Fergie's Tech Blog

7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania Sunk by German U-Boat

The RMS Lusitania was an ocean liner of the British, under ownership of the Cunard Steamship Lines . Built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on June 6, 1906, she was the prototype of her class. She was also the sister ship of RMS Mauretania, and both were built to compete with the fast German liners of the time. As such, Lusitania held the Blue Riband a number of times, notably in 1907.

The ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915, on her 202nd crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The incident played a role in the United States' entry into World War I on April 17, 1917. President of the United States Woodrow Wilson officially promised to keep the US out of the war, but the sinking of the ship provided some justification for the escalation of U.S. involvement. If the ship had been carrying munitions, as the Germans claimed, his claim that the Lusitania was a wrongful victim in the attack would have been false.

posted by Fergie @ 5/06/2006 10:01:00 PM