A German U-boat sinks the liner Lusitania off Ireland
On this day · 7 May 1915
A single torpedo sent the Cunard liner down in 18 minutes, killing nearly 1,200 and hardening American opinion against Germany.
On May 7, 1915, the German submarine U-20, commanded by Walther Schwieger, spotted the Cunard liner RMS Lusitania about 11 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. At roughly 2:10 p.m. it fired a single torpedo into the ship’s starboard side.
A second, larger internal explosion followed, and the great liner listed badly. Only a handful of lifeboats got away cleanly. The Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes.
Eighteen minutes was all it took to send one of the world’s fastest liners to the bottom.
Of the nearly 2,000 people aboard, about 1,198 died, including 128 Americans. Germany argued the ship carried war munitions; the killing of civilians on a passenger liner nonetheless inflamed neutral opinion. The outrage helped pull the United States toward entering World War I, which it did in 1917.
Sources & references
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