to prepare a dossier of signals sent to Lusitania which Turner may have failed to observe . First Sea Lord Fisher noted on one document submitted by Webb for review : `` As the Cunard company would not have employed an incompetent man its a certainty that Captain Turner is not a fool but a knave . I hope that Turner will be arrested immediately after the enquiry whatever the verdict '' . First Lord Winston Churchill noted : `` I consider the Admiralty 's case against Turner should be pressed by a skilful counsel and that Captain Webb should attend as a witness , if not employed as an assessor . We will pursue the captain without check '' . In the event , both Churchill and Fisher were replaced in their positions before the enquiry because of the failures of the Gallipoli campaign . </P>
who was the first lord of the admiralty at the time of the lusitania 's sinking
who was the first lord of the admiralty at the time of the lusitania 's sinking
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill