The United States was brought face to face with the Great War and with what it meant in ruthless destruction of life when, on May 7, 1915, the crack Cunard Liner Lusitania, bound from New York to Liverpool, with 1,959 persons aboard, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off Old Head of Kinsale, Southwestern Ireland. Two torpedoes reached their mark. The total number of lives lost when the ship sunk was 1,198. Of these 755 were passengers and the remainder were members of the crew. Of the drowned passengers, 124 were Americans and 35 were infants.
"Remember the Lusitania!" later became a battlecry just as "Remember the Maine!" acted as a spur to Americans during the war with Spain. It was first used by the famous "Black Watch" and later American troops shouted it as they went into battle.
The sinking of the Lusitania, with its attendant destruction of life, sent a thrill of horror through the neutral peoples of the world. General opposition to the use of submarines in attacking peaceful shipping, especially passenger vessels, crystallized as the result of the tragedy, and a critical diplomatic controversy between the United States and Germany developed. The American Government signified its determination to break off friendly relations with the German Empire unless the ruthless practices of the submarine commanders were terminated. Germany temporarily agreed to discontinue these practices.
Among the victims of the Cunarder's destruction were some of the best known personages of the Western Hemisphere. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, multimillionaire; Charles Frohman, noted theatrical manager; Charles Klein, dramatist, who wrote "The Lion and the Mouse;" Justus Miles Forman, author, and Elbert Hubbard, known as Fra Elbertus, widely read iconoclastic writer, were drowned.
The ocean off the pleasant southern coast of Ireland was dotted with bodies for days after the sinking of the liner. The remains of many of the victims, however, never were recovered.
When the Lusitania prepared to sail from New York on her last trip, fifty anonymous telegrams addressed to prominent persons aboard the vessel warned the recipients not to sail with the liner. In addition to these warnings was an advertisement inserted in the leading metropolitan newspapers by the German embassy, advising neutral persons that British steamships were in danger of destruction in the war zone about the British Isles. This notice appeared the day the Lusitania sailed, May 1st, and was placed next the advertisement of the Cunard Line. Following is the advertisement:
NOTICE! Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. Imperial German Embassy, Washington, D. C., April 22, 1915.
Little or no attention was paid to the warnings, only the usual number of persons canceling their reservations, The general agent of the Cunard Line at New York assured the passengers that the Lusitania's voyage would be attended by no risk whatever, referring to the liner's speed and water-tight compartments.
As the great Cunarder drew near the scene of her disaster, traveling at moderate speed along her accustomed route, there was news of freight steamers falling victims to Germany's undersea campaign. It was not definitely established, however, whether the liner was warned of danger.
At two o'clock on the fine afternoon of May 7th, some ten miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, the Lusitania was sighted by a submarine 1,000 yards away. A second later the track of a torpedo, soon followed by another, was seen and each missile crashed into the Lusitania's hull with rending detonations.