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The Sinking of Lusitania
The Lusitania was a huge luxurious sailing boat that was built in 1903. The Lusitania was scheduled to leave New York on May 1, 1915 and sail to Liverpool, England. At this time WWI had begun and in 1915 America was neutral in the war. Germany had started an unrestricted submarine warfare, which meant they could sink any passenger ship that enters their blockade. The Lusitania had to pass through the warzone in order to get to Liverpool, England. About 1,200 passengers boarded the boat. The passengers got a telegram warning them to not get on the boat because they would enter the warzone. There were also huge warning signs posted on the dock informing the passengers it’s a possibility they would enter the European warzone and they could become a target for German submarines. Many people ignored the warnings because they thought it was safe since famous people were boarding the boat. People also thought it was safe because the Lusitania was so huge that people thought nothing could sink the boat. When the Lusitania sailed to the coast of Ireland, the U-boat captain saw the Lusitania and fired one torpedo. The torpedo hit the Lusitania and smashed into the side of the ship. It sounded like the captain fired two torpedoes but it was just an international explosion. The torpedo hit the side of the boat where the life boats were. It only took eighteen minutes for the Lusitania to completely sink. 1,153 people drowned that was on the Lusitania and about 128 of them were Americans. Germany didn’t want the United States to enter the war so they promised to stop unrestricted submarines warfare. Germany and Britain were still at war but nobody was really winning. Germany became inpatient and they were ready to end the war. Germany thought if they started back the unrestricted submarines warfare they could starve out Britain for 6 months and win the war before the US would get involved, but they were wrong. Britain did not starve and the US entered the war in April 1917. When the US entered the war the allied countries got more money and goods.
