Sinking of the Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,959 men, women, and children on board, 1,195 perished, including 123 Americans. A headline in the New York Times the following day—"Divergent Views of the Sinking of The Lusitania"—sums up the initial public response to the disaster. Some saw it as a blatant act of evil and transgression against the conventions of war. Others understood that Germany previously had unambiguously alerted all neutral passengers of Atlantic vessels to the potential for submarine attacks on British ships and that Germany considered the Lusitania a British, and therefore an "enemy ship."

The sinking of the Lusitania was not the single largest factor contributing to the entrance of the United States into the war two years later, but it certainly solidified the public's opinions towards Germany. President Woodrow Wilson, who guided the U.S. through its isolationist foreign policy, held his position of neutrality for almost two more years. Many, though, consider the sinking a turning point—technologically, ideologically, and strategically—in the history of modern warfare, signaling the end of the "gentlemanly" war practices of the nineteenth century and the beginning of a more ominous and vicious era of total warfare.

Throughout the war, the first few pages of the Sunday New York Times rotogravure section were filled with photographs from the battlefront, training camps, and war effort at home. In the weeks following May 7, many photos of victims of the disaster were run, including a two-page spread in the May 16 edition entitled: "Prominent Americans Who Lost Their Lives on the S. S. Lusitania." Another two-page spread in the May 30 edition carried the banner: "Burying The Lusitania's Dead—And Succoring Her Survivors." The images on these spreads reflect a panorama of responses to the disaster—sorrow, herois...

Lusitania Torpedoed; 1198 Lives Lost Off Coast of Ireland

President Wilson Warns Germany She Will be Held to "Strict Accountability"

The whole civilized world was horrified to learn, on May 7, 1915, that the Cunard Line Steamship Lusitania, bound from New York to Liverpool with 1959 persons aboard, of whom 179 were Americans, had been torpedoed off the southwestern coast of Ireland and 1198 lives lost. The toll of death included 114 Americans and 35 infants. Many persons of distinction went down with the Lusitania, including Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Charles Froh- man, Charles Klein, Elbert Hubbard," Justus Miles Forman, and William T. Stead.

German Warnings Published in New York

Nine days before the time set for the sailing of the Lusitania, all the notable Americans who had booked passage on the ship were warned by anonymous telegrams to cancel their engagements.

A further warning appeared on the day the ship sailed, in the form of advertisements in the New York dailies, giving notice to neutral travelers that the Zone of War included the waters adjacent to the British Isle and that all vessels flying the British flag were liable to destruction in those waters. To counteract this threat, the agent of the Cunard Line assured the passengers that no danger need be apprehended. Very few of the passengers canceled their bookings. So the Lusitania was permitted to steam out of New York Harbor on the appointed day.

Two Torpedoes Strike the Lusitania

All went well until 2 o'clock on the afternoon of May 7, 1915, when the Lusitania, then some ten miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, the most southerly point of Ireland, sighted a submarine. Without warning, torpedoes in quick succession struck the ship, crashing through the hull and opening a large cavity through which the water entered. Many seamen were killed outright or injured by the explosions.

Rescue Ships Threatened

Boats were lowered in haste, only to capsize in the placid sea. The listin...

Lusitania was approximately 30 miles (48 km) from Cape Clear Island when she encountered fog and reduced speed to 18 knots. She was making for the port of Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, 70 kilometres (43.5 miles) from the Old Head of Kinsale when the liner crossed in front of U-20 at 14:10.

One story states that when Kapitänleutnant Schwieger of the U-20 gave the order to fire, his quartermaster, Charles Voegele, would not take part in an attack on women and children, and refused to pass on the order to the torpedo room — a decision for which he was court-martialed and served three years in prison at Kiel. However, the story may be apocryphal; Diana Preston writes in Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy that Voegele was an electrician on board U-20 and not a quartermaster.

The torpedo struck Lusitania under the bridge, sending a plume of debris, steel plating and water upward and knocking Lifeboat #5 off its davits, and was followed by a much larger secondary explosion in the starboard bow. Schwieger's log entries attest that he only fired one torpedo, but some doubt the validity of this claim, contending that the German government subsequently doctored Schwieger's log, but accounts from other U-20 crew members corroborate it.
Because of a second explosion, many people believed U-20 torpedoed Lusitania for the second time.
The effect of U-20's torpedo

Lusitania's wireless operator sent out an immediate SOS and Captain Turner gave the order to abandon ship. Water had flooded the ship's starboard longitudinal compartments, causing a 15-degree list to starboard. Captain Turner tried turning the ship toward the Irish coast in the hope of beaching her, but the helm would not respond as the torpedo had knocked out the steam lines to the steering motor. Meanwhile, the ship's propellers continued to drive the ship at 18 knots (33 km/h), forcing more water into her hull.

Within six minutes, Lusitania's forecastle began to go under water. Lusitania's severe starboard ...