Wasili Logunietz was born in Imperial Russia in 1892. Some time before the outbreak of the Great War, he had emigrated to the United States of America and settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he found employment as a labourer.
In the spring of 1915, maybe because of the military situation in northern Europe between the Russian and German armies, he decided to return home and as a result, booked third cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania to England, on the first part of his journey home.
Having left Chicago at the end of April, he arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May, in time for her morning sailing. This was actually delayed until just after mid-day because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the S.S. Cameronia, an Anchor Lines ship, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for 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, twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland, and only hours away from her home port.
Wasili Logunietz was one of 69 Russian nationals on board at the time, and he was one of 40 of them who was killed. He was aged 23 years and as his body was never recovered 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.