Lusitania
On May 1, 1915, the great ship, Lusitania, departed from New York headed for Liverpool. However, the ship or its passengers never made it to Liverpool. Despite published warnings from German officials that appeared in U.S. newspapers on the morning of the departure, the ship still carried 1,959 people including passengers and crew members. At this point America was still neutral in the war. However, the Germans had developed a sink on sight policy, sinking any ship they suspected carried any warfare or contraband.
On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania crossed paths with a German submarine U-boat 20. The U-20 fired a single torpedo towards Lusitania. The ship sank in eighteen minutes, killing 1,195 of those on board, 123 of those being Americans. There was a second explosion that day but the exact cause of that explosion was never determined although much controversy has surrounded it.
America was outraged, however, did not join the war until April 6, 1917, almost two years later. Germany had promised America that they would abolish the “sink on sight” policy in late 1915, afraid that America would join the Britain in the war. In 1917, the Germans resorted back to using that policy.
Ballard, Robert D., and Rick Archbold. "PBS Online - Lost Liners - Lusitania." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 05 Mar. 2011. http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html.
Lost Liners: The Book By Robert D. Ballard and Rick Archbold. Paintings by Ken Marschall
http://www.greatships.net/lusitania.html
"Lusitania." Great Ships: The Postcard and Ephemera Collection of Jeff Newman. Web. 05 Mar. 2011. http://www.greatships.net/lusitania.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment