Lusitainia
American songwriter Jerome Kern and Toscanini missed the boat literally, although "Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, 37-year-old railroad heir and horse fancier, missed the Titanicin 1912 but unfortunately not the Lusitaniain 1915, despite receiving a mysterious telegram telling him the ship was doomed. Vanderbilt died a hero in the disaster, reportedly giving his lifebelt to a young woman passenger, even though he couldn’t swim. (Smithsonian Magazine)
Did Britain doom the Lusitania? May 2015
PBS "Lost Liners"
Erik Larson’s ‘Dead Wake,’ review 2015
Diana Preston’s definitive “Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy” (2002)