Little is known about William Barry except that he was believed to have been born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889, and he was employed by the Cunard Line as a fireman on board the Lusitania. In 1911, he lodged at 23. Duke Street, Liverpool, but by April 1915, he was lodging at 22. Athol Street, Liverpool.
He was on board when the liner departed from Liverpool for New York on the 17th April 1915, and he was serving in the same capacity on the return voyage which left New York on Saturday, the 1st May.
On the 7th May, as the great liner passed by the Old Head of Kinsale, a torpedo launched by the German submarine, U-20, struck the Lusitania on her starboard side which resulted in her sinking within eighteen minutes. William Barry lost his life as a result, and if his remains were ever recovered, they were never identified.
As he has no known grave but the sea, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London. He was aged 26 years.
1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 11th December 2022.