Cover of the 1915 sheet music for "When the Lusitania Went Down" by Charles McCarron and Nat. Vincent. The Lusitania was sunk by the German submarine U-20 on May 7, 1915.
When the Lusitania Went Down" by Charles McCarron and Nat. VincentBy courtesy of the Cunard Steamship Co. Ltd.G.T. Inc.Leo. Feist New York
"At 2:15 p.m., when ten to fifteen miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, the weather being then clear and the sea smooth, the Captain, who was on the port side of the lower bridge, heard the call, 'There is a torpedo coming, sir' given by the second officer. He looked to starboard and then saw a streak of foam in the wake of a torpedo traveling towards his ship. Immediately afterwards the Lusitania was struck on the starboard side somewhere between the third and fourth funnels. The blow broke number 5 life-boat to splinters. A second torpedo was fired immediately afterwards, which also struck the ship on the starboard side. The two torpedoes struck the ship almost simultaneously."
Excerpt from the British law-court report on the sinking of the Cunard Company passenger liner Lusitania by the German submarine U-20 on May 7, 1915. Great Britain declared the entire North Sea a military zone as of November 5, 1914, and imposed a blockade of Germany. Germany accused Britain of both arming merchant ships and sailing them under flags of neutral nations. On February 4, 1915, Germany announced a war zone around the British Isles and a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare in which all ships of Britain and its allies were subject to sinking without notice.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III, 1915, pp. 190, 191, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
1915-05-07, 1915, May, German submarine U-20 sinks the Lusitania, U-20, Lusitania
