Thomas Costello was believed to have been born in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, in 1885, although no birth record to match this fact has been found. Nothing is known about him of his family, although it is believed that he was unmarried.
At some stage in his life, he immigrated to England where, in 1915, he lived at 55, Kendrick Street, Liverpool, Lancashire.
He engaged as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915 and reported for duty at 8 a.m. on the 17th April for the liner’s last ever voyage out of the River Mersey. As a fireman, his monthly rate of
pay was £6-10s-0d. (£6.50).
He was killed when the liner sank on the 7th May, aged 30 years, while it was on the return voyage from New York to Liverpool.
His body was not found and identified afterwards and as a consequence, his name is recorded on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Bootle Times, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated –16th January 2023