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.
It was revealed that the Lusitania was carrying about 173 tons of
war munitions for Britain, which the Germans cited as further justification for the attack.
The United States eventually sent three notes to Berlin protesting
the action, and they apologized and pledged to end unrestricted submarine warfare.
