Carter Roy

Most of the recovered bodies were buried in mass graves, many before their loved ones could see or identify them.

Identifying Lusitania victims came down more to who couldn't be found alive than who was found dead.

Maybe the mass graves were an easier way to deal with such a disaster.

Remember, over a thousand people died, but then there's the wreckage.

In the 1970s, investigative journalist Colin Simpson wrote that divers who'd seen the wreckage were sworn not to discuss it,

to protect state secrets.

Then, in 1982, millionaire Greg Bemis purchased sole ownership of the Lusitania.

Bemis spent years self-funding dives and investigations and concluded there was a cover-up.

In the 1990s, Bemis authorized a dive led by Robert Ballard, who famously located the Titanic wreckage.

Ballard's team found unexploded hedgehog mines from the 1940s and 50s, evidence that someone had tried to blow up the wreckage of the Lusitania long after it sank.

And the hedgehog mines?

They matched those used by the British Navy.

Yeah, that's right.

The expert underwater archaeologist who found the Titanic also found evidence the British Navy tried to destroy the Lusitania wreck.

Wild.

If there was nothing suspicious on the Lusitania, then why were they blowing up the crime scene?

Well, these hedgehog mines came with two new stories.

First, the British government claimed that Nazi submarines hid around the wreckage during World War II and had to be attacked.

Then they said the wreckage was used in the 1950s for target practice.

Oh, yeah, we need to test some bombs?