On May 17, 1915, after a transatlantic journey from New York City and nearly within sight of its destination of Liverpool, England, the Lusitania was attacked by a German submarine and sunk in less than 20 minutes. This ship was considered to be unsinkable. Despite an announcement from the German embassy on May 1, 1915, stating a warning that commercial vessels were vulnerable to attack in waters encompassed in the war zone, no one paid much attention. Out of about 2,000 passengers aboard, only 764 survived, which was a devastating loss of life. This book shows us that war is a matter of life or death, and sometimes those who aren’t even a part of it suffer the consequences. Throughout this book there is a strong theme of how the rules of warfare seemed to vanish.
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The attack of the Lusitania changed that. The German military acted so carelessly in getting to the back side of the United States. This really marked the end of the old ways of doing maritime warfare where civilian ships were treated with care and civilian casualties were avoided at all costs. The acts of the Germans showed they had no remorse for the lives they would end when they attacked. Seaman E. S. Heighway wrote, “I saw myself hundreds of men and women dead with life belts on in the water after the ship had gone”. The attack and sinking of the Lusitania was a tragedy that cost the lives of thousands who had no involvement in World War I. The deaths of the sinking had no age. In war we think of older people dying, ones who dedicate their life to their country. On this ship were also younger people. Of the 33 infants aboard the ship, only 6 survived. That’s 27 young babies who would never return home. The understanding that you should never harm and innocent civilian was gone and not considered. The sinking of the ship represented the passing of a gentlemanly way of maritime
The attack of the Lusitania changed that. The German military acted so carelessly in getting to the back side of the United States. This really marked the end of the old ways of doing maritime warfare where civilian ships were treated with care and civilian casualties were avoided at all costs. The acts of the Germans showed they had no remorse for the lives they would end when they attacked. Seaman E. S. Heighway wrote, “I saw myself hundreds of men and women dead with life belts on in the water after the ship had gone”. The attack and sinking of the Lusitania was a tragedy that cost the lives of thousands who had no involvement in World War I. The deaths of the sinking had no age. In war we think of older people dying, ones who dedicate their life to their country. On this ship were also younger people. Of the 33 infants aboard the ship, only 6 survived. That’s 27 young babies who would never return home. The understanding that you should never harm and innocent civilian was gone and not considered. The sinking of the ship represented the passing of a gentlemanly way of maritime