![]() Painting of the sinking, from the German Federal Archives | |
Date | 7 May 1915 |
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Time | 14:10 – 14:28 |
Location | Celtic Sea, near Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland |
Coordinates | 51°25′N 8°33′W / 51.417°N 8.550°W |
Cause | Torpedoed by German U-boat U-20 |
Outcome |
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The RMS Lusitania was a British-registered ocean liner that was torpedoed by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War on 7 May 1915, about 11 nautical miles (20 kilometres) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. The attack took place in the declared maritime war-zone around the UK, three months after unrestricted submarine warfare against the ships of the United Kingdom had been announced by Germany following the Allied powers' implementation of a naval blockade against it and the other Central Powers.
The passengers had been notified before departing New York of the general danger of voyaging into the area in a British ship, but the attack itself came without warning. From a submerged position 700m to starboard, U-20 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger launched a single torpedo at the Cunard liner. After the torpedo struck, a second explosion occurred inside the ship, which then sank in only 18 minutes.[2][3]: 429 The U-20's mission was to torpedo warships and liners in the Lusitania’s area. In the end, there were only 763 survivors out of the 1,960 passengers, crew and stowaways aboard,[1] and ~128 of the dead were American citizens.[4] The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany. It also contributed to the American entry into the War two years later; images of the stricken liner were used heavily in US propaganda and military recruiting campaigns.[3]: 497–503
The contemporary investigations in both the United Kingdom and the United States into the precise causes of the ship's loss were obstructed by the needs of wartime secrecy and a propaganda campaign to ensure all blame fell upon Germany.[2] At time of her sinking the primarily passenger-carrying vessel had in her hold around 173 tons of war supplies, comprising 4.2 million rounds of rifle ammunition, almost 5,000 shrapnel-filled artillery shell casings and 3,240 brass percussion fuses.[5][6] Debates on the legitimacy of the way she was sunk have raged back and forth throughout the war and beyond.[7]