George Hutchinson was stated to have been born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England in 1881, and in 1915 he lived at 50a, Deysbrook Lane, Liverpool.
There were a number of men by this name serving in the Mercantile Marine at this time and it has not been possible to identify with any certainty which one of them served on the Lusitania.
He was a professional sailor in the British Mercantile Marine and on the 14th April 1915, he engaged as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania, at the Cunard offices at Liverpool, at a monthly rate of pay of £6-10s.-0d. (£6.50p.), £1-0s-0d. of which was advanced to him at the time. He reported for duty at 8 a.m., three days later, in time for the liner’s last ever sailing out of the River Mersey. His previous ship had been the Leyland Lines vessel the S.S. Scotian.
The liner then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to New York, arriving there on the 24th April 1915, and she left there on the early afternoon of the 1st May, for her return to Liverpool. Six days after this, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland. At that time, she was only about 250 miles away from the safety of her home port.
George Hutchinson survived this action, however and having been rescued from the sea, he was landed at Queenstown, from where he was eventually able to get back to Liverpool. Once there, he was officially discharged from the last voyage of the Lusitania and was paid the balance of wages owing to him, which amounted to £4-14s.-0d. (£4.70p). This sum was in respect of his service on board from the 17th April 1915, until the 8th May, 24 hours after the vessel had gone down! He was aged 34 years at the time of the sinking.
Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 20th January 2024.