The war had severely curtailed trans-Atlantic passenger traffic and the demands for men to serve in France, Gallipoli and other theatres of war ensured that she sailed without her full complement of crew - some 350. With a capacity for 270 first, 250 second and 1,900 third class passengers, she sailed almost empty. She had commenced her maiden voyage on 7th February, 1915 after fitting out at Alexander Stephen's yard on the Clyde, leaving Liverpool for New York. With a top speed of 16 knots she was hardly an ocean greyhound but she was a good, sturdy, reliable vessel- a workhorse of the Atlantic rather than a 'headliner'. Like her sister, Transylvania, she had been intended for the joint Mediterranean-New York service operated by the Cunard Line. She was a relatively new ship of 14,348grt, with an overall length of 576 feet and a beam of 65.9. The Tuscania was part of trans-Atlantic convoy HX20 which consisted of some fourteen vessels including the White Star liners Baltic and Ceramic. The Tuscania was an Anchor Liner of 14.348 tons built by Stephens at Linthouse Trans Atlantic Convoy

On board were 2,235 soldiers consisting of companies 'D', 'E' and 'F' of the 6th Battalion, 20th VS Engineers, members of the 32nd Division, the 100th, 158th and 203rd Aero Squadrons and a British crew. On the southernmost tip of the island stands a monument, similar in appearance to a lighthouse, which was erected by the American Government in 1919 as a memorial to those who died on a bitterly cold February evening in 1918 when the Anchor liner Tuscania was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the Irish Sea some seven miles south-west of Islay. The island of Islay is no stranger to shipwrecks for there are at least 250 known sunken vessels around her turbulent shores.

Virtual sailor 7 torpedo sub