Aleksij Podrubleny was born within the Imperial Russian Empire in 1877. Having left his native country, he had travelled through Europe, eventually crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America and settled in Niagara Falls, New York, where he obtained work as a labourer.
In the spring of 1915, however, he had decided to return home, perhaps because he wished to join the Imperial Russian forces in their fight against the Central Powers on the eastern front. Consequently, he purchased a third class ticket (numbered 38759) on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool, on the main part of
his return journey.
He then boarded the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 on the west side of the city on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her scheduled 10 o’ clock sailing and in company with the rest of the passengers and crew, then had to wait until 12.27 p.m. before the Cunarder actually left port.
This was because she had to wait to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship at the end of April. Six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only about 250 miles away from her Liverpool destination.
Aleksij Podrubleny was killed as a result of this action, one of 39 Russian nationals on board who died as a result of the action. Only 29 survived. He was aged 38 years of age at the time and as his body was never recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, he has no known grave.
Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.