The Sinking of the Lusitania and the Start of WWI

The past hundred years has seen many examples of luxury liners that have met an unfortunate end. Some liners have been sunk by accident, such as the RMS Titanic, and some through an act of violence, such as RMS Britannic. RMS Britannic was the sister ship to the Titanic and was sunk by a mine in 1916. The Britannic though was not the only ship that was sunk through violence during the First World War, in fact a more famous sinking was that of the RMS Lusitania, which is sometimes considered one of the starting point of World War I.

First off though it should be said that the sinking of the British luxury liner RMS Lusitania, can in no way be said to have commenced the First World War, as is often argued, for one simple fact, the Lusitania was sunk on 7th May 1915, whereas the Great War started in the summer months of 1914.

Arguments as to the exact date can be made, though the 28th June 1914 is as good as any, this being the date that Gavrilo Princip, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

RMS Lusitania 1907 - International Film Service - PD-old-100

There is in fact more to the arguments made that the sinking of the Lusitania helped bring about the end of the First World War, these arguments are based on the sinking ultimately bringing the United States of America into the war, but even so this argument is in no way conclusive.

The Lusitania was owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, and was constructed to be a rival to the Olympic ships of the White Star Line, and the German North German Line. The Cunard company set out to build the fastest liners afloat and in the building of the Lusitania (1904-1907) and her sister ship the Mauretania; they succeeded in building liners that crossed the Atlantic at speeds of 25 knots. Cunard were though subsidised by the British government under Prime Minister Balfour, to a tune of 2.6million, to stave off the threat of an American buyout. The British government also agreed to pay an annual fee of 150,000 to Cunard to ensure the Cunard liners were in a state of war readiness, with provisions for mounting deck guns as required.

At the onset of the War, whilst the Mauretania was converted to a troop transport, the Lusitania was considered inappropriate for such a conversion. The Lusitania was too large to be a troop transport and continued in its role as a luxury liner, conveying passengers between the United Kingdom and the United States. As a liner carrying non-military passengers many considered the Lusitania safe from attack but there was other factors that made it a legitimate target for enemy submarines. The Lusitania routinely carried British issued small arms ammunition, but of greater importance the British Admiralty had ordered all merchant ships to report sightings of any German naval craft, and were to attempt to ram any submarine that it saw surfaced. This order meant that the Lusitania was a legitimate military target and a German submarine would not have to guarantee the safety of any passengers.

The Lusitania travelled through a declared war zone around the British Isles. The German Embassy issued warnings to passengers not travel aboard the Lusitania prior to the liner’s 202nd crossing. There is no evidence that the embassy had any prior knowledge of the possibility of attack and was probably acting on the off chance of an attack. The embassy would realise the impact on German-American relations in the event of a loss of American lives in any such attack. The warning was to be issued in 50 East Coast newspapers, though in the end only one newspaper published the warning.

Passengers were not put off by any potential dangers and on the 1st May 1915, almost two thousand passenger and crew departed from Pier 54 in New York, on what proved to be the liners final voyage. As the Lusitania crossed the Atlantic, the British Admiralty was tracking a German submarine, the U-20, under the command of Captain Schwieger. On 5th and 6th May the U-20 sank three vessels of the southern tip of Ireland, in the direct path of the Lusitania, low on fuel though, the U-20 had started to head for home when the Lusitania suddenly crossed its path.

Schwieger launched a single torpedo with devastating results. Within 18 minutes of the torpedo striking the hull of the Lusitania, the liner had sunk having travelled two miles to a point just off the coast of Ireland at Kinsale. 1198 people died as a result of the single torpedo and the Allied press promptly condemned Captain Schweiger as a war criminal.

Avenge the Lusitania - PD-GovUK

Timing proves that the sinking of the Lusitania did not start the First World War, timing also disproves that the sinking immediately helped to end the War. The main argument goes that the sinking forced the American government commit to the war. There is no doubt that the actions of the U-20 turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, and the British government presumed that the death of 128 American citizens aboard the Lusitania would force an American declaration of war upon Germany. President Wilson though did not want to be involved in what was perceived as a European conflict, and instead of declaring war, he sent a formal protest to Germany.

Whilst noted, it was not until a further three American were killed on board the White Star liner Arabic, and a further protest from President Wilson, that submarine attacks on liners ceased. Both these attacks occurred in 1915, and America did not declare war on Germany until 6th April 1917, almost two years later. The declaration itself has been attributed more to do with the sinking of seven American merchant ships and publication of the Zimmerman telegram, a telegram inciting Mexico to war, than the sinking of the liners.

The sinking of the Lusitania was an act of war, resulting in a huge loss of life, an act described as a war crime, which resulted in worldwide sympathy for the allied powers. It is though only one act in a four year war, and dates dictate that it can not be described as the action that started the Great War. Nor can any great credence be given to arguments that the sinking caused the end of the war, due to the gap in time until the American declaration of war.

Copyright - First Published 8th February 2008