On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania
was 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 drowned, including 128
Americans.
The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States,
but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued
warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise,
that entered the war zone around Britain.
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