RMS Lusitania

In 1915, still relatively early in World War I, a German U-boat sunk a massive British passenger liner known as the Lusitania. This one sinking killed 1,198 people, including 128 U.S. citizens. A member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, known for its railroad empire, was among the fatalities. The overall number of casualties was only a few hundred less than those who died on the Titanic when it hit an iceberg in 1912.

On April 30th, 1915, the Lusitania was being loaded in New York with supplies, and was secretly being loaded with ammunition. Over on the other side of the world, in Germany, on the same day, Kapitänleutnant Walter Schwieger was ordered to take his U-boat-20 German submarine to take patrol of part of the Atlantic. The Lusitania started its trip across the Atlantic to Great Britain on May 1st, 1915, carrying 1257 passengers and 702 crew members under the command of Captain William Turner. On May 7th, the Lusitania and the German Submarine entered the Irish Channel. The Submarine had been sinking other ships before the Lusitania.

Running low on fuel Kapitänleutnant Walter Schwieger decided to turn back. On his way back he ran into several ships, and sunk them. When he met up with the Lusitania, he surfaced and fired one torpedo. The torpedo was noticed, but nothing was able to be done about it. Right after it hit, it triggered something in the ship that exploded. The life boats were not able to be used because the boat was tilted, and half of the life boats were under the boat, while the other half was out of the water. A distress signal was sent out and pick up by Queenstown.

Queenstown sent out several boats to see what they could do. They arrived at the seen two hours after the sinking. They were, however, able to rescue 761 people from the wreckage. The total number of deaths was 1,198.