The pair met on the staircase and hurried towards their cabins. They sent the nursemaids and children up to the deck and followed. Although there was no panic on deck, in the crush of people they lost contact with their children. As they searched frantically the ship made a plunge to starboard and water rushed over the forecastle. Everyone on deck was thrown into the sea. Just 18 minutes after the torpedo struck, the Lusitania plunged beneath the waves, with the loss of nearly 1,200 lives.