Lusitania Research Paper

It is estimated that during World War I, around five thousand ships were sunk by German U-boats alone (Golson). Submarines became a huge weapon during the time of World War I. Jan S. Breemer, a submarine warfare expert and professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College in Monterey, California says, “The submarine was the absolute weapon of World War I. They were difficult to locate and hard to attack. Navies didn’t have any traditional responses for dealing with the submarine” (Golson). One of the five thousand ships sunk by German U-boats was called the Lusitania. The sinking of the Lusitania raised many questions and caused additional tension between America and Germany that eventually led to America entering The Great War.
President Woodrow Wilson wanted to keep the United States completely …show more content…
Safety precautions were drawn, but the captain decided to keep sailing. At 1:40 p.m. on May 7, U20, a German submarine led by Kapitän-leutnant Schwiege, saw the Lusitania. At 2:10 p.m., Schwiege fired a torpedo at the Lusitania. Schwiege then recorded in his log,
The ship stops immediately and heals over to starboard quickly, immersing simultaneously at the bow. It appears as if the ship were going to capsize very shortly. Great confusion is rife on board; the boats are made ready and some of them lowered into the water. In connection therewith great panic must have reigned; some boats, full to capacity are rushed from above, touch the water with either stem or stern first and founder immediately. (The Sinking of the Lusitania)
Eighteen minutes later, the Lusitania was completely underwater. Passengers and crew members struggled to quickly get lifeboats out, but due to the angle of the ship and how fast it was taking on water, very few lifeboats were successfully launched. 1,153 people drowned, including 128 innocent American passengers (The