When the Lusitania Went Down

Written by	Charles McCarron and Nathaniel Vincent
Date	1915

"When the Lusitania Went Down" is a song about the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915. The American-owned, British-operated civilian passenger ship was sunk by a German submarine on its way to Great Britain, killing almost 1,200 people, including 128 Americans. The incident is widely considered to have been one of the contributing factors to the United States of America entering World War I.

Lyrics from this song, which is in the public domain, were used in a Wayne and Wanda sketch in the first issue of the comic book The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson. The "historically educative musical number" (which is introduced as such by Sam the Eagle) depicts Wayne and a now-redheaded Wanda sailing across New York Harbor. Unfortunately, as is their custom, the pair barely gets past the first verse (or the Statue of Liberty) and goes down with the ship, much to Sam's chagrin.