Gloating over their project and forgetting the rights of neutrals, the mad war lords did not think of the innocent persons on board, the men, the women and babies. The lives of these neutrals were as nothing compared with the shouts of triumph that would resound through Germany at the announcement of the torpedoing of the big British ship, symbol of sea power. The attitude was truly expressed by Captain von Papen, who on receiving news of the sinking of the Lusitania remarked: “Well, your General Sherman said it: ‘War is Hell.’”
So the war lords schemed and the plots which resulted in the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, bringing death to 113 American citizens, were developed and executed in America, through orders from Berlin.
The agents in America put their heads together in a room in the German Club, New York, or in a high-powered limousine tearing through the dark. These men, who had worked out the plot, on the night of the successful execution had assembled in a club and in high glee touched their glasses and shouted their devotion to the Kaiser. One boasted afterwards that he received an Iron Cross for his share in the work.
On the night of the tragedy, one of the conspirators remarked to a family where he was dining—a family whose son was on the Lusitania—when word came of the many deaths on the ship: “I did not think she would sink so quickly. I had two good men on board.”
WARRIORS AT WORK IN AMERICA
In their secret conferences the conspirators worked their way round obstacles and set their scheme in operation. Hired spies had made numerous trips on the Lusitania, and had carefully studied her course to and from England, and her convoy through the dangerous zone where submarines might be lurking. These spies had observed the precautions taken against a submarine attack. They knew the fearful speed by which the big ship had eluded pursuers in February. They also had considered the feasibility of sending a wireless message to a friend in England—a message apparently of greeting that might be picked up by the wireless on a German submarine and give its commander a hint as to the ship’s course. In fact, they did attempt this plan. Spies were on board early in the year when the Lusitania ran dangerously near a submarine, dodged a torpedo and then quickly eclipsed her German pursuer.
Spies also had brought reports concerning persons connected with the Lusitania, and had given suggestions as to how to place men on board in spite of the scrutiny of British agents. All these reports were considered carefully and the conclusion was that no submarine was fast enough to chase and get the Lusitania; that it was practically impossible to have the U-boats stationed along every half mile of the British coast, but that the simplest problem was to send the Lusitania on a course where the U-boats would be in waiting and could torpedo her. The scheme was, in substance, as follows:
“Captain Turner, approaching the English coast, sends a wireless to the British Admiralty asking for instructions as to his course and convoy. He gets a reply in code telling him in what direction to steer and where his convoy will meet him. First, we must get a copy of the Admiralty Code and we must prepare a message in cipher, giving directions as to his course. This message will go to him by wireless as though from the Admiralty. We must make arrangements to see that the genuine message from the British Admiralty never reaches Captain Turner.”
That was the plan which the conspirators, aided and directed by Berlin, chose. Upon it the shrewdest minds in the German secret service were set to work. As for the British Admiralty Code, the Germans had that at the outbreak of the war and were using it at advantageous moments. How they got it has not been made known; but they got it and they used it, just as the Germans have obtained copies of the codes used by the American State Department and have had copies of the codes used in our Army and Navy. While the codes used by the British officials change almost daily, such is not the case with merchant vessels on long voyages.
The next step of the conspirators was to arrange for the substitution of the fake message for the genuine one. Germany’s spy machine has a wonderful faculty for seeking out the weak characters holding responsible positions among the enemy or for sending agents to get and hold positions among their foes. It is now believed that a man on the Lusitania was deceived or duped. Whether he was a German sympathizer sent out by the Fatherland to get the position and be ready for the task, or whether he was induced for pay to play the part he did—has not been told. Neither is his fate known.