Eric Sauder

Eric Sauder has been researching ocean liners and their history for over three decades, and his first job was as a tour guide on board the venerable Cunard liner RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Because of his extensive, detailed knowledge of passenger ships of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Eric was asked by Dr. Robert Ballard to act as Historian for his explorations of the remains of the Cunard liner Lusitania and White Star's Britannic (sister ship of Titanic). He has dived to the wrecks of both of these liners, and it was his close involvement with these expeditions and the analysis of the thousands of still images and hundreds of hours of footage that gave him a unique insight and knowledge of these two great lost ships. Among the other expeditions Eric has been involved with are those to the wrecks of Titanic, Republic, and Andrea Doria.

Counted among his credits are numerous documentaries which have appeared on the Arts & Entertainment Channel, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and The Learning Channel, as well as the best-selling books Exploring the Lusitania, The Discovery of the Titanic, Titanic: An Illustrated History, and Lost Liners. Eric has written numerous articles and has also worked on a number of ocean-liner-related projects with the National Geographic Society. He assisted James Cameron with the research for his 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic.

As Eric's interest in ocean liners increased so did his collection of artifacts and photographs of the great ships. Artifacts from his collection have been featured at the "Cunard Sesquicentennial: 150 Transatlantic Years" exhibit at the Forbes Galleries and the "Dazzle and Drab" exhibit at the Seamen's Church Institute, both in New York. For the 75th anniversary of Lusitania's loss in 1990, Eric curated an exhibit at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

For the 100th anniversary of the sinking on 7 May 2015, Eric is curating an exhibit on board Cunard's Queen Victoria during their “Lusitania Remembered” cruise and will exhibit many rare and unseen items from his decades of collecting. He is also working with several museums in the UK, Ireland, and the United States on exhibits commemorating the loss of the great Cunarder.

Eric has written four books about Lusitania: RMS Lusitania: Triumph of the Edwardian Age (1992); RMS Lusitania: The Ship and Her Record (2005); The Unseen Lusitania: The Ship in Rare Illustrations (2015); and RMS Lusitania: A History in Picture Postcards (2015).

In his spare time, Eric travels frequently and has spent well over a year at sea on various liners including the Queen Elizabeth 2, the Rotterdam (V), and the Regal Empress (ex-Olympia).