SS Lusitania

This article is about SS Lusitania, a Portuguese liner. For other uses, see Lusitania (disambiguation).

The SS Lusitania aground on Bellows Rock, Cape Point

The SS Lusitania was a Portuguese twin-screw liner of 5557 tons, built in 1906 by Sir Raylton Dixon & Co, and owned by Empreza Nacional De Navegacao, of Lisbon.

The ship was wrecked on Bellows Rock off Cape Point, South Africa at 24h00 on 18 April 1911 in fog while en route from Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) with 25 first-class, 57 second-class and 121 third-class passengers, and 475 African labourers. Out of the 774 people on board, eight died when a life boat capsized. On 20 April the ship slipped off the rock into 37 metres of water to the east of the rock.

The sinking of the Lusitania spurred the local authorities to construct a new lighthouse on the Cape Point.