Asset Tadus was born in Persia, (now called Iran), in 1877. At some time, probably before the Great War, he had left there and having crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he settled in Yonkers, New York, in the United States of America where he found employment as a labourer.
In the spring of 1915, however, rumours began to circulate amongst the Persian communities in America that the Turkish rulers back home had massacred many of their relatives and a few of them, particularly from Chicago, decided to return home to investigate. It is likely that Asset Tadus decided to return home for the same purpose. Accordingly, he booked third cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania for England, on the first part of his journey.
He boarded the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York, on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure, but then had to wait as her sailing was postponed until the early afternoon of that day. This was because she had to load cargo and embark passengers and crew from Anchor Liner the Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship. Tadus would have had what was to become his last sight of his adopted city not long after that.
Six days later, in the early afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of southern Ireland, by the German submarine U-20 and sank in just 18 minutes. At that stage of her voyage, she was only about fourteen hours steaming time away from the safety of her Liverpool home port.
Altogether there were fifteen Persian nationals on board the Lusitania when she was sunk, most of them having travelled from Chicago. Of these, nine were killed and six survived the sinking. Asset Tadus was one of the unlucky ones who was killed and as his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 38 years at the time of his death.
There was another Persian national who lived in Yonkers on board the Lusitania, when she sank - fellow third class passenger George Sergis. It is likely that Asset Tadus and George Sergis knew each other and may have been travelling together. Sergis, however, survived.
Cunard Records, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.