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Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt I (October 20, 1877 - May 7, 1915) was a wealthy American businessman and a family member of the famous Vanderbilt family who lost his life in the sinking of the Lusitania.

Aboard Lusitania[]

Vanderbilt boarded the Lusitania on May 1, 1915 in New York City, bound for Liverpool, England. On May 7, 1915, when the Lusitania was torpedoed of the Irish coast, Vanderbilt and his manservant Ronald Denyer helped people into the lifeboats when a young mother rushed up to him to help her and her child find a lifejacket. Failing to find another lifejacket, he offered her his own life vest, which he proceeded to even tie on to her himself, since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Many consider his actions especially brave and gallant since he could not swim. He and Denyer were among the 1,198 passengers who did not survive the incident. Their bodies were never found.

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