Its construction had begun in 1903 with the goal of building the fastest liner afloat. 
She soon was known as "Greyhound of the Seas". On May 1, 1915, the ship departed New York City bound for Liverpool. On the afternoon of May 7, she was steaming off the coast of Ireland within easy sailing distance of her destination. Since she was the fastest liner, she relied on her speed to defend against submarine attack. However, she was not running at full speed because of fog and was not taking an evasive zigzag course. Actually, the menace of submarine attack had reduced her passenger list to only half her capacity.
Still, unfortunately, the Lusitania and the German submarine U 20 converged at about 2 pm. At 2:10 pm the submarine fired a torpedo that hit its target amidships. The initial explosion was followed quickly by a second, more powerful, detonation. Within 20 minutes the great liner had slipped under the water, taking 1,198 victims with her out of 1,924 initially aboard. Among the dead were 138 Americans.
The reason for the attack was probably that the Germans were aware that her cargo mainly consisted of munitions and contraband destined for the British war effort. For the British Admiralty had secretly subsidized her construction with the agreement that the ship would be consigned to government service at the outbreak of war. In 1913, the Lusitania quietly entered dry dock in Liverpool and was fitted for war service. This included the installation of ammunition magazines and gun mounts on her decks.
Technology was transforming the world - this was particularly true in the world of seafaring. Just 40 years earlier, timber-framed sailing ships ruled the seas. Now, great ocean liners were cutting through the waves, carrying thousands of passengers, in relative comfort and in a short period of time, across the Atlantic divide between Europe and America. Britain, the United States and Germany fought for dominance of the seas, creating ever bigger, ever faster, ever more luxurious ocean liners.
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpwwi2.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4803284
She soon was known as "Greyhound of the Seas". On May 1, 1915, the ship departed New York City bound for Liverpool. On the afternoon of May 7, she was steaming off the coast of Ireland within easy sailing distance of her destination. Since she was the fastest liner, she relied on her speed to defend against submarine attack. However, she was not running at full speed because of fog and was not taking an evasive zigzag course. Actually, the menace of submarine attack had reduced her passenger list to only half her capacity. Still, unfortunately, the Lusitania and the German submarine U 20 converged at about 2 pm. At 2:10 pm the submarine fired a torpedo that hit its target amidships. The initial explosion was followed quickly by a second, more powerful, detonation. Within 20 minutes the great liner had slipped under the water, taking 1,198 victims with her out of 1,924 initially aboard. Among the dead were 138 Americans.
The reason for the attack was probably that the Germans were aware that her cargo mainly consisted of munitions and contraband destined for the British war effort. For the British Admiralty had secretly subsidized her construction with the agreement that the ship would be consigned to government service at the outbreak of war. In 1913, the Lusitania quietly entered dry dock in Liverpool and was fitted for war service. This included the installation of ammunition magazines and gun mounts on her decks.
Technology was transforming the world - this was particularly true in the world of seafaring. Just 40 years earlier, timber-framed sailing ships ruled the seas. Now, great ocean liners were cutting through the waves, carrying thousands of passengers, in relative comfort and in a short period of time, across the Atlantic divide between Europe and America. Britain, the United States and Germany fought for dominance of the seas, creating ever bigger, ever faster, ever more luxurious ocean liners.
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpwwi2.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4803284
I liked this article. I've never heard of this liner and is really interesting the way it was destroyed.
ReplyDeleteI really can't believe that people do those kinds of stuff of damaging material things of other countries for just the power. But I really find it really interesting because it was one of the things i've never heard.
I think that the people that do this kinds of stuff to the other countries don't really think of all the damages they can cause and all the deads and the wounded they are about to make, and all the families they are about to break apart.
This is a really bizarre event that happened because they were not doing nothing wrong, they only thought they were transporting men to Britain, and I think that is really self-fish from them because, what if they weren't and they just started attacking the liner!? Maybe I think like that because I think there is a better way to arrange those kinds of things than war or attacking without any reason.
I had never heard about this attack before, but it is almost the same as all attacks, nations always fighting for more power. I feel sorry about all the innocent people who died, and that had nothing to do with the political or national struggles.
ReplyDeleteWhat I just don't finish to understand is why did the German government attacked if they were not hundred percent sure about what was the ship carrying; I mean they just thought they were doing contraband and launched the torpedoe toward it, but they just never considered the innocent lives that were aboarding it.
I think that if a were a president or somebody in charge of the security of a nation, I will consider all my different alternatives before coming into a war, that will destroy millions of lives.
the sinking of that ship in particular was a big loss and to have a what is basically cruiser ship sunk by submarines was probably a bad idea because of the war in which the U.S. now took part in. That was the begining of the war for the U.S. but because of it there were many lives that were taken away just because of a stupid decision and a war that germany would have probably won if not for such a foolish move on their part.
ReplyDeleteThe thruth is I didn't read about this before, while I was reading I found it interesting the way fabiola post this article. And I liked the part it explains the reason of the attack, so I understand that it was because of the cargo it contained, though I don't find it any good reason for this attack, because as britain was transporting their stuff German did that to, though in a better way for the enemy to notice. So my conclusion is that this actually attack was worthless.
ReplyDelete