RMS Lusitania sank in 1915 after a German U-boat torpedoed the ocean liner off the southern coast of Ireland. The disaster occurred during World War I and killed nearly 1,200 people.
Lusitania was operated by the Cunard Line and had entered service in 1907. Before the war, it was one of the world’s largest and fastest passenger ships. When World War I began, German authorities declared the waters around the British Isles a war zone and warned that enemy ships could be attacked.
On 7 May 1915, U-20 fired a torpedo that struck Lusitania. A second internal explosion followed, and the vessel sank rapidly. Of approximately 1,959 people aboard, about 1,198 died, including 128 Americans.
The sinking intensified international outrage, especially in the United States, although America did not enter the war immediately. Lusitania was a passenger liner, not a cruise ship, and its wartime role remains a frequent source of historical confusion.