One of the most well known and tragic attacks during World War I
was the sinking of the Lusitana in 1915. Torpedoed by a German
U-boat off the coast of Cork, it sank quickly and claimed over
one thousand lives with about seven hundred people surviving.
One of those survivors, Michael G. Byrne, gave many details
about the sinking in a letter to his wife. Extracts from the
letter were published in the New York Times on 25 May 1915. The
article outlines that after Mr. Byrne was rescued he eventually
made his way to Paulstown, where he stayed with relatives.
Michael Byrne was born in the late 1860s in Ireland. He came to
New York around 1887 and married a German woman named Herminie
in the 1890s. The newspaper article notes that he was living at
444 West 50th St in Manhattan and it is at this address that the
1910 and 1920 US censuses show him living with his wife.  By
1920 they had been married 26 years and did not have any
children.  Author Unknown, Submarine man observed wreck New York
man writes. New York Tim