about joining the war, was Germany justified in sinking the ship?
Although the sinking of the Lusitania was a major reason for changing American opinion?
Insofar as %26quot;all's fair in love and war%26quot;, the Germans were justified. The Lusitania was being used in the service of the British war effort:
%26quot;The Lusitania made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York in September 1907. Construction had begun in 1903 with the goal of building the fastest liner afloat. Her engines produced 68,000-horse power and pushed the giant through the water at an
The Lusitania leaves New York
May 1, 1915average speed over 25 knots. Dubbed the %26quot;Greyhound of the Seas%26quot; she soon captured the Blue Ribbon for the fastest Atlantic crossing.
The British Admiralty had secretly subsidized her construction and she was built to Admiralty specifications with the understanding that at the outbreak of war the ship would be consigned to government service. As war clouds gathered in 1913, the Lusitania quietly entered dry dock in Liverpool and was fitted for war service. This included the installation of ammunition magazines and gun mounts on her decks. The mounts, concealed under the teak deck, were ready for the addition of the guns when needed.
On May 1, 1915, the ship departed New York City bound for Liverpool. Unknown to her passengers but probably no secret to the Germans, almost all her hidden cargo consisted of munitions and contraband destined for the British war effort. As the fastest ship afloat, the luxurious liner felt secure in the belief she could easily outdistance any submarine. Nonetheless, the menace of submarine attack reduced her passenger list to only half her capacity.
A contemporary illustration
of the sinkingOn May 7, the ship neared the coast of Ireland. At 2:10 in the afternoon a torpedo fired by the German submarine U 20 slammed into her side. A mysterious second explosion ripped the liner apart. Chaos reigned. The ship listed so badly and quickly that lifeboats crashed into passengers crowded on deck, or dumped their loads into the water. Most passengers never had a chance. Within 18 minutes the giant ship slipped beneath the sea. One thousand one hundred nineteen of the 1,924 aboard died. The dead included 114 Americans.
Walter Schwieger was captain of the U-Boat that sank the Lusitania. He watched through his periscope as the torpedo exploded and noted the result in his log, %26quot;The ship stops immediately and heals over to starboard quickly, immersing simultaneously at the bow. It appears as if the ship were going to capsize very shortly. Great confusion is rife on board; the boats are made ready and some of them lowered into the water. In connection therewith great panic must have reigned; some boats, full to capacity are rushed from above, touch the water with either stem or stern first and founder immediately.%26quot;
An American victim is buried
in Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland
May 25, 1915In the ship's nursery Alfred Vanderbilt, one of the world's richest men, and playwright Carl Frohman tied life jackets to wicker %26quot;Moses baskets%26quot; holding infants in an attempt to save them from going down with the ship. The rising water carried the baskets off the ship but none survived the turbulence created as the ship sank to the bottom. The sea also claimed Vanderbilt and Frohman.
The sinking enraged American public opinion. The political fallout was immediate. President Wilson protested strongly to the Germans. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, a pacifist, resigned. In September, the Germans announced that passenger ships would be sunk only with prior warning and appropriate safeguards for passengers. However, the seeds of American animosity towards Germany were sown. Within two years America declared war.%26quot;
and
%26quot;Germany justified the attack by stating, correctly, that the Lusitania was an enemy ship, and that it was carrying munitions. It was primarily a passenger ship, however, and among the 1,201 drowned in the attack were many women and children, including 128 Americans. Colonel Edward House, close associate of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, was in London for a diplomatic visit when he learned of the Lusitania’s demise. “America has come to the parting of the ways,” he wrote in a telegram to Wilson, “when she must determine whether she stands for civilized or uncivilized warfare. We can no longer remain neutral spectators.”
But although Germany was (probably) justified, it was a bad mistake - they won the battle, but they lost the war.
Although the sinking of the Lusitania was a major reason for changing American opinion?
what I've read seems to confirm that the Lusitania was carrying explosives of some sort. I don't know what convention was being violated by doing this -- certainly more than a gentlemen's agreement, though. If the Germans were certain of this cargo, they were justified in sinking the ship. Warning the ship and allowing them to put the passengers into lifeboats would have jeopardized the submarine crew. Long story short -- war is hell.
Certainly, there were much worse situations on all sides during WWII.
The Lusitania sinking was still on the minds of people before the US was drawn into WWII. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy to Britain was about to board the 'Manhattan' for a trip from Portugal to the US in about 1939 when he sent a wire to the state department telling them that if the ship was torpedoed, not to be too quick to blame the Germans, as he had been advised that Churchill may sink an American ship to get the US to join the war effort openly.
Germany made repeated warnings about unrestricted submarine warfare. This was done because they were being destroyed in a large part by supplies being smuggled to their enemies.
The Lusitania was one such smuggler ship. All the US citizens aboard knew the high risk they faced. The captain and at least some people in the gov'ts knew about the smuggled weapons on the ship.
Germany did what she had to do to continue the war and not be crushed by her enemies. The US tried to profit by selling things to both sides and knowingly allowed her people to be put in harms way. It would have been easy to stop supplying the Germans and their allies, or to block access to ships going to areas known for high submarine activity (as the Lusitania was).
Germany did nothing that was normally seen as unacceptable in war. Many US people have just always held to this idea that being uninvolved means theyre protected-most other powerful countries have been through this phase too.
