Murder or misfortune? Latest Roscoe Lecture explores sinking of Lusitania

The sinking of the Liverpool-bound superliner The Lusitania was the fascinating subject of the first Roscoe Lecture of 2026.

Journalist and broadcaster Peter Elson delivered his lecture ‘The sinking of the Lusitania: Murder or Misfortune’ to a capacity audience at LJMU’s John Lennon Art and Design Building.

The former British Maritime Writer of the Year explored the loss of the passenger liner in 1915 and the mystery that still surrounds it.

The ship, with nearly 2,000 civilians onboard, was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 7 May 1915, resulting in 1,200 deaths off the Irish coast.

Its loss changed not only the course of the First World War but also of global warfare.

In his lecture, Peter asked why a passenger liner was steaming through a much-publicised warzone. Was it complacency? Or ignorance about the rapidly changing rules of engagement?

Worse, was it a plan by the man regularly hailed as the ‘Greatest Briton of All Time’ – Winston Churchill – to lure the US into the war, prompted by the death toll of American passengers?

About the Roscoe Lecture

Beginning in Liverpool in 1997, the Roscoe Lecture series quickly became one of the largest public speaking events in the country with guests ranging from heads of state to comedians and civil rights campaigners to explorers of both our planet and the universe. Never less than thought-provoking and entertaining, the Roscoe events have continued over the past 25 years as the university’s contribution to the civic life of the city, with more than 130,000 people attending since 1997.

Speakers over the years have included the King, the Dalai Lama, journalist Jeremy Paxman, Ken Dodd, ChildLine founder Esther Rantzen, Paralympian Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, the Presidents of Ireland and Ghana, and Nisha Katona, Chancellor of LJMU.