As the _Lusitania_ approached the Irish coast she received a message from the Admiralty warning her that German submarines were in the neighbourhood. She had reduced her speed to eighteen knots, so as not to arrive at the Mersey bar before the tide was high enough to enable her to cross. An artist who was saved thus described what happened:-- "The voyage from New York to London was made in excellent weather. The sun shone all the way, and on the afternoon of the disaster a golden sun lit up a beautifully blue, calm sea. I think I can say that I was one of the four people who really saw the torpedo discharged at the _Lusitania_. I was in the dining-room about 2.15, and had just finished luncheon. I went out, and leaned against the starboard side of the vessel, just outside the palm lounge. I saw the periscope of a submarine about 200 yards away. Then I noticed a long white streak of foam. It gave me the impression of a frothy fizzing in the water. A lady and two gentlemen came up to me and exclaimed, 'Is that a torpedo?' I felt too sick to answer, and turned away. Almost immediately there was a terrific impact, followed by the explosion. . . ." Steam and smoke came up between the two last funnels, and almost immediately there was a second report, probably due to the bursting of the main steam pipe. "I at once gave the order," said Captain Turner at the inquest, "to lower the boats down to the rails, and I directed that the women and children should be got into them. The moment the vessel was struck she listed to starboard. I stood on the bridge as she sank, and the _Lusitania_ went down under me. She floated about eighteen minutes after the torpedo struck her." An English passenger thus described the scene as the _Lusitania_ sank:-- "Nearly a score of the boats on the port side were filled with passengers, but it was found impossible to lower them owing to that side of the ship standing so high above the water. I managed to get across to starboard. The ship's deck was then level with the sea. I made for a boat which was just putting off, and, in fact, had one foot on the craft and the other on the ship. Then, owing to something going wrong, the lifeboat jammed, and all the occupants were thrown into the water. It was a terrible moment. The passengers in the boat, including women, screamed with terror, and soon sank. Other boats collapsed or turned over, and hundreds of people, men, women, and children, were struggling helplessly in the water, some clinging to boats which had been upset. I struck out, and managed, after swimming for about fifteen minutes, to come across a boat, into which I was dragged. Hundreds of people were on rafts, and the sea was alive with men and women."