USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1, 959 passengers and crew, 1, 198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans.

Detailed explanation-2: -On May 7, 1915, the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1, 959 men, women, and children on board, 1, 195 perished, including 123 Americans.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Lusitania was carrying a cargo of rifle ammunition and shells (together about 173 tons), and the Germans, who had circulated warnings that the ship would be sunk, felt themselves fully justified in attacking a vessel that was furthering the war aims of their enemy.

Detailed explanation-4: -Germany retaliated by using its submarines to destroy neutral ships that were supplying the Allies. The formidable U-boats (unterseeboots) prowled the Atlantic armed with torpedoes. They were Germany’s only weapon of advantage as Britain effectively blocked German ports to supplies.

Detailed explanation-5: -Germany-itself under pressure from a British sea blockade-began using its “unterseeboote, ” better known as U-boats or submarines, to sink these merchant ships in 1915.