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{{Short description|British ocean liner that was sunk in 1915 WW1}}
{{About|the British ship|her sinking|Sinking of the RMS Lusitania{{!}}Sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania''}}
{{other ships|List of ships named Lusitania}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = RMS Lusitania coming into port, possibly in New York, 1907-13-crop.jpg
| Ship caption = ''Lusitania'' arriving in [[New York City]] in 1907
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|government}}
| Ship country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| Ship name = ''Lusitania''
| Ship namesake = [[Lusitania]]
| Ship owner = [[File:House flag of the Cunard Line.svg|border|20px]] [[Cunard Line]]
| Ship registry = [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]]
| Ship route = Liverpool – [[Cobh|Queenstown]] – [[New York City|New York]]
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = [[John Brown & Co]], [[Clydebank]]
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 367
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 17 August 1904
| Ship launched = 7 June 1906{{Sfn|Atlantic Liners}}
| Ship completed = 
| Ship christened = [[James Burns, 3rd Baron Inverclyde|Mary, Lady Inverclyde]]
| Ship acquired = 26 August 1907
| Ship maiden voyage = 7 September 1907
| Ship in service = 1907 – 1915
| Ship out of service = 7 May 1915
| Ship identification = *UK [[official number]] 124082
*[[code letters]] HLJW
*{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}
*by 1913: [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless]] [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] MFA
| Ship fate = [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|Torpedoed and sunk]] by the [[SM U-20|SM ''U-20'']], on 7 May 1915
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type =[[Ocean liner]]
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|31,550}}, {{NRT|12,611}}
| Ship displacement = {{cvt|44060|LT|t|1|sigfig=4}}
| Ship length = *{{cvt|787|ft|1|lk=on}} [[Length overall|overall]]{{efn|The ship's overall length is often misquoted at either 785 or 790&nbsp;feet.{{sfn|Atlantic Liners}} }}
*{{cvt|762.2|ft|1}} registered
| Ship beam = {{cvt|87.8|ft|1}}
| Ship height = {{cvt|65|ft|1}} to boat deck, {{cvt|165|ft|1}} to aerials, {{cvt|104|ft|1}} from keel to top of boat deck, {{cvt|144|ft|1}} from keel to top of funnels
| Ship draught = {{cvt|33.6|ft|1}}
| Ship depth = {{cvt|56.6|ft}}
| Ship decks = 6 passenger decks, 10 overall<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania/deck-plans/|title=Deck plans|website=The Lusitania Resource|date=24 March 2011 }}</ref>
| Ship power = 25 [[fire-tube boiler]]s; four direct-acting [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons]] steam turbines producing {{cvt|76000|hp|MW}}
| Ship propulsion = *as built: four triple blade propellers
*from 1909: quadruple blade propellers
| Ship service speed = {{convert|24|kn}}{{br}}
| Ship speed Max = {{convert|26|kn}}
| Ship capacity = 552 first class, 460&nbsp;second class, 1,186 third class; 2,198 total.
| Ship crew = 850
| Ship notes = First British four-funnelled ocean liner
}}
|}

'''[[Royal Mail Ship|RMS]] ''Lusitania''''' (named after the [[Lusitania|Roman province]] corresponding to modern [[Portugal]] and portions of western [[Spain]]) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[ocean liner]] launched by the [[Cunard Line]] in 1906. She was the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|2}} three months later and was awarded the [[Blue Riband]] appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing in 1908. ''Lusitania'' [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|was sunk]] on her 202nd trans-Atlantic crossing, on 7 May 1915 by the German submarine [[SM U-20 (Germany)|''U-20'']], {{convert|11|mi|km}} off the [[Old Head of Kinsale]], [[Ireland]], killing 1,197 passengers, crew and stowaways.<ref name=LusiInfoStat>The official figures give 1,195 lost out of 1,959, excluding three stowaways who also were lost. The figures here eliminate some repetitions from the list and people subsequently known not to be on board. {{cite web | url=https://www.rmslusitania.info/people/statistics/|title=Passenger and Crew Statistics|website = The Lusitania Resource|date=12 December 2010 |access-date = 27 April 2024 |ref={{sfnref|The Lusitania Resource}}}}</ref> The sinking occurred about two years before the [[United States declaration of war on Germany (1917)|United States declaration of war on Germany]], but significantly increased American domestic public support for [[American entry into World War I|entering the war]].

== Overview ==
German shipping lines were Cunard's main competitors for the custom of transatlantic passengers in the early 20th century, and Cunard responded by building two new 'ocean greyhounds': ''Lusitania'' and {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|6}}. Cunard used assistance from the [[British Admiralty]] to build both new ships, on the understanding that the ship would be available for military duty in time of war. During construction gun mounts for deck cannons were installed but no guns were ever fitted. Both ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' were fitted with turbine engines that enabled them to maintain a service speed of {{convert|24|kn|lk=in}}. They were equipped with lifts, wireless telegraph, and electric light, and provided 50 percent more passenger space than any other ship; the first-class decks were known for their sumptuous furnishings.<ref name="lost-ships-of-robert-ballard">{{cite book |first1=Robert D. |last1=Ballard |first2=Rick |last2=Archbold |first3=Ken |last3=Marshall |title=The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard |publisher=Madison Press Books |location=Toronto: Ontario |date=2005 |isbn=978-1-59223-424-0}}</ref>{{rp|page=45}}

A series of tit-for-tat moves intensified the naval portion of [[World War I]]. The Royal Navy had [[Blockade of Germany (1914–1919)|blockaded Germany]] at the start of the war; as a reprisal to German naval mining efforts, the UK then declared the [[North Sea]] a military area in the autumn of 1914 and mined the approaches. As their own reprisal, Germany had declared the seas around the United Kingdom a war zone, wherein all allied ships would be liable to be sunk without warning. Britain then declared all food imports for Germany were contraband.<ref name="triumph-tragedy-end-of-the-edwardian-age">{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Greg |last2=Wilson |first2=Penny |date=2015 |title=Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy and the End of the Edwardian Age} |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-250-05254-4}}</ref>{{rp|page=28}} When submarines failed to sink many ships, the German authorities loosened U-boat rules of engagement. The German embassy in the United States also placed fifty newspaper advertisements warning people of the dangers of sailing on a British ship in the area, which happened to appear just as [[Royal Mail Ship|RMS]] ''Lusitania'' left New York for Britain on 1 May 1915. Objections were made by the British and Americans that threatening to torpedo all ships indiscriminately was wrong, whether it was announced in advance or not.<ref name="triumph-tragedy-end-of-the-edwardian-age" />{{rp|pages=6–7}}

On the afternoon of 7 May, a German U-boat torpedoed ''Lusitania'' {{convert|11|mi|km}} off the southern coast of Ireland inside the declared war zone. A second internal explosion occurred. The damage caused her to sink in 18 minutes, killing 1,197 passengers and crew. Only 12 bodies were ever recovered or found from the wreck.<ref name="lost-ships-of-robert-ballard" />{{rp|page=57}}

The German government attempted to find justifications for sinking ''Lusitania''. Special justifications focused on the small declared cargo of 173 tons of [[contraband|war materials]] on board the 44,000 ton displacement ship, and false claims that she was an armed warship and carried Canadian troops. In defence of indiscriminately sinking ships without warning, they asserted that [[cruiser rules]] were obsolete, as British merchant ships could be armed and had been instructed to evade or ram U-boats if the opportunity arose, and that the general warning given to all ships in the war zone was sufficient.<ref name="triumph-tragedy-end-of-the-edwardian-age" />{{rp|page=273}}{{sfn|Davidson|1997|page=89}}{{sfn|Butler|2003|page=215}}{{sfn|Carlisle|2009|page=73}}{{sfn|Tucker|Roberts|2005|page=1146}}

After the First World War, successive British governments maintained that there were no "munitions" (apart from small arms ammunition) on board ''Lusitania'', and the Germans were not justified in treating the ship as a naval vessel.{{sfn|The Guardian|1 May 2014}} But the most important protests at the time came from the US. Under neutrality inspections, the US was aware the ship was not armed, was acting in accordance with American law, and was chiefly a passenger vessel carrying almost two thousand civilian passengers and crew, including over a hundred American citizens (including many celebrities) among the dead. The US government argued that whatever the circumstances, nothing could justify the killing of large numbers of un-resisting civilians, and that America had a responsibility to protect the lives of law-abiding Americans. The Americans had already warned the Germans repeatedly about their actions, and the Germans had also demonstrated that submarines were able to sink merchant ships under cruiser rules.<ref name=wilson2>{{cite web|url=https://www.rmslusitania.info/primary-docs/wilson-notes/us-protest-2/|title=Second U.S. Protest over the Sinking of the Lusitania|date=28 November 2010 }}</ref>

The sinking shifted public and leadership opinion in the United States against Germany. US and internal German pressure led to a suspension of German Admiralty policy of deliberately targeting passenger ships, as well as later stronger restrictions. War was eventually declared in 1917 after the German Government chose to violate these restrictions, deliberately attacking American shipping and preparing the way for conflict with the [[Zimmermann Telegram]].

==Development and construction==
[[File:Lusitania's bow before launch.jpg|thumb|''Lusitania'', shortly before her launch]]
''Lusitania'' and {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|2}} were commissioned by [[Cunard]], responding to increasing competition from rival transatlantic passenger companies, particularly the German [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]] (NDL) and [[Hamburg America Line]] (HAPAG). They had larger, faster, more modern and more luxurious ships than Cunard, and were better placed, starting from German ports, to capture the lucrative trade in emigrants leaving Europe for North America. The NDL liner {{SS|Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse||2}} captured the Blue Riband from Cunard's {{RMS|Campania||2}} in 1897, before the prize was taken in 1900 by the HAPAG ship {{SS|Deutschland|1900|2}}. NDL soon wrested the prize back in 1903 with the new {{SS|Kaiser Wilhelm II||2}} and {{SS|Kronprinz Wilhelm||2}}. Cunard saw its passenger numbers affected as a result of the so-called "{{sclass2|Kaiser|ocean liner|1}}s".{{sfn|Ramsay|2001|pages=6–10}}
[[File:RMS Lusitania boat.jpg|thumb|left|RMS ''Lusitania'' &ndash; built 1904&ndash;1906]]

American millionaire businessman [[J. P. Morgan]] had decided to invest in transatlantic shipping by creating a new company, [[International Mercantile Marine Co.|International Mercantile Marine]] (IMM), and, in 1901, purchased the British freight shipper [[Frederick Richards Leyland|Frederick Leyland & Co.]] and a controlling interest in the British passenger [[White Star Line]] and folded them into IMM. In 1902, IMM, NDL and HAPAG entered into a "Community of Interest" to fix prices and divide among them the transatlantic trade. The partners also acquired a 51% stake in the Dutch [[Holland America Line]]. IMM made offers to purchase Cunard which, along with the French [[Compagnie Générale Transatlantique]] (CGT), was now its principal rival.<ref>{{cite book |title=J.P. Morgan and the Transportation Kings: The Titanic and Other Disasters |isbn=978-6-613-65675-9 |page=200}}</ref>

Cunard chairman [[George Burns, 2nd Baron Inverclyde|Lord Inverclyde]] thus approached the British government for assistance. Faced with the impending collapse of the British liner fleet and the consequent loss of national prestige, as well as the reserve of shipping for war purposes which it represented, they agreed to help. Under the terms of an agreement signed in June 1903, Cunard was given a loan of £2.6 million to finance two ships, repayable over 20 years at a favourable interest rate of 2.75%. The ships would receive an annual operating subsidy of £75,000 each plus a mail contract worth £68,000. In return, the ships would be built to [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] specifications so that they could be used as [[auxiliary cruiser]]s in wartime.{{sfn|Ramsay|2001|pages=12–17}} Due to receiving this subsidy, ''Lusitania'' and her sister ship received special permission to fly the [[Blue Ensign]], as a Royal Naval Reserve Merchant Vessel.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Navy List for July 1908 |author=British Admiralty |date=July 1908|page=417|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vNdGAQAAMAAJ&dq=lusitania&pg=PA416}}</ref>

===Design===
[[File:Lusitania unloading mail Bain.jpg|thumb|right|''Lusitania'' unloading Christmas mail to a [[mail tender|post office boat]]]]
Cunard established a committee to decide upon the design for the new ships, of which James Bain, Cunard's Marine Superintendent was the chairman. Other members included Rear Admiral H. J. Oram, who had been involved in designs for [[steam turbine]]-powered ships for the [[Royal Navy]], and [[Charles Algernon Parsons|Charles Parsons]], whose company [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons Marine]] was now producing turbine engines.

Parsons maintained that he could design engines capable of maintaining a speed of {{convert|25|kn}}, which would require {{convert|68,000|shp|kW|lk=in}}. The largest turbine sets built so far had been of {{cvt|23,000|shp|kW}} for the {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}} [[battleship]], and {{cvt|41,000|shp|kW}} for {{HMS|Invincible|1907|2}}-class [[battlecruiser]]s, which meant the engines would be of a new, untested design. Turbines offered the advantages of generating less vibration than the reciprocating engines and greater reliability in operation at high speeds, combined with lower fuel consumption. Having initially turned down the use of this relatively untried type of engine, Cunard was persuaded by the Admiralty to set up a committee of marine professionals to look at its possible use on the new liners. The relative merits of turbines and reciprocating engines were investigated in a series of trials between Newhaven and Dieppe using the turbine-driven cross-Channel ferry Brighton and the similarity-designed Arundel, which had reciprocating engines. The Turbine Committee was convinced by these and other tests that turbines were the way forward and recommended on 24 March 1904 that they should be used on the new express liners. In order to gain some experience of these new engines, Cunard asked John Brown to fit turbines on {{RMS|Carmania|1905|2}}, the second of a pair of 19,500g-intermediate liners under construction at the yard. ''Carmania'' was completed in 1905 and this gave Cunard almost two years of experience before the introduction of their new super liners in 1907.

The ship was designed by [[Leonard Peskett]]{{sfn|Venzon|Miles|1995|page=357}} and built by [[John Brown and Company]] of [[Clydebank]], Scotland. The ship's name was taken from [[Lusitania]], an ancient Roman province on the west of the [[Iberian Peninsula]]—the region that is now southern Portugal and [[Extremadura]] (Spain). The name had also been used by a previous ship built in 1871 and wrecked in 1901, making the name available from [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyd's]] for Cunard's giant.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2005/june/26_lusitania_of_1871.htm |website=Maritime Quest |title=Daily Event for June 26, 2005 Lusitania |access-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008045312/http://maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2005/june/26_lusitania_of_1871.htm |archive-date=8 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://wrecksite.eu/docBrowser.aspx?1081%3F5%3F1 |work=The New York Times |date=27 June 1901 |title=Lusitania Wrecked Off Newfoundland Coast – Passengers Numbering More than 350 Escape in Lifeboats – Crew Stand By The Ship – Fear-Maddened Men, Armed With Knives, Refuse to Give Women and Children First Chance to Get Away |access-date=27 October 2021 |via=wrecksite.eu |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027203501/https://www.wrecksite.eu/docBrowser.aspx?1081%3F5%3F1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Cassier's Magazine, Lusitania, Early Conception (1904).jpg|thumb|left|Early concept art of ''Lusitania'' with three funnels]]
Peskett had built a large model of the proposed ship in 1902 showing a three-funnel design. A fourth funnel was implemented into the design in 1904 as it was necessary to vent the exhaust from additional boilers fitted after steam turbines had been settled on as the power plant. The original plan called for three propellers, but this was altered to four because it was felt the necessary power could not be transmitted through just three. Four turbines would drive four separate propellers, with additional reversing turbines to drive the two inboard shafts only. To improve efficiency, the two inboard propellers rotated inward, while those outboard rotated outward. The outboard turbines operated at high pressure; the exhaust steam then passing to those inboard at relatively low pressure.

The propellers were driven directly by the turbines, for sufficiently robust gearboxes had not yet been developed, and became available in only 1916. Instead, the turbines had to be designed to run at a much lower speed than those normally accepted as being optimum. Thus, the efficiency of the turbines installed was less at low speeds than a conventional [[reciprocating steam engine]], but considerably superior when the engines were run at high speed, as was usually the case for an express liner. The ship was fitted with 23 double-ended and two single-ended boilers (which fitted the forward space where the ship narrowed), operating at a maximum {{cvt|195|psi|kPa}} and containing 192 individual furnaces.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|page=5}}

[[File:RMS Lusitania deck plans.jpg|right|thumb|Deck plans of ''Lusitania''. Modifications were made both during and after the ship's construction. By 1915 the lifeboat arrangement had been changed to 11 fixed boats on either side, plus collapsible boats stored under each lifeboat and on the poop deck.]]
Work to refine the hull shape was conducted in the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] experimental tank at [[Haslar]], Gosport. As a result of experiments, the beam of the ship was increased by {{cvt|10|ft|m}} over that initially intended to improve stability. The hull immediately in front of the rudder and the [[balanced rudder]] itself followed naval design practice to improve the vessel's turning response. The Admiralty contract required that all machinery be below the waterline, where it was considered to be better protected from gunfire, and the aft third of the ship below water was used to house the turbines, the steering motors and four {{convert|375|kW|adj=on}} steam-driven turbo-generators. The central half contained four boiler rooms, with the remaining space at the forward end of the ship being reserved for cargo and other storage.

Coal bunkers were placed along the length of the ship outboard of the boiler rooms, with a large transverse bunker immediately in front of that most forward (number 1) boiler room. Apart from convenience ready for use, the coal was considered to provide added protection for the central spaces against attack. At the very front were the chain lockers for the huge anchor chains and ballast tanks to adjust the ship's trim.

The hull space was divided into 13 watertight compartments, any two of which could be flooded without risk of the ship sinking, connected by 35 hydraulically operated watertight doors. A critical flaw in the arrangement of the watertight compartments was that sliding doors to the coal bunkers needed to be open to provide a constant feed of coal whilst the ship was operating, and closing these in emergency conditions could be problematic. The ship had a double bottom with the space between divided into separate watertight cells. The ship's exceptional height was due to the six decks of passenger accommodation above the waterline, compared to the customary four decks in existing liners.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=5–8}}

[[High-tensile steel]] was used for the ship's plating, as opposed to the more conventional [[mild steel]]. This allowed a reduction in plate thickness, reducing weight but still providing 26 per cent greater strength than otherwise. Plates were held together by triple rows of rivets. The ship was heated and cooled throughout by a thermo-tank ventilation system, which used steam-driven heat exchangers to warm air to a constant {{cvt|65|F|C|1}}, while steam was injected into the airflow to maintain steady humidity.

Forty-nine separate units driven by electric fans provided seven complete changes of air per hour throughout the ship, through an interconnected system, so that individual units could be switched off for maintenance. A separate system of exhaust fans removed air from galleys and bathrooms. As built, the ship conformed fully with [[Board of Trade]] safety regulations which required sixteen lifeboats with a capacity of about 1,000 people.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=22–24}}

At the time of her completion, ''Lusitania'' was briefly the largest ship ever built, but was soon eclipsed by the slightly larger ''Mauretania'' which entered service shortly afterwards. She was {{cvt|3|ft|m}} longer, a full {{convert|2|kn}} faster, and had a capacity of 10,000 gross register tons over and above that of the most modern German liner, {{SS|Kronprinzessin Cecilie|1906|2}}. Passenger accommodation was 50% larger than any of her competitors, providing for 552 saloon class, 460 cabin class and 1,186 in third class. Her crew comprised 69 on deck, 369 operating engines and boilers and 389 to attend to passengers. Both she and ''Mauretania'' had a wireless telegraph, electric lighting, electric lifts, sumptuous interiors and an early form of air-conditioning.{{sfn|Ramsay|2001|page=25}}

===Interiors===
[[File:Lusitania by Norman Wilkinson, 1907.jpg|thumb|right|Painting of ''Lusitania'' by [[Norman Wilkinson (artist)|Norman Wilkinson]]]]
At the time of their introduction onto the North Atlantic, both ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' possessed among the most luxurious, spacious and comfortable interiors afloat. The [[Scottish people|Scottish]] architect [[James Miller (architect)|James Miller]] was chosen to design ''Lusitania''{{'}}s interiors, while [[Harold Peto]] was chosen to design ''Mauretania''. Miller chose to use plasterwork to create interiors whereas Peto made extensive use of wooden panelling, with the result that the overall impression given by ''Lusitania'' was brighter than ''Mauretania''.

The ship's passenger accommodation was spread across six decks; from the top deck down to the waterline they were Boat Deck (A Deck), the Promenade Deck (B Deck), the Shelter Deck (C Deck), the Upper Deck (D Deck), the Main Deck (E Deck) and the Lower Deck (F Deck), with each of the three passenger classes being allotted their own space on the ship. As seen aboard all passenger liners of the era, first-, second- and third-class passengers were strictly segregated from one another. According to her original configuration in 1907, she was designed to carry 2,198 passengers and 827 crew members. The Cunard Line prided itself with a record for passenger satisfaction.
[[File:RMS Lusitania 1st Class Lounge and Music Room.jpg|thumb|Lounge and music room]]
[[File:Verandah Cafe Lusitania.jpg|thumb|Verandah cafe]]
''Lusitania''{{'}}s first-class accommodation was in the centre section of the ship on the five uppermost decks, mostly concentrated between the first and fourth funnels. When fully booked, ''Lusitania'' could cater to 552 first-class passengers. In common with all major liners of the period, ''Lusitania''{{'}}s first-class interiors were decorated with a mélange of historical styles. The first-class dining saloon was the grandest of the ship's public rooms; arranged over two decks with an open circular well at its centre and crowned by an elaborate dome measuring {{convert|29|ft|m}}, decorated with frescos in the style of [[François Boucher]], it was elegantly realised throughout in the [[Neoclassicism|neoclassical]] [[Louis XVI style]]. The lower floor measuring {{convert|85|ft|m}} could seat 323, with a further 147 on the {{convert|65|ft|m|adj=on}} upper floor. The walls were finished with white and gilt carved mahogany panels, with Corinthian decorated columns which were required to support the floor above. The one concession to seaborne life was that furniture was bolted to the floor, meaning passengers could not rearrange their seating for their personal convenience.{{sfn|Ballard|Dunmore|1995|page=45}}
[[File:Lustiania 1st Class Dining Saloon Artistic Conception.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Promotional material showing the first-class dining room]]
[[File:Lusitania 1st Class Dining Saloon.jpg|alt=|left|upright|thumb|Finished first-class dining room]]
All other first-class public rooms were situated on the boat deck and comprised a lounge, reading and writing room, smoking room and veranda café. The last was an innovation on a Cunard liner and, in warm weather, one side of the café could be opened up to give the impression of sitting outdoors. This would have been a rarely used feature given the often inclement weather of the North Atlantic.{{sfn|Maxtone-Graham|1978|page=33}}

The first-class lounge was decorated in [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] style with inlaid mahogany panels surrounding a jade green carpet with a yellow floral pattern, measuring overall {{cvt|68|ft|m}}. It had a barrel vaulted skylight rising to {{cvt|20|ft|m}} with stained glass windows each representing one month of the year.
[[File:First class smoking room (8643816066).jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|First-class smoking room]]
[[File:Lusitania 1st Class Reading & Writing Room.jpg|thumb|First-class reading and writing room]]

Each end of the lounge had a {{convert|14|ft|m|adj=on}} high green marble fireplace incorporating enamelled panels by [[Alexander Fisher (painter)|Alexander Fisher]]. The design was linked overall with decorative plasterwork. The library walls were decorated with carved pilasters and mouldings marking out panels of grey and cream silk brocade. The carpet was rose, with Rose du Barry silk curtains and upholstery. The chairs and writing desks were [[mahogany]], and the windows featured etched glass. The smoking room was [[Queen Anne Style architecture|Queen Anne]] style, with Italian walnut panelling and Italian red furnishings. The grand stairway linked all six decks of the passenger accommodation with wide hallways on each level and two lifts. First-class cabins ranged from one shared room through various ensuite arrangements in a choice of decorative styles culminating in the two regal suites which each had two bedrooms, dining room, parlour and bathroom. The port suite decoration was modelled on the [[Petit Trianon]].{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=18–20}}

''Lusitania''{{'}}s second-class accommodation was confined to the stern, behind the aft mast, where quarters for 460 second-class passengers were located. The second-class public rooms were situated on partitioned sections of boat and promenade decks housed in a separate section of the superstructure aft of the first-class passenger quarters. Design work was deputised to [[Robert Whyte (architect)|Robert Whyte]], who was the architect employed by John Brown. Although smaller and plainer, the design of the dining room reflected that of first class, with just one floor of diners under a ceiling with a smaller dome and balcony. Walls were panelled and carved with decorated pillars, all in white. As seen in first class, the dining room was situated lower down in the ship on the saloon deck. The smoking and ladies' rooms occupied the accommodation space of the second-class promenade deck, with the lounge on the boat deck.

Cunard had not previously provided a separate lounge for second class; the {{convert|42|ft|m|adj=on}} room had mahogany tables, chairs and settees set on a rose carpet. The smoking room was {{cvt|52|ft|m}} with mahogany panelling, white plaster work ceiling and dome. One wall had a mosaic of a river scene in Brittany, while the sliding windows were blue-tinted. Second-class passengers were allotted shared, yet comfortable two- and four-berth cabins arranged on the shelter, upper and main decks.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=20–21}}

Noted as being the prime breadwinner for trans-Atlantic shipping lines, third class aboard ''Lusitania'' was praised for the improvement in travel conditions it provided to emigrant passengers; ''Lusitania'' proved to be a quite popular ship for immigrants.{{sfn|Keeling|2013}} In the days before ''Lusitania'' and even still during the years in which ''Lusitania'' was in service, third-class accommodation consisted of large open spaces where hundreds of people would share open berths and hastily constructed public spaces, often consisting of no more than a small portion of open deck space and a few tables constructed within their sleeping quarters. In an attempt to break that mould, the Cunard Line began designing ships such as ''Lusitania'' with more comfortable third-class accommodation.

As on all Cunard passenger liners, third-class accommodation aboard ''Lusitania'' was located at the forward end of the ship on the shelter, upper, main and lower decks, and in comparison to other ships of the period, it was comfortable and spacious. The {{convert|79|ft|m|adj=on}} dining room was at the bow of the ship on the saloon deck, finished in polished pine as were the other two third-class public rooms, being the smoke room and ladies room on the shelter deck.

When ''Lusitania'' was fully booked in third class, the smoking and ladies room could easily be converted into overflow dining rooms for added convenience. Meals were eaten at long tables with swivel chairs and there were two sittings for meals. A piano was provided for passenger use. What greatly appealed to immigrants and lower class travellers was that instead of being confined to open berth dormitories, aboard ''Lusitania'' was a honeycomb of two, four, six and eight berth cabins allotted to third-class passengers on the main and lower decks.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=21–22}}

The [[Bromsgrove Guild]] had designed and constructed most of the trim on ''Lusitania''.{{sfn|Watt}} [[Waring & Gillow|Waring and Gillow]] tendered for the contract to furnish the whole ship, but failing to obtain this still supplied a number of the furnishings.

===Construction and trials===
[[File:Lusitania launch.jpg|thumb|right|''Lusitania''{{'}}s launch, 7 June 1906]]
''Lusitania''{{'}}s [[keel]] was laid at [[John Brown & Company|John Brown]] on Clydebank as yard no. 367 on 17 August 1904, [[James Burns, 3rd Baron Inverclyde|Lord Inverclyde]] hammering home the first rivet. Cunard nicknamed her 'the Scottish ship' in contrast to ''Mauretania'' whose contract went to [[Swan Hunter]] in England and who started building three months later. Final details of the two ships were left to designers at the two yards so that the ships differed in details of hull design and finished structure. The ships may most readily be distinguished in photographs through the flat-topped ventilators used on ''Lusitania'', whereas those on ''Mauretania'' used a more conventional rounded top. 

The shipyard at John Brown had to be reorganised because of her size so that she could be launched diagonally across the widest available part of the river Clyde where it met a tributary (the [[River Cart]]), the ordinary width of the river being only {{convert|610|ft|m}} compared to the {{convert|786|ft|m|adj=on}} long ship. The new slipway took up the space of two existing ones and was built on reinforcing piles driven deeply into the ground to ensure it could take the temporary concentrated weight of the whole ship as it slid into the water. In addition, the company spent £8,000 to dredge the Clyde, £6,500 on new gas plant, £6,500 on a new electrical plant, £18,000 to extend the dock and £19,000 for a new crane capable of lifting 150 tons as well as £20,000 on additional machinery and equipment.{{sfn|Fox|2004|page=403}}
Construction commenced at the bow working backwards, rather than the traditional approach of building both ends towards the middle. This was because designs for the stern and engine layout were not finalised when construction commenced. Railway tracks were laid alongside the ship and across deck plating to bring materials as required. The hull, completed to the level of the main deck but not fitted with equipment weighed about 16,000 tons.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=10–11, 14}}

The ship's stockless bower anchors weighed 10{{frac|1|4}} tons, attached to 125 ton, 330 fathom chains all manufactured by [[N. Hingley & Sons Ltd]]. The steam capstans to raise them were constructed by Napier Brothers Ltd, of [[Glasgow]]. The turbines were {{cvt|25|ft|m}} long with {{cvt|12|ft|m}} diameter rotors, the large diameter necessary because of the relatively low speeds at which they operated. The rotors were constructed on site, while the casings and shafting were constructed in John Brown's Atlas works in [[Sheffield]]. The machinery to drive the 56-ton rudder was constructed by [[Vickers plc|Brown Brothers]] of [[Edinburgh]]. A main [[steering engine]] drove the rudder through worm gear and clutch operating on a toothed quadrant rack, with a reserve engine operating separately on the rack via a chain drive for emergency use. The {{cvt|17|ft|m}} three-bladed propellers were fitted and then cased in wood to protect them during the launch.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=12–13}}

The ship was launched on 7 June 1906, eight weeks later than planned due to labour strikes and eight months after Lord Inverclyde's death.<!--Please discuss changes to this date on the Talk page!--> [[Louise, Princess Royal|Princess Louise]] was invited to name the ship but could not attend, so the honour fell to Inverclyde's widow Mary.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|page=13}}{{sfn|Atlantic Liners}} The launch was attended by 600 invited guests and thousands of spectators.{{sfn|Ramsay|2001|pages=22–23}} One thousand tons of drag chains were attached to the hull by temporary rings to slow it once it entered the water.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lusitania An Illustrated Biography |last=Layton |first=J.Kent |year=2015}}</ref> The wooden supporting structure was held back by cables so that once the ship entered the water it would slip forward out of its support. Six tugs were on hand to capture the hull and move it to the fitting out berth.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002}}
Testing of the ship's engines took place in June 1907 prior to full trials scheduled for July. A preliminary cruise, or ''Builder's Trial'', was arranged for 27 July with representatives of Cunard, the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, and John Brown aboard. The ship achieved speeds of {{convert|25.6|kn}} over a measured {{convert|1|mi|km}} at [[Skelmorlie]] with turbines running at 194 revolutions per minute producing 76,000 shp. At high speeds the ship was found to suffer such vibration at the stern as to render the second-class accommodation uninhabitable. VIP invited guests now came on board for a two-day shakedown cruise during which the ship was tested under continuous running at speeds of 15, 18 and 21 knots but not her maximum speed. On 29 July, the guests departed and three days of full trials commenced. The ship travelled four times between the [[Corsewall Lighthouse|Corsewall Light]] off Scotland to the [[Longships Lighthouse|Longship Light]] off [[Cornwall]] at 23 and 25 knots, between the Corsewall Light and the [[Isle of Man]], and the [[Isle of Arran]] and [[Ailsa Craig]]. Over {{cvt|300|mi|km}} an average speed of 25.4 knots was achieved, comfortably greater than the 24 knots required under the Admiralty contract. The ship could stop in 4&nbsp;minutes in 3/4 of a mile starting from 23 knots at 166 rpm and then applying full reverse. She achieved a speed of 26 knots over a measured mile loaded to a draught of {{convert|33|ft|m}}, and managed 26.5 knots over a {{convert|60|mi|km|adj=on}} course drawing {{cvt|31.5|ft|m}}. At 180 revolutions a turning test was conducted and the ship performed a complete circle of diameter 1000&nbsp;yards in 50&nbsp;seconds. The rudder required 20&nbsp;seconds to be turned hard to 35 degrees.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=25–27}}{{sfn|Ramsay|2001|pages=23–24}}

The vibration was determined to be caused by interference between the wake of the outer propellers and inner and became worse when turning. At high speeds the vibration frequency [[Mechanical resonance|resonated]] with the ship's stern making the matter worse. The solution was to add internal stiffening to the stern of the ship but this necessitated gutting the second-class areas and then rebuilding them. This required the addition of a number of pillars and arches to the decorative scheme. The ship was finally delivered to Cunard on 26 August although the problem of vibration was never entirely solved and further remedial work went on throughout her life.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=27–28}}

===Comparison with the ''Olympic'' class===
The [[White Star Line]]'s {{sclass|Olympic|ocean liner|0}} vessels were almost {{cvt|100|ft|m}} longer and slightly wider than ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania''. This made the White Star vessels about 15,000 [[gross register tonnage|tons]] larger than the Cunard vessels. Both ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' were launched and had been in service for several years before ''Olympic'', {{RMS|Titanic||2}} and ''Britannic'' were ready for the North Atlantic run. Although significantly faster than the ''Olympic'' class would be, the speed of Cunard's vessels was not sufficient to allow the line to run a weekly two-ship transatlantic service from each side of the Atlantic. A third ship was needed for a weekly service, and in response to White Star's announced plan to build the three ''Olympic''-class ships, Cunard ordered a third ship: {{RMS|Aquitania|3=2}}. Like {{RMS|Olympic||2}}, Cunard's ''Aquitania'' had a lower service speed, but was a larger and more luxurious vessel.

Due to their increased size the ''Olympic''-class liners could offer many more amenities than ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania''. Both ''Olympic'' and ''Titanic'' offered swimming pools, [[Victorian Turkish baths|Victorian-style Turkish baths]], a gymnasium, a [[squash court]], large reception rooms, À la Carte restaurants separate from the dining saloons, and many more staterooms with private bathroom facilities than their two Cunard rivals.

Heavy vibrations as a by-product of the four [[steam turbine]]s on ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' would plague both ships throughout their voyages. When ''Lusitania'' sailed at top speed the resultant vibrations were so severe that second- and third-class sections of the ship could become uninhabitable.<ref name="lost-ships-of-robert-ballard" />{{rp|page=46}} In contrast, the ''Olympic''-class liners used two traditional [[reciprocating engine]]s and only one turbine for the central propeller, which greatly reduced vibration. Because of their greater tonnage and wider beam, the ''Olympic''-class liners were also more stable at sea and less prone to rolling. ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' both featured straight [[Bow (watercraft)|prows]] in contrast to the angled prows of the ''Olympic'' class. Designed so that the ships could plunge through a wave rather than crest it, the [[unforeseen consequence]] was that the Cunard liners would pitch forward alarmingly, even in calm weather, allowing huge waves to splash the bow and forward part of the superstructure.<ref name="lost-ships-of-robert-ballard" />{{rp|pages=51–52}} This would be a major factor in damage that ''Lusitania'' suffered at the hands of a rogue wave in January 1910.

[[File:RMS Olympic, 1911.JPG|thumb|left|{{RMS|Olympic||2}} arriving at port on maiden voyage June 1911, with ''Lusitania'' departing in the background]]

The vessels of the ''Olympic'' class also differed from ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' in the way in which they were compartmented below the waterline. The White Star vessels were divided by transverse watertight [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]]. While ''Lusitania'' also had transverse bulkheads, it also had longitudinal bulkheads running along the ship on each side, between the boiler and engine rooms and the coal bunkers on the outside of the vessel. The British commission that had investigated the sinking of ''Titanic'' in 1912 heard testimony on the flooding of coal bunkers lying outside longitudinal bulkheads. Being of considerable length, when flooded, these could increase the ship's list and "make the lowering of the boats on the other side impracticable"{{sfn|Titanic Inquiry}}—and this was precisely what later happened with ''Lusitania''. The ship's [[ship stability|stability]] was insufficient for the bulkhead arrangement used: flooding of only three coal bunkers on one side could result in negative [[metacentric height]].{{sfn|Layton|2010|page=55}} On the other hand, ''Titanic'' was given ample stability and sank with only a few degrees list, the design being such that there was very little risk of unequal flooding and possible capsize.{{sfn|Hackett|Bedford|1996|page=171}}

''Lusitania'' did not carry enough lifeboats for all her passengers, officers and crew on board at the time of her maiden voyage (carrying four lifeboats fewer than ''Titanic'' would carry in 1912). This was a common practice for large passenger ships at the time, since the belief was that in busy shipping lanes help would always be nearby and the few boats available would be adequate to ferry all aboard to rescue ships before a sinking. After the ''Titanic'' sank, ''Lusitania'' and ''Mauretania'' were equipped with an additional six [[clinker (boat building)|clinker-built]] wooden boats under [[davit]]s, making for a total of 22 boats rigged in davits. The rest of their lifeboat accommodations were supplemented with 26 collapsible lifeboats, 18 stored directly beneath the regular lifeboats and eight on the after deck. The collapsibles were built with hollow wooden bottoms and canvas sides, and needed assembly in the event they had to be used.{{sfn|Simpson|1972|page=159}}

This contrasted with ''Olympic'' and {{ship|HMHS|Britannic||2}} which received a full complement of lifeboats all rigged under davits. This difference would have been a major contributor to the high loss of life involved with ''Lusitania''{{'}}s sinking, since there was not sufficient time to assemble collapsible boats or life-rafts, had it not been for the fact that the ship's severe listing made it impossible for lifeboats on the port side of the vessel to be lowered, and the rapidity of the sinking did not allow the remaining lifeboats that could be directly lowered (as these were rigged under davits) to be filled and launched with passengers. When ''Britannic'', working as a hospital ship during [[World War I]], sank in 1916 after hitting a mine in the Kea Channel the already davited boats were swiftly lowered saving nearly all on board, but the ship took nearly three times as long to sink as ''Lusitania'' and thus the crew had more time to evacuate passengers.

==Career==
[[File:Lusitania arriving in New York 4.jpg|thumb|left|''Lusitania'' arriving in New York on her maiden voyage]]

''Lusitania'', commanded by Commodore James Watt, moored at the [[Liverpool]] landing stage for her maiden voyage at 4:30&nbsp;pm on Saturday 7 September 1907 as the onetime Blue Riband holder {{RMS|Lucania}} vacated the pier. At the time ''Lusitania'' was the largest ocean liner in service and would continue to be until the introduction of ''Mauretania'' in November that year. A crowd of 200,000 people gathered to see her departure at 9:00&nbsp;pm for [[Cobh|Queenstown]], where she was to take on more passengers. She anchored again at [[Roche's Point Lighthouse|Roche's Point]], off Queenstown, at 9:20&nbsp;am the following morning, where she was shortly joined by ''Lucania'', which she had passed in the night, and 120 passengers were brought out to the ship by tender bringing her total of passengers to 2,320.

At 12:10&nbsp;pm on Sunday ''Lusitania'' was again under way and passing the Daunt Rock Lightship. In the first 24 hours she achieved {{cvt|561|mi|km}}, with further daily totals of 575, 570, 593 and {{cvt|493|mi|km}} before arriving at [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey|Sandy Hook]] at 9:05&nbsp;am Friday 13 September, taking in total 5 days and 54&nbsp;minutes, 30&nbsp;minutes outside the record time held by {{SS|Kaiser Wilhelm II||2}} of the [[North German Lloyd]] line. Fog had delayed the ship on two days, and her engines were not yet run in. In New York hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the bank of the [[Hudson River]] from [[Battery Park]] to pier 56. All New York's police had been called out to control the crowd. From the start of the day, 100 horse-drawn cabs had been queuing, ready to take away passengers. During the week's stay the ship was made available for guided tours. At 3 pm on Saturday 21 September, the ship departed on the return journey, arriving Queenstown 4 am 27 September and Liverpool 12 hours later. The return journey was 5 days 4 hours and 19&nbsp;minutes, again delayed by fog.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=29–31}}

On her second voyage in better weather, ''Lusitania'' arrived at Sandy Hook on 11 October 1907 in the Blue Riband record time of 4 days, 19 hours and 53&nbsp;minutes. She had to wait for the tide to enter harbour where news had preceded her and she was met by a fleet of small craft, whistles blaring. ''Lusitania'' averaged {{convert|23.99|kn|km/h|lk=in}} westbound and {{convert|23.61|kn|km/h}} eastbound. In December 1907, ''Mauretania'' entered service and took the record for the fastest eastbound crossing. ''Lusitania'' made her fastest westbound crossing in 1909 after her propellers were changed, averaging {{convert|25.85|kn|km/h}}. She briefly recovered the record in July of that year, but ''Mauretania'' recaptured the Blue Riband the same month, retaining it until 1929, when it was taken by {{SS|Bremen|1928|6}}.{{sfn|Peeke|Jones|Walsh-Johnson|2002|pages=32–34}} During her eight-year service, she made a total of 201 crossings on the Cunard Line's Liverpool-New York Route, carrying a total of 155,795 passengers westbound<ref>New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957</ref> and another 106,180 eastbound.<ref>UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960</ref>

{{Panorama|image = File:The Lusitania at end of record voyage 1907 LC-USZ62-64956.jpg |fullwidth = 1615 |fullheight = 420 |caption = ''Lusitania'' at the end of the first leg of her maiden voyage, New York City, September 1907. (The photo was taken with a [[panoramic photography|panoramic]] camera.) |height = 280}}

===Hudson Fulton Celebration===
[[File:Wright Model A - MET DP72740.jpg|right|thumb|Stereo picture of Wright Flyer, ''Lusitania'' (Europe-bound), and the [[Statue of Liberty]], during Hudson Fulton Celebration. In a generation the aeroplane would replace ocean queens like ''Lusitania'' as the mainstay of trans-atlantic travel.]]
''Lusitania'' and other ships participated in the [[Hudson-Fulton Celebration]] in New York City from the end of September to early October 1909. The celebration was also a display of the different modes of transportation then in existence, ''Lusitania'' representing the newest advancement in steamship technology. A newer mode of travel was the [[aeroplane]]. [[Wilbur Wright]] had brought a [[Wright Flyer|Flyer]] to [[Governors Island]] and made demonstration flights before millions of New Yorkers who had never seen an aeroplane. Some of Wright's trips were directly over ''Lusitania''; several photographs of ''Lusitania'' from that week still exist.<ref>Full text of {{cite web |title=The Hudson-Fulton celebration, 1909, the fourth annual report of the Hudson-Fulton celebration commission to the Legislature of the state of New York. Transmitted to the Legislature, May twentieth, nineteen ten |year=1910 |url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092228497/cu31924092228497_djvu.txt}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |url=http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=following |title=The First Aerial Canoe: Wilbur Wright and the Hudson-Fulton Flights |first=John |last=Sanford |conference=Following the Footsteps of the Wright Brothers: Their Sites and Stories |location=[[Wright State University]] |date=September 28, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905054433/http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=following |archive-date=5 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/84092/hawley-c-white-company-the-half-moon-passing-the-great-steamship-lusitania-hudson-fulton-celebration-new-york-usa-about-1903/ |title=The Half Moon passing the great steamship Lusitania, Hudson-Fulton Celebration, New York, U.S.A. |website=[[The J. Paul Getty Museum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905052737/http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/84092/hawley-c-white-company-the-half-moon-passing-the-great-steamship-lusitania-hudson-fulton-celebration-new-york-usa-about-1903/ |archive-date=5 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Rogue wave crash==
On 10 January 1910, ''Lusitania'' was on a voyage from Liverpool to New York,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/01/16/archives/lusitania-battered-by-80foot-wave-wheel-house-of-giant-cunarder.html |title=Lusitania Battered By 80-Foot Wave – Wheel House of Giant Cunarder Wrecked and Officers and Seamen Hurt |date=16 January 1910 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027203531/https://www.nytimes.com/1910/01/16/archives/lusitania-battered-by-80foot-wave-wheel-house-of-giant-cunarder.html |url-status=live}}</ref> when, two days into the trip, she encountered a [[rogue wave]] that was {{convert|75|ft|m}} high. The design of the ship's bow allowed her to break through waves instead of riding on top of them. This, however, came with a cost, as the wave rolled over the bow and slammed into the bridge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/lusitania/ |title=Lusitania |first=Henrik |last=Ljungström |date=May 2018 |via=thegreatoceanliners.com |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026164040/http://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/lusitania/ |url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, the forecastle deck was damaged, the bridge windows were smashed, the bridge was shifted a couple of inches aft, and both the deck and the bridge were given a permanent depression of a few inches.<ref>''Scientific American''. January 2010, quoting a 1910 issue of ''Scientific American'', at "the Encounter of RMS ''Lusitania'', Freaque Waves, December 17, 2009 Accessed 10 November 2021</ref> No one was injured, and the ''Lusitania'' continued on as normal, albeit arriving a few hours late in New York with some shaken-up passengers.

==Outbreak of the First World War==
When ''Lusitania'' was built, her construction and operating expenses were subsidised by the British government, with the proviso that she could be converted to an [[Armed merchantmen|armed merchant cruiser]] (AMC) if need be. A secret compartment was designed in for the purpose of carrying arms and ammunition.{{sfn|Denson|2006|page=135}} When war was declared she was considered for requisition by the British Admiralty as an armed merchant cruiser, and she was put on the official list of AMCs. Though she was not ultimately requisitioned or armed, ''Lusitania'' remained on the official AMC list and was listed as an auxiliary cruiser in the 1914 edition of ''Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships'', along with ''Mauretania''.{{sfn|Davidson|1997|page=89}}{{sfn|Watson|2006|page=9}}{{sfn|Craughwell|Kiester|2010|page=133}}{{sfn|NY Times|9 May 1915}}

Despite failed attempts to codify formally (such as the 1909 [[London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War]]) prior to the start of WWI, according to international [[customary law]] the treatment of civilian vessels in war is governed by the so-called [[Cruiser rules|Cruiser Rules]]. These required that the lives of the crew and passengers be safeguarded when the ship is confiscated or sunk, unless out of urgent, unforeseen reasons of strict military necessity out of the control of the belligerent (such as forcible resistance), this is not possible.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Modern Developments of the Law of Prize|author1=F. Cyril James|journal=University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register|volume=75| number= 6 |year=1927 |pages=505–526 |doi=10.2307/3307534 |jstor=3307534 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3307534}}</ref>

Regardless of these rules, at the outbreak of hostilities, fears for the safety of ''Lusitania'' and other great liners ran high. During the ship's first east-bound crossing after the war started, she was painted in a grey colour scheme in an attempt to mask her identity and make her more difficult to detect visually.
[[File:German Submarine Zone February 1915 after Reynolds et al.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Germany's declared exclusion zone of February 1915. Ships within this area were liable to search and attack.]]
Many of the large liners were laid up in 1914–1915, in part due to falling demand for passenger travel across the Atlantic, and in part to protect them from damage due to mines or other dangers. Among the most recognisable of these liners, some were eventually used as troop transports, while others became hospital ships. ''Lusitania'' remained in commercial service;<ref name="Liverp19150215p5">{{Cite news
  | url         = https://newspapers.com/article/liverpool-daily-post-lusitania-sails-al/135072835/
  | date        = 1915-02-15
  | page        = 5
  | title       = LUSITANIA SAILS: ALL BRITISH FLAGS. UNPERTURBED PASSENGERS' VIEWS.
  | newspaper   = Liverpool Daily Post
  | location    = Liverpool, Merseyside, England
  | via         = Newspapers.com
  | access-date = 2023-11-12
}}</ref><!-- Mon --> although bookings aboard her were by no means strong during that autumn and winter, demand was strong enough to keep her in civilian service. Economising measures were taken. One of these was the shutting down of her No. 4 boiler room to conserve coal and crew costs; this reduced her maximum speed from over {{convert|25|kn}} to {{convert|21|kn}}. With apparent dangers evaporating, the ship's disguised paint scheme was also dropped and she was returned to civilian colours. Her name was picked out in gilt, her funnels were repainted in their normal Cunard livery, and her superstructure was painted white again. One alteration was the addition of a bronze/gold-coloured band around the base of the superstructure just above the black paint.{{sfn|Layton|2010}}

==1915==
[[File:David Dow.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Captain Daniel Dow, '' Lusitania''{{'}}s penultimate master]]
[[File:Lusitania warning.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The warning issued by the Imperial German Embassy about travel to the UK, co-incidentally juxtaposed with an advert for the Lusitania<ref name="Bernstorff"/>.]]
[[File:William Turner captain of the Lusitania.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|upright|Captain William Thomas Turner, photographed on 11 March 1915.]]

By early 1915, a new threat began to materialise: submarines. On 4 February 1915, Germany declared the seas around Great Britain and Ireland a war zone: from 18 February [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] ships in the area would be sunk without warning. This was not wholly [[unrestricted submarine warfare]] as efforts would be taken to avoid sinking neutral ships, but "enemy" passenger craft were included as targets, despite the demand of the US for "strict accountability". Indeed, as U-boat success rates were lower than expected, [[rules of engagement]] were loosened in April, encouraging the making of "mistakes".<ref>{{cite book|title=Wilson: The Struggle for Neutrality 1914-1915|author=Arthur Link|year=1960|pages=355–357}}</ref>

On her next arrival at Liverpool, on 6 February, ''Lusitania'' arrived in Liverpool flying the neutral US ensign, which had been raised off southern Ireland, causing controversy.<ref>{{cite news |title=American Flag on a British Liner |access-date=9 April 2024 |work=The Times |issue=40772 |date=8 February 1915 |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS168232008/TTDA?u=nl_earl&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=a51935c2 |location=London |page=10|via=Gale}}</ref>

''Lusitania'' was next scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on 6 March 1915. The Admiralty issued her specific instructions on how to avoid submarines. Such advice added to earlier advice following the declaration of the "war zone" that ships should try to evade submarines if possible or steer towards them to force them to dive, instructions that some argue may compromise the ship's rights under cruiser rules.{{sfn|Bailey|Ryan|1975|page= 53}} Admiral [[Henry Oliver]] ordered HMS ''Louis'' and HMS ''Laverock'' to escort ''Lusitania'', and took the further precaution of sending the [[Q-ship]] HMS ''Lyons'' to patrol [[Liverpool Bay]].{{efn|Referred to in ''Lusitania'', by {{harvtxt|Preston|2002a}}, and ''Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography'' by {{harvtxt|Layton|2010}}.}} Due to a communications issue, Captain Daniel Dow did not make contact with the destroyers but proceeded to Liverpool unescorted.{{sfn|Beesly|1982|page=95}}{{sfn|Preston|2002a|pages=76–77}}{{sfn|Preston|2002b|pages=91–92}}

Some alterations were made to the ship's protocols. She was ordered not to fly any flags in the war zone. It was also suggested that her funnels were most likely painted dark grey to help make her less visible to enemy submarines. Clearly, there was no hope of disguising her identity, as her profile was so well known, and no attempt was made to paint out the ship's name at the bow.{{efn|New photographic evidence presented in ''Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography''.{{harvtxt|Layton|2010}}}} Captain Dow was replaced by Captain [[William Thomas Turner]], who had previously commanded ''Lusitania'', ''Mauretania'', and ''Aquitania'' in the years before the war.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-12-12 |title=Mr. William Thomas Turner, Captain, Royal Naval Reserve |url=https://www.rmslusitania.info/people/deck/william-turner/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=The Lusitania Resource |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 17 April 1915, ''Lusitania'' left Liverpool on her 201st transatlantic voyage, arriving in New York on 24 April. On April 22, the German Embassy under [[Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff]] submitted a general warning about travel to 50 American newspapers, including those in New York, which coincidentally<ref name="Bernstorff">{{cite book|first=Johann Heinrich |last=von Bernstorff|title=My Three Years in America|year=1920|pages=136–140|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/30865/pg30865-images.html}}</ref> appeared in newspapers just before the ship sailed.<ref name="larson1">{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Erik |author-link=Erik Larson (author) |title=Dead Wake |title-link=Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania |publisher=Crown Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-307-40886-0 |location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|page=2}}

[[File:Last photo of Lusitania May 1 1915 (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Lusitania'' departing New York on her final voyage, 1 May 1915]]

The ship departed [[Pier 54]] in New York, on 1 May 1915 at 12:20&nbsp;pm, on what would be her final voyage.{{sfn|Simpson|13 October 1972|page=69}}{{sfn|Butler|2003|page=213}} A few hours after the vessel's departure, the Saturday evening edition of ''[[The Washington Times (1894–1939)|The Washington Times]]'' published two articles on its front page, both referring to the previous day's warnings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1915-05-01/ed-1/seq-1/#words=warned+German+EMBASSY+Warns+warnings+embassy+GERMAN+Embassy+Warned+warning |work=[[The Washington Times (1894–1939)|The Washington Times]] |date=1 May 1915 |title=Articles referring to the German embassy warnings |page=Front page |access-date=4 May 2015 |archive-date=28 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428112415/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1915-05-01/ed-1/seq-1#words=warned+German+EMBASSY+Warns+warnings+embassy+GERMAN+Embassy+Warned+warning |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Sinking==
{{Main|Sinking of the RMS Lusitania}}
{{Location map 
| Island of Ireland
| lat = 51.4125
| long = -8.5475
| position = right
| default_width = 220
| relief = yes
| float = left
|label=Sinking site
| caption = Sinking of RMS ''Lusitania'' on a map of [[Ireland]]}}
[[File:Movements of RMS Lusitania and SM U-20.svg|thumb|Map showing the movements of RMS Lusitania and SM U-20 prior to the sinking of the former. Marked are ships sunk by U-20 on the 6th and 7th of May and key geographic points.]]
On 7 May 1915, ''Lusitania'' was nearing the end of her 202nd crossing, bound for Liverpool from New York, and was scheduled to dock at the Prince's Landing Stage later that afternoon. Aboard her were 1,264 passengers, 3 stowaways and a crew of 693, totalling 1,960 people. She was running parallel to the south coast of Ireland, and was roughly {{convert|11|mi}} off the [[Old Head of Kinsale]] when the liner crossed in front of {{SMU|U-20|Germany|2}} at 2:10&nbsp;pm. [[Walther Schwieger]], the commanding officer of the U-boat, who claimed not to have identified the ship, gave the order to fire one torpedo. He reported that it struck ''Lusitania'' on the starboard bow, just behind the bridge. Moments later, a second explosion erupted from within ''Lusitania''{{'}}s hull where the torpedo had struck, and the ship began to founder rapidly, with a prominent [[Angle of list|list]] to starboard.{{sfn|Preston|2002b|pp=216–217}}{{efn|From {{harvtxt|Beesly|1982|pages=84–85}}: U-20 log entry transcript. Log first published in ''L'illustration'' in 1920}}

Almost immediately, the crew scrambled to launch the lifeboats but the conditions of the sinking made their usage extremely difficult, and in some cases impossible because of the ship's severe list. In all, only six out of 48 lifeboats were launched successfully, with several more overturning and breaking apart. 18 minutes after the torpedo struck, the ship's trim levelled out and she sank at position {{Coord|51|24|45|N|08|32|52|W|type:landmark_scale:3000000|display=inline,title}}, with the funnels and masts the last to disappear.<ref>{{cite web |title=Testimony of Charles Lauriat Jr. |url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2016/09/14/lusitania-down-survivor-recalls-ocean-liners-terrifying-final-minutes/ |website=Military History Now |date=14 September 2016 |access-date=19 August 2020 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508113059/https://militaryhistorynow.com/2016/09/14/lusitania-down-survivor-recalls-ocean-liners-terrifying-final-minutes/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Of the 1,960 passengers and crew aboard ''Lusitania'' at the time of the sinking, 1,197 lost their lives. In the hours after the sinking, acts of heroism amongst both the survivors of the sinking and the Irish rescuers who had heard word of ''Lusitania''{{'}}s distress signals brought the survivor count to 767, four of whom later died from injuries sustained during the sinking.<ref name=LusiInfoStat/> {{HMS|Juno|1895|6}} sortied briefly in contravention of Royal Navy policy, but turned back believing erroneously (as initial reports suggested) that there was no "urgent necessity".<ref name="larson1" />

By the following morning, the true scope of the disaster had spread around the world. While most of those lost in the sinking were British or Canadians, the loss of 128 Americans in the disaster, including writer and publisher [[Elbert Hubbard]], millionaire hotelier and builder [[Albert Clay Bilicke]], theatrical producer [[Charles Frohman]], multi-millionaire businessman [[Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt]], and the president of [[Newport News Shipbuilding]], Albert L. Hopkins, outraged many in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/pfop-lusitania-sinking-claimed-life-of-famed-local-elbert-hubbard/article_1ffe7561-ffcb-5608-900d-6c9fae3f5371.html |title=PFOP: Lusitania sinking claimed life of famed local Elbert Hubbard |newspaper=[[The Pantagraph]] |date=3 May 2015 |access-date=18 April 2016 |last=Kemp |first=Bill |archive-date=14 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114183740/http://www.pantagraph.com/news/pfop-lusitania-sinking-claimed-life-of-famed-local-elbert-hubbard/article_1ffe7561-ffcb-5608-900d-6c9fae3f5371.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[File:19150508 Lusitania Sunk By a Submarine - The New York Times.png|thumb|''The New York Times'' article expressed the immediate recognition of the serious implications of the sinking, this lead story on 8 May having a section (below what is pictured here) titled "Nation's Course in Doubt".<ref name=NYTimes_19150508>{{cite news |title=Lusitania Sunk by a Submarine, Probably 1,260 Dead |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-may-08-1915-p-1/ |work=The New York Times |date=8 May 1915 |page=1 |access-date=9 June 2019 |archive-date=9 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609030319/https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-may-08-1915-p-1/ |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
The sinking caused an international outcry, especially in Britain and across the [[British Empire]], as well as in the United States, since 128 out of 159 U.S. citizens aboard the ship lost their lives (different numbers were believed and given in the media at the time).<ref name=LusiInfoStat/>{{sfn|Jones|2001|page=78}} On 8 May, [[Bernhard Dernburg]], an unofficial German spokesman{{sfn|von Bernstorff|1920|pages=36-57}} and a former [[German Colonial Secretary]], said that because ''Lusitania'' "carried contraband of war" and also because "she was classed as an auxiliary cruiser," Germany had a right to destroy her regardless of any passengers aboard. Dernburg claimed warnings given by the German Embassy before the sailing plus the 18 February note declaring the existence of "war zones" relieved Germany of any responsibility for the deaths of American citizens aboard. He referred to the ammunition and military goods declared on ''Lusitania''{{'}}s manifest and said that "vessels of that kind" could be seized and destroyed under the [[Hague Rules]].{{efn|From {{harvtxt|NY Times|9 May 1915|page=4}}; "Justification of the sinking of the liner Lusitania by German submarines as a man of war was advanced today by Dr Bernhard Dernburg, former German Colonial Secretary and regarded as the Kaiser's official mouthpiece in the United States. Dernburg gave out a statement at the Hollenden Hotel following his arrival in Cleveland to address the City Club at noon on Germany's attitude in the present war." (Note that Dernburg in fact had no official role with the German Embassy.)}}{{sfn|Halsey|1919|page=255}} Concurrently, on the advice of Admiral Tirpitz, German adopted a similar official line to "incite public opinion at home".<ref name=Link>{{cite book|last = Link|first =Arthur S.|title=Wilson: The Struggle for Neutrality 1914-1915|pages= 398–399|year=1960}}</ref>

''Lusitania'' was indeed officially listed as an auxiliary war ship, though contrary to Germany's claims she was not armed,{{sfn|Watson|2006}} and her cargo had included an estimated 4,200,000 rounds of rifle cartridges, 1,250 empty shell cases, and 18 cases of non-explosive [[fuze]]s, which was openly listed as such in her cargo manifest.{{sfn|NY Times|10 May 1915}}{{sfn|Doswald-Beck|31 December 1995|page=124}} The day after the sinking, ''The New York Times'' published full details of the ship's military cargo.{{sfn|Ciment|Russell|2007|p=379}} Assistant Manager of the Cunard Line, Herman Winter, denied the charge that she carried munitions, but admitted that she was carrying small-arms ammunition, and that she had been carrying such ammunition for years.{{sfn|NY Times|10 May 1915}} The fact that ''Lusitania'' had been carrying shells and cartridges could not be openly discussed in the British press at the time.{{sfn|Rea|Wright|1997|page=196}} In the 27-page additional manifest, delivered to U.S. customs 4–5 days after ''Lusitania'' sailed from New York, and in the Bethlehem Steels papers, it is stated that the "empty shells" were in fact 1,248 boxes of filled (with metal shrapnel) 3" shell, 4 shells to the box, totalling 103,000 pounds or 50 tonnes.<ref name="larson1" />

In the United States, public opinion was outraged; war talk was rife and pro-German elements kept quiet. The key issue was the savagery in the German failure to allow passengers to escape on life boats as required by international law, and Germany's attempts to defend the attack only increased anger.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Frank |last=Trommler |title=The Lusitania Effect: America's Mobilization against Germany in World War I |journal=[[German Studies Review]] |volume=32 |issue=2 |date=May 2009 |pages=241–266 |jstor=40574799}}</ref> In Germany, many newspapers celebrated the event as a triumph,<ref>{{cite book|author = Ernest K. May|title=The World War and American isolationism|page = 205-6}}</ref> though allied propaganda at times exaggerated the level of popular support.{{sfn|Quinn|2001|pages=54–55}}

During the weeks after the sinking, the issue was hotly debated within the U.S. government, and correspondence was exchanged between the U.S. and German governments. German officials continued to argue that ''Lusitania'' was a legitimate military target. German Foreign Minister Von Jagow cited the claims that she was listed as an armed merchant cruiser, she was using neutral flags and she had been ordered to ram submarines—in contravention of the Cruiser Rules.{{sfn|Tucker|Roberts|2005|page=1413}}{{sfn|Brune|2003|page=265}}{{sfn|Sondhaus|2011|page=276}} Von Jagow further alleged that ''Lusitania'' had on previous voyages carried munitions and Allied troops.{{sfn|Brune|2003|page=365}} Grand Admiral [[Alfred von Tirpitz]] stated it was sad that many Americans "in wanton recklessness, and in spite of the warnings of our Ambassador, had embarked in this armed cruiser, heavily laden with munitions" and had died, but that Germany had been within her rights to sink the ship.<ref name="triumph-tragedy-end-of-the-edwardian-age" />{{rp|page=255}}

President [[Woodrow Wilson]] saw his main goal as to negotiate an end to the war.{{sfn|Jones|2001|page=73}} He was given contradictory advice: [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[William Jennings Bryan]] privately advised President Wilson that "ships carrying contraband should be prohibited from carrying passengers."{{sfn|Paterson et al|2009|page=73}} However Counselor [[Robert Lansing]], an expert on international law, advised Wilson to adhere to the US's prior position of "strict accountability". All that mattered, according to Lansing, was the German responsibility for the safety of the unresisting crew and passengers of the ship. Once it was confirmed that the ship was not armed and was attacked by surprise, no warning or strategic justification can allow the violation of "the principles of law and humanity", and the US was already committed to this approach.<ref>{{cite thesis|title = International law, German submarines and American policy | author = Janet Marilyn Manson| year = 1977| page = 110-124}}</ref> Wilson would adopt Lansing's view, insisting the German government apologise for the sinking, compensate U.S. victims, and promise to avoid any similar occurrence in the future.{{sfn|Zieger|1972|pages=24–25}} Bryan would resign, believing Wilson's approach to compromise American neutrality, to be replaced by Lansing as Secretary of State.{{sfn|Brune|2003|page=366}}

Despite all these facts and arguments, Germany had already declared in February that all allied ships in the area would be sunk, regardless of whether they carried munitions or not. Indeed, the strategic aim of Admiral [[Hugo von Pohl]]'s [[U-boat campaign]] was [[economic warfare]] against Britain, not the interception of weapons or destruction of war vessels. As in the case of the British [[naval blockade of Germany]], "contraband of war" had expanded, in practice, to include essentially all cargo. U-20 herself had sunk 2 other vessel en route ''out'' of Liverpool, making questions of intercepting munitions moot. In addition, in a February 12 order to U-boat captains, [[Gustav Bachmann]] had directed that enemy passenger vessels should be deliberately targetted, so as to create a "shock effect".<ref>{{cite book| last = von Tirpitz | first = Alfred | title  = Politische Dokumente vol 2. | year = 1926 | page = 308}}</ref> Thus, while outwardly Germany conducted a propaganda skirmish, within Germany there was a fierce debate, as officials were keenly aware that further sinkings were likely, including ones where Germany's excuses did not apply. Hence secret orders were issued in June that rescinded Bachmann's orders and stated that unrestricted submarine warfare on ocean liners would cease. Tirpitz and Bachmann offered their resignations, but they were rejected by the Kaiser.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ritter|first1=Gerhard |date=1972 |title= The Sword and the Scepter vol III: The tragedy of statesmanship |publisher=University of Miami Press |page=132-133}}</ref>

Yet, other passenger ships continued to be attacked and sometimes sunk, such as the {{SS|Orduna}} and {{RMS|Hesperian}}.{{sfn|CurrHist|pp=996-1004}} Targeting of ships such as Lusitania would only formally end with the sinking of the westward-sailing ocean liner {{SS|Arabic|1902|6}}, with a German decision on 9 September 1915 that stated that attacks were only allowed on ships that were definitely British, while neutral ships were to be treated under the [[Prize (law)|Prize Law]] rules, and no attacks on passenger liners were to be permitted at all.{{sfn|Brune|2003|page=366}}{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|Budzbon|1985|page=137}}

In January 1917, the German government announced it would again conduct full [[unrestricted submarine warfare]]. This together with the [[Zimmermann Telegram]] pushed U.S. public opinion over the tipping point, and on 6 April 1917 the United States Congress followed President Wilson's request to declare war on Germany.{{sfn|Protasio|2011|pp=200–201}}

After the war American interests sued the German government for compensation. In 1923, 278 claimants were initially awarded ${{Format price|23000000}} (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|23000000|1923|r=-7}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{sfn|''The Seattle Star'', February 23,|1924|p=2}} On February 23, 1924, it was reported that Judge [[Edwin B. Parker]], umpire of the American–German mixed claims commission, denied 40 claims and settled on a final payout of $841,000 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|841000|1923|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).{{sfn|''The Seattle Star'', February 23,|1924|p=2}} 

In the years since, the sinking has given rise to [[Sinking_of_the_RMS_Lusitania#Controversies|a number of conspiracy theories]], centering around placing blame for the incident on the British government. In 2014 a release of papers revealed that in 1982 the British government warned salvage divers of the possible presence of explosives on board. Senior diplomat Noel Marshall wrote in a memo that "Successive British governments have always maintained that there was no munitions on board the ''Lusitania'' (and that the Germans were therefore in the wrong to claim to the contrary as an excuse for sinking the ship) ... The facts are that there is a large amount of ammunition in the wreck, some of which is highly dangerous." After a search of records, the Ministry of Defence said they could find no evidence to substantiate the rumours of a secret munitions store, and the internal inquiry concluded that the ''Lusitania'' was not carrying any explosives or any "special ammunition". But it was still felt to be prudent to warn the salvage company of the "obvious but real danger inherent if explosives did happen to be present", accepting that "always been public knowledge that the Lusitania's cargo included some 5,000 cases of small arms ammunition." No explosives were found by the salvage company.{{sfn|The Guardian|1 May 2014}}

===100th commemoration===

To commemorate the centenary of the sinking, on 3 May 2015 a small fleet of ships sailed from the [[Isle of Man]]. Seven fishermen from Man, in their boat ''The Wanderer'', had rescued 150 people from the ''Lusitania'' and were awarded medals for their participation. Two of these medals can be seen at the [[Leece Museum]] in [[Peel, Isle of Man|Peel]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-32414157 |title=RMS Lusitania: Manx flotilla marks centenary of sinking |work=BBC News |date=3 May 2015 |access-date=4 May 2015 |archive-date=6 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506000957/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-32414157 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The 100th commemoration of the sinking of the ''Lusitania'' was on 7 May 2015. To commemorate the occasion, Cunard's {{MS|Queen Victoria}} undertook a voyage to [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland.{{sfn|Cunard Line}}

==Wreck==
[[File:RMS Lusitania propeller at Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool.jpg|thumb|One of the propellers salvaged from the RMS ''Lusitania'', located at [[Merseyside Maritime Museum]] in Liverpool]]

The wreck of ''Lusitania'' was located on 6 October 1935, {{convert|11|mi}} south of the lighthouse at [[Kinsale]]. It lies on its [[starboard]] side at about a 30-degree angle, in roughly {{convert|305|ft}} of water. The wreck is badly collapsed onto its starboard side, due to the force with which it struck the bottom coupled with the forces of winter tides and corrosion in the decades since the sinking. The [[keel]] has an "unusual curvature" which may be related to a lack of strength from the loss of its [[superstructure]]. The [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] is reduced with the [[Funnel (ship)|funnels]] missing—presumably due to deterioration.{{sfn|Bishop|2003}}

The [[Bow (ship)|bow]] is the most prominent portion of the wreck with the [[stern]] damaged by depth charges. Three of the four propellers were removed by [[Oceaneering International]] in 1982 for display, though one was melted down. Expeditions to ''Lusitania'' have shown that the ship has deteriorated much faster than ''Titanic'' has, being in a depth of {{convert|305|ft}} of water. When contrasted with her contemporary, ''Titanic'' (resting at a depth of {{convert|12500|ft}}), ''Lusitania'' appears in a much more deteriorated state due to the presence of fishing nets lying on the wreckage, the blasting of the wreck with depth charges and multiple salvage operations. As a result, the wreck is unstable and may at some point completely collapse.{{sfn|Bishop|2003}} There has been recent academic commentary exploring the possibility of listing the wreck site as a World Heritage Site under the [[World Heritage Convention]], although challenges remain in terms of ownership and preventing further deterioration of the wreck.<ref>Martin, J.B., (2018), "Protecting Outstanding Underwater Cultural Heritage through the World Heritage Convention: The Titanic and Lusitania as World Heritage Sites", 33(1) ''International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law'' 161.</ref>

===Simon Lake's attempt to salvage in the 1930s===
Between 1931 and 1935, an American syndicate comprising [[Simon Lake]], an important submarine inventor, and a US Navy officer, Captain H.H. Railey, negotiated a contract with the British Admiralty and other British authorities to partially salvage ''Lusitania''.{{sfn|Evening Post|15 January 1932}} The means of salvage was unique in that a {{convert|200|ft|m|adj=on}} steel tube, five feet in diameter, which enclosed stairs, and a dive chamber at the bottom would be floated out over the ''Lusitania'' wreck and then sunk upright, with the dive chamber resting on the main deck of ''Lusitania''. Divers would then take the stairs down to the dive chamber and then go out of the chamber to the deck of ''Lusitania''. Lake's primary business goals were to salvage the purser's safe and any items of historical value.{{sfn|Popular Mechanics|February 1932}} It was not to be though, and in Simon Lake's own words, "... but my hands were too full"—i.e. Lake's company was having financial difficulties at the time—and the contract with British authorities expired 31 December 1935 without any salvage work being done, even though his unique salvage tunnel had been built and tested.{{sfn|Corey|1938|page=295}}

=== Argonaut expedition, 1935 ===
[[File:Tritonia Lusitania 1935.jpg|thumb|Jim Jarrett wearing the Tritonia diving suit, preparing to explore the wreck of RMS ''Lusitania'', 1935.]]
In 1935 a Glasgow-based expedition was launched to try to find the wreck of ''Lusitania''. The Argonaut Corporation Ltd was founded and the salvage ship ''[[Darien II|Orphir]]'' used to search for the ship.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Capt. John D. |title=Finding the Lusitania |date=December 1936 |url=https://classic.esquire.com/article/1936/12/01/finding-the-lusitania |access-date=1 December 2020 |website=Esquire |language=en-US |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027203503/https://classic.esquire.com/article/1936/12/01/finding-the-lusitania |url-status=live}}</ref> After three months of searching the wreck was discovered on 6 October 1935. Diver [[Jim Jarrett]] wore a Tritonia [[diving suit]] to explore the wreck at a depth of 93 metres.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Ann |date=6 October 2020 |title=Man of Steel – The first brave diver to the RMS Lusitania |url=https://coastmonkey.ie/lusitania-discover/ |access-date=1 December 2020 |website=Coast Monkey |language=en-GB |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129011739/https://coastmonkey.ie/lusitania-discover/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Gregg Bemis's salvage efforts===
In 1967, the wreck of ''Lusitania'' was sold by the Liverpool & London War Risks Insurance Association to former US Navy diver John Light (1932–1992) for £1,000. American [[venture capitalist]] Gregg Bemis (1928–2020) became a co-owner of the wreck in 1968, and by 1982 had bought out his partners to become sole owner. Complex litigation ensued when employees of Bemis brought various artifacts ashore into the UK, with all parties settling their differences apart from the [[salvors]] and the British government, which asserted "[[Droit|droits of admiralty]]" over the recovered items. The judge eventually ruled in ''The Lusitania'', [1986] QB 384, [1986] 1 All ER 1011, that the Crown has no rights over wrecks outside British [[territorial waters]], even if the recovered items are subsequently brought into the United Kingdom.{{efn|Section 518 of the [[Merchant Shipping Act 1894]] ([[57 & 58 Vict.]] c. 60) had originally applied to wrecks found or taken possession of within UK territorial limits, but section 72 of the [[Merchant Shipping Act 1906]] ([[6 Edw. 7]]. c. 48) extended that provision to wrecks later brought into those limits; the court held that as there was no duty on the salvors to bring the wreck into UK waters, the Crown had no rights to wreck, or under the ancient [[royal prerogative (United Kingdom)|royal prerogative]] relating to "wreck of the sea throughout the realm, whales and great sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm" (''[[Prerogativa Regis]]'' (''[[temp. incert.]]'')).}} {{Asof|1998}}, the case remained the leading authority on this point of law.{{sfn|Palmer|McKendrick|1998|p=379}}{{update inline|date=March 2020}} However, a subsequent US court case where Bemis attempted to stop others from diving the wreck found that Bemis had no ownership over the personal effects and cargo on board the ship.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The long voyage of the Lusitania|journal=NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law|year=1999|author=Pamela J. Tibbetts|volume=19|number=2}}</ref>

In 1993, Bemis granted permission to Titanic wreck explorer [[Robert Ballard]] to explore the wreck. Ballard attempted to prove that the ship was sunk by the explosion of illegal explosives. The exploration was difficult, hampered by snagged fishing nets and the presence of unexploded depth charges. While the ship was lying on her starboard side and so he was not able to access the area of the torpedo strike, he was able to use [[Remotely operated underwater vehicle|ROV]]s to examine under the bow. He found that the entire exposed area of the cargo hold was "clearly undamaged", concluding that no secondary explosion took place there and that a [[coal dust explosion]] was likely responsible instead.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Ballard's Lusitania : probing the mysteries of the sinking that changed history|last=Ballard|first=Robert D.|year=2007}}</ref> Bemis rejected his findings and continued to research the wreck.

Bemis then faced more serious litigation on the issue of artifact recovery occurred versus Ireland.{{sfn|Rogers|March–April 2005}}{{sfn|Sharrock|2007}} This was because in 1995 the Irish Government declared the ''Lusitania'' a heritage site under the [[National Monument (Ireland)|National Monuments Act]], which prohibited him from in any way interfering with her or her contents. After a protracted legal wrangle, the Supreme Court in Dublin overturned the Arts and Heritage Ministry's previous refusal to issue Bemis with a five-year exploration licence in 2007, ruling that the then minister for Arts and Heritage had misconstrued the law when he refused Bemis's 2001 application. Bemis planned to dive and recover and analyse whatever artefacts and evidence could help piece together the story of what happened to the ship. He said that any items found would be given to museums following analysis. Any fine art recovered—such as the paintings by [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]], [[Rembrandt]] and [[Monet]], among other artists, believed to have been in lead tubes in the possession of Sir [[Hugh Lane]]—would remain in the ownership of the Irish Government.{{sfn|Sides|Goodwin Sides|2009}}

In late July 2008, Bemis was granted an "imaging" licence by the Department of the Environment, which allowed him to photograph and film the entire wreck, and was to allow him to produce the first high-resolution pictures of her. Bemis planned to use the data gathered to assess how fast the wreck was deteriorating and to plan a strategy for a forensic examination of the ship, which he estimated would cost $5m. Florida-based [[Odyssey Marine Exploration]] (OME) was contracted by Bemis to conduct the survey. The Department of the Environment's Underwater Archaeology Unit was to join the survey team to ensure that research would be carried out in a non-invasive manner, and a film crew from the Discovery Channel was also to be on hand.{{sfn|Shortall|20 July 2008}} A dive team from Cork Sub Aqua Club, diving under licence, discovered 15,000 rounds of the [[.303 British|.303]] (7.7×56mmR) calibre rifle ammunition transported on ''Lusitania'' in boxes in the bow section of the ship. The find was photographed but left ''[[in situ]]'' under the terms of the licence.{{sfn|Goodwin Sides|22 November 2008}}

Results from the dives were provided to researchers at the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]], who in 2012 concluded that this showed that the ship was sunk mainly by the effect of the torpedo, with a secondary explosion due to the boilers that did not significantly affect subsequent events. Bemis rejected the findings.<ref name=Livermore>{{cite news|title=British 'Not to Blame' for Rapid Sinking and Loss of Life on Liner RMS Lusitania, Find Underwater Researchers|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9366985/British-not-to-blame-for-rapid-sinking-and-loss-of-life-on-liner-RMS-Lusitania-find-underwater-researchers.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9366985/British-not-to-blame-for-rapid-sinking-and-loss-of-life-on-liner-RMS-Lusitania-find-underwater-researchers.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=6 December 2020|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 July 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Continuing to attempt to prove British involvement, in July 2016, Bemis's diving partner Eoin McGarry attempted to recover but lost a [[engine order telegraph|telegraph machine]] from the ship. This caused controversy as the dive was unsupervised by anyone with archaeological expertise.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/lusitania-telegraph-machine-lost-during-unsupervised-dive-35494223.html |title=Lusitania telegraph machine 'lost during unsupervised dive' |website=Independent.ie |date=March 2017 |access-date=30 September 2019 |archive-date=30 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930132112/https://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/lusitania-telegraph-machine-lost-during-unsupervised-dive-35494223.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/lusitania-telegraph-machine-lost-during-unsupervised-dive-35494227.html |title=Lusitania telegraph machine 'lost during unsupervised dive' |newspaper=Belfasttelegraph |via=www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk |access-date=30 September 2019 |archive-date=30 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930132112/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/lusitania-telegraph-machine-lost-during-unsupervised-dive-35494227.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2018, Bemis was interviewed for one hour on live radio about the ''Lusitania'' about some of the logistical complications in conducting a maritime archaeological expedition to penetrate the hull. He claimed that some of the original art presumed to be lost in wreckage may not have been, and discussed his continuing belief that Churchill caused the sinking.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-NL6k13VOE |title=Sinking of RMS Lusitania – 2018 Radio Interview with Gregg Bemis on Lusitania |date=10 December 2018 |via=www.youtube.com |access-date=11 December 2018 |archive-date=10 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110092718/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-NL6k13VOE&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2020, Bemis passed away. Despite millions of dollars spent, he was never able to find proof of his conspiracy theory. The wreck is currently owned by a museum in [[Kinsale]], Ireland.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/05/25/gregg-bemis-flamboyant-millionaire-bought-wreck-lusitania/|title=Gregg Bemis, flamboyant millionaire who bought the wreck of the Lusitania – obituary|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|year=2020}}</ref>

===Diving accidents===
A number of technical divers attempting to dive at the ''Lusitania'' wreckage site have been seriously injured.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/man-airlifted-to-hospital-after-diving-on-lusitania-wreck-1.3980739 |title=Man airlifted to hospital after diving on Lusitania wreck |first=Barry |last=Roche |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=29 August 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809150550/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/man-airlifted-to-hospital-after-diving-on-lusitania-wreck-1.3980739 |url-status=live}}</ref> Regardless of the unconfirmed presence of secret WWI explosives, [[Gas blending for scuba diving|mixed gas]]es must be used to reach the wreckage, which purportedly is littered with British depth charges and hedgehog mines{{what|date=September 2024}}, covered in fishing nets, and where sediment limits visibility.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lusitania's last resting place |url=http://www.lusitania.net/lastrestingplace.htm |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=www.lusitania.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Diving on the Lusitania – Irish Maritime History |url=https://lugnad.ie/diving-on-the-lusitania/ |access-date=2024-06-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Cultural significance==
{{main|Sinking of the RMS Lusitania#Cultural legacy}}

==See also==
*[[SS Arabic (1902)|SS ''Arabic'']], another liner sunk soon after
*[[RMS Hesperian|RMS ''Hesperian'']], another liner sunk in 1915 by ''U-20''
*[[Avis Dolphin]], a survivor
*[[Ian Holbourn]], a survivor
*[[Rita Jolivet]], a survivor
*[[Charles T. Jeffery]], a survivor
*[[Theodate Pope Riddle]], a survivor
*[[List of ships sunk by submarines by death toll]]
*''[[The Carpet from Bagdad]]'', a mostly lost 1915 film, one reel was recovered from the wreck in 1982

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|22em}}

==Bibliography==
===Books===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=Thomas A |last2=Ryan |first2=Paul B |date=1975 |title=The Lusitania Disaster: An Episode in Modern Warfare and Diplomacy |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-02-901240-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/lusitaniadisaste0000bail}}
*{{cite book |last1=Ballard |first1=Robert D |last2=Dunmore |first2=Spencer |title=Exploring the Lusitania: Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking that Changed History |date=1995 |publisher=Warner Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-4465-1851-2 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zriiQgAACAAJ&pg=PA45 |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065122/https://books.google.com/books?id=zriiQgAACAAJ&pg=PA45 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Beesly |first=Patrick |title=Room 40: British Naval Intelligence, 1914–1918 |author-link=Patrick Beesly |date=1982 |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |location=London |isbn=0-19281468-0}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Bishop |first1=Leigh |author-link=Leigh Bishop |title=Return to ''Lusitania'' |journal=Advanced Diver Magazine |date=2003 |issue=13 |url=http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/articles/lusitania/lusitania.html |access-date=1 May 2011 |archive-date=10 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510010446/http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/articles/lusitania/lusitania.html |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Brune |first1=Lester H |title=Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1607–1932 |date=2003 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-4159-3915-7 |page=365 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xux-LSxSY6cC&pg=PA365 |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065123/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xux-LSxSY6cC&pg=PA365 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Daniel Allen |title=The Age of Cunard: A Transatlantic History; 1839–2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVYUMUmOYaIC&pg=PA215 |date=2003 |publisher=ProStar Publications |isbn=978-1-57785-348-0 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065123/https://books.google.com/books?id=jVYUMUmOYaIC&pg=PA215 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Ciment |editor1-first=James D |editor2-last=Russell |editor2-first=Thadeus |title=The Home Front Encyclopedia: United States, Britain, and Canada in World Wars I and II |date=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-1-5760-7849-5 |page=379 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0P04JuMSM8C&pg=PA379 |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065148/https://books.google.com/books?id=n0P04JuMSM8C&pg=PA379 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Carlisle |first1=Rodney P |title=World War I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJcnDCOT0jQC&pg=PA73 |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0889-6 |page=73 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065124/https://books.google.com/books?id=xJcnDCOT0jQC&pg=PA73 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Corey |first1=Herbert |date=1938 |title=Submarine – The Autobiography of Simon Lake |url=http://www.submarineboat.com/files/Submarine%20The%20Autobiography%20of%20Simon%20Lake.pdf |publisher=D. Appleton-Century Company |location=London |page=295 |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-date=23 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323051232/http://submarineboat.com/files/Submarine%20The%20Autobiography%20of%20Simon%20Lake.pdf |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Craughwell |first1=Thomas J |last2=Kiester |first2=Edwin Jr |title=The Buck Stops Here: The 28 Toughest Presidential Decisions and How They Changed History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SY_fzVgBbq8C&pg=PA133 |date=2010 |publisher=Fair Winds |isbn=978-1-61673-848-8 |page=133 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065125/https://books.google.com/books?id=SY_fzVgBbq8C&pg&pg=PA133 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=Eugene |title=The Making of Adolf Hitler: The Birth and Rise of Nazism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JagUZcri3s8C&pg=PA89 |date=1997 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |isbn=978-0-8262-1117-0 |page=89 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065627/https://books.google.com/books?id=JagUZcri3s8C&pg=PA89 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Denson |first1=John V |title=A Century of War: Lincoln, Wilson, and Roosevelt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjbDDUpOYyEC&pg=PA135 |date=2006 |publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute |isbn=978-1-61016-508-2 |page=135 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065626/https://books.google.com/books?id=FjbDDUpOYyEC&pg=PA135 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Fox |first1=Stephen |title=The Ocean Railway: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Samuel Cunard and the Revolutionary World of the Great Atlantic Steamships |date=2004 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |isbn=978-0-0073-7386-4}}
*{{cite book |last1=Gardiner |first1=Robert |last2=Gray |first2=Randal |last3=Budzbon |first3=Przemysław |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |date=1985 |publisher=Conway |isbn=978-0-85177-245-5 |page=137}}
*{{cite book |last1=Gittelman |first1=Steven H |last2=Gittelman |first2=Emily |title=Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt: The Unlikely Hero of the Lusitania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PGKer5c3dz0C&pg=PA199 |date=2013 |publisher=Hamilton Books |isbn=978-0-7618-5507-1 |page=199 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065626/https://books.google.com/books?id=PGKer5c3dz0C&pg=PA199 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hackett |first1=C |last2=Bedford |first2=JG |title=The sinking of S.S. Titanic: Investigated by Modern Techniques |publisher=Royal Institution of Naval Architects |date=1996 |page=171}}
*{{cite book |last=Halsey |first=Francis Whiting |title=The Literary Digest History of the World War |url=https://archive.org/details/literarydigesthi00hals |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |date=1919 |page=[https://archive.org/details/literarydigesthi00hals/page/255 255]}}
*{{cite book |last=Hoehling |first=AA |title=Last Voyage of the Lusitania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaAMhzyTkd8C&pg=PA27 |date=1996 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-56833-078-5 |page=27 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065627/https://books.google.com/books?id=iaAMhzyTkd8C&pg=PA27 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Howard |title=Crucible of Power: A History of U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1897 |date=2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8420-2918-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/crucibleofpower00jone/page/73 73] |url=https://archive.org/details/crucibleofpower00jone/page/73}}
*{{cite book |last1=Layton |first1=J. Kent |title=Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography |date=2010 |publisher=Amberley |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire |isbn=978-1-84868-834-6}}
*{{cite book |date=2015 |last=Larson |first=Erik |title=Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania |author-link=Erik Larson (author) |title-link=Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania}}
*{{cite book |year=1908 |title=Lloyd's Register of British & Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1909ST/page/n622/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
*{{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1913 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The St Katherine Press}}
*{{cite book |last1=Maxtone-Graham |first1=John |title=The Only Way to Cross |date=1978 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-0258-2350-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKwKaAEACAAJ&pg=PA33 |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065640/https://books.google.com/books?id=bKwKaAEACAAJ&pg=PA33 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |author-link=John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey |first=John |last=Bigham |date=1915 |title=Report of a formal investigation into the circumstances attending the foundering on 7th May, 1915, of the British S.S. 'Lusitania', of Liverpool, being torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland |url=https://archive.org/details/op1256263-1001 |location=London |publisher=HMSO |series=[[Command paper]]s |volume=Cd.8022 (Session 1914–16, Vol. XXVII, p. 451)}}
*{{cite book |author-link=John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey |first=John |last=Bigham |date=1915 |title=Proceedings in camera on 15th and 18th June, 1915, at the formal investigation into the circumstances attending the foundering, on 7 May, 1915, of the 'Lusitania', after being torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland |url=https://archive.org/details/op1256729-1001 |location=London, UK |publisher=HMSO |series=Command papers |volume=Cd.381 (Session 1919, Vol. XXV, p. 469)}}
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*{{cite book |last1=Peeke |first1=Mitch |last2=Jones |first2=Steven |last3=Walsh-Johnson |first3=Kevin |title=The Lusitania story |date=2002 |publisher=Leo Cooper |location=Barnsley, Yorkshire |isbn=978-0-85052-902-9 |name-list-style=amp}}
*{{cite book |last=Preston |first=Diana |title=Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy |date=2002a |publisher=Thorndike Press |location=Waterville |isbn=0-80271375-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIkv-mteIEAC |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070143/https://books.google.com/books?id=cIkv-mteIEAC |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Preston |first1=Diana |title=Wilful Murder: the Sinking of the Lusitania |date=2002b |publisher=Transworld Publishers Limited |location=London |isbn=0-55299886-9}}
*{{cite book |last1=Protasio |first1=John |title=The Day the World Was Shocked: The Lusitania Disaster and Its Influence on the Course of World War I |url=https://archive.org/details/dayworldwasshock0000prot |url-access=registration |date=2011 |publisher=Casemate |location=Havertown, PA |isbn=978-1-9351-4945-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dayworldwasshock0000prot/page/200 200]–201}}
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*{{cite book |last=Ramsay |first=David |title=Lusitania: Saga and Myth |date=2001 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-86176-170-5 |url={{google books|BRusY6BF68EC |plainurl=yes}} |access-date=17 March 2015}}
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*{{cite web |last1=Sides |first1=Hampton |last2=Goodwin Sides |first2=Anne |title=Lusitania Rising |publisher=[[Men's Vogue]] |date=January 2009 |url=http://www.style.com/vogue/mensvogue/2009_January_Lusitania_Rising/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531092816/http://www.style.com/vogue/mensvogue/2009_January_Lusitania_Rising |archive-date=31 May 2009}}
*{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Colin |date=1972 |title=Lusitania |location=Harmondsworth, UK |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-00-3793-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MfoXnQEACAAJ |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070129/https://books.google.com/books?id=MfoXnQEACAAJ |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Sondhaus |first=Lawrence |title=World War One: The Global Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHoA4psTCp4C&pg=PA276 |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-51648-8 |page=276 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070630/https://books.google.com/books?id=LHoA4psTCp4C&pg=PA276 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer |last2=Roberts |first2=Priscilla Mary |title=World War One |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TogXVHTlxG4C&pg=PA1146 |date=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-879-8 |page=1146 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070630/https://books.google.com/books?id=TogXVHTlxG4C&pg=PA1146 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Venzon |first1=Anne Cipriano |last2=Miles |first2=Paul L. |title=The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YiZRC8bsOuoC&pg=PA357 |date=1995 |publisher=Garland Pub. |isbn=978-0-8153-3353-1 |page=357 |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070630/https://books.google.com/books?id=YiZRC8bsOuoC&pg=PA357 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Bruce |title=Atlantic convoys and Nazi raiders |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-275-98827-2 |page=9}}
*{{cite book |editor-last1=Watt |editor-first1=Quintin |title=An Illustrated History}}{{dead link|date=March 2014}}
*{{cite book |last=Zieger |first=Robert H |title=America's Great War |date=1972 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8476-9645-1 |pages=24–25}}
{{refend}}

===Newspapers, journals and other media===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite AV media |last=Goodwin Sides |first=Anne |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |title=New Clues in Lusitania's Sinking |date=22 November 2008 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97350149 |ref={{SfnRef|Goodwin Sides|22 November 2008}}}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Mullally |first1=Erin |title=''Lusitania''{{'}}s Secret Cargo |journal=Archaeology |date=January–February 2009 |volume=62 |issue=1 |url=http://archive.archaeology.org/0901/trenches/lusitania.html |ref={{sfnRef|Archaeology.org}} |publisher=Archaeological Institute of America |access-date=25 February 2014 |archive-date=20 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220123922/http://archive.archaeology.org/0901/trenches/lusitania.html |url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal |last=Rogers |first=Paul |title=How Deep Is His Love |journal=Stanford Magazine |publisher=Stanford Alumni Association |date=March–April 2005 |url=http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/marapr/classnotes/bemis.html |ref={{sfnRef|Rogers|March–April 2005}} |access-date=28 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511132425/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/marapr/classnotes/bemis.html |archive-date=11 May 2008}}
*{{Cite news |last=Sharrock |first=David |title=Millionaire diver wins right to explore wreck of the Lusitania |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=2 April 2007 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1599972.ece |access-date=18 September 2008 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604185327/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1599972.ece |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Colin |title=Lusitania |url={{google books|yFYEAAAAMBAJ |page=68 |plainurl=yes}} |access-date=17 March 2015 |work=Life Magazine |date=13 October 1972 |page=68 |ref={{sfnRef|Simpson|13 October 1972}}}}
*{{Cite news |last=Shortall |first=Eithne |title=Riddle of Lusitania sinking may finally be solved |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=20 July 2008 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article4364701.ece |ref={{sfnRef|Shortall|20 July 2008}} |access-date=18 September 2008 |archive-date=3 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603103817/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article4364701.ece |url-status=dead}}{{update after|2017|10|1}}
*{{cite news |author1=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19320115.2.58 |title=The Lusitania – A Salvage Project |newspaper=Evening Post |location=Wellington, New Zealand |date=15 January 1932 |access-date=21 May 2013 |ref={{sfnRef|Evening Post|15 January 1932}} |archive-date=19 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119194221/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19320115.2.58 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite news |author1=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Lusitania divers warned of danger from war munitions in 1982, papers reveal |work=The Guardian |date=1 May 2014 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/lusitania-salvage-warning-munitions-1982 |ref={{sfnRef|The Guardian|1 May 2014}} |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-date=13 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213071634/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/lusitania-salvage-warning-munitions-1982 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal |title=Lusitania Treasure to be Raised |journal=Popular Mechanics |volume=57 |issue=2 |url={{google books|4-EDAAAAMBAJ |plainurl=yes}} |date=February 1932 |page=177 |publisher=Hearst Magazines |ref={{sfnRef|Popular Mechanics|February 1932}} |access-date=17 March 2015}}
*{{cite news |author1=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Sinking justified, says Dr. Dernburg |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/09/301791392.pdf |access-date=17 March 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 May 1915 |ref={{sfnRef|NY Times|9 May 1915}} |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111202130/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/09/301791392.pdf |url-status=live}}
*{{Cite news |author1=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Lusitania was unarmed |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=10 May 1915 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/10/104646600.pdf |ref={{sfnRef|NY Times|10 May 1915}} |access-date=13 June 2018 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608085623/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/10/104646600.pdf |url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal | title=The German Submarine Record: Details of Chief Vessels Sunk, With Diplomatic Developments |journal=Current History |date=March 1917 |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=996–1004 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45323616 |ref={{sfnRef|CurrHist}} |publisher=University of California Press |doi=10.1525/curh.1917.5.6.996 |jstor=45323616 |access-date=13 March 2024}}
*{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''The Seattle Star'', February 23,|1924}}|date= February 23, 1924|title= Germany Asked to Pay for Lusitania|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87093407/1924-02-23/ed-1/seq-2/|newspaper=[[The Seattle Star]]|publisher=E.H. Wells & Co. |location=Seattle, King, Washington  |issn=2159-5577|oclc=17285351|pages=16|accessdate= February 25, 2024 }}
{{refend}}

===Online===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite web |title=A Deadly Cargo and the Falsifed Manifests |url=http://www.lusitania.net/deadlycargo.htm |website=Lusitania Online: The Home Port of RMS Lusitania |access-date=18 March 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Lusitania.net}} |archive-date=24 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224013331/http://www.lusitania.net/deadlycargo.htm |url-status=live}}
*{{cite web |title=Terror at Sea – Sinking of the Lusitania |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/lusitania/lusitania.html |publisher=Discovery Channel |ref={{sfnRef|Discovery.com}} |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324220419/http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/lusitania/lusitania.html |archive-date=24 March 2009}}<!-- redirects to main discovery.com page -->
*{{cite web |title=175 Anniversary cruise - Lusitania Remembered with Martin Bell - 7 nights, May 2015 |url=http://www.cunard.com/cruise-search/book-a-cruise/cruises/qv/1041-v510-sou1-sou2/ |website=Cunard Line |access-date=18 March 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Cunard Line}} |archive-date=12 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312140654/http://www.cunard.com/cruise-search/book-a-cruise/cruises/qv/1041-v510-sou1-sou2/}}
*{{cite web |last1=Doswald-Beck |first1=Louise |title=San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflict at Sea |url=https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/other/57jmst.htm |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |access-date=18 March 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Doswald-Beck|31 December 1995}} |date=31 December 1995 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060108/https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/other/57jmst.htm |url-status=live}}
*{{cite web |title=Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments, (Part IV, Art. 22) |url=https://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/xsp/.ibmmodres/domino/OpenAttachment/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/32C5DA6C8C43775AC12563CD002D69CC/FULLTEXT/IHL-41-EN.pdf |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |access-date=18 March 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|ICRC|22 April 1930}} |date=22 April 1930 |archive-date=6 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406030309/https://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/xsp/.ibmmodres/domino/OpenAttachment/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/32C5DA6C8C43775AC12563CD002D69CC/FULLTEXT/IHL-41-EN.pdf}}
*{{cite web |last1=Keeling |first1=Drew |title=Mass Migration as a Travel Business |url=http://www.business-of-migration.com/ships/lusitania-and-mauretania |website=business-of-migration.com |access-date=18 March 2015 |date=2013 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120816/http://www.business-of-migration.com/ships/lusitania-and-mauretania |url-status=live}}
*{{cite web |last1=Layton |first1=J Kent |title=Lusitania Home |url=http://www.atlanticliners.com/lusitania_home.htm |website=Atlantic Liners |access-date=18 March 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Atlantic Liners}} |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170926/http://www.atlanticliners.com/lusitania_home.htm |url-status=live |location=Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand |date=17 March 2015}}
*{{cite web |title=Testimony of Edward Wilding, Recalled |url=http://www.titanicinquiry.com/BOTInq/BOTInq19Wilding01.php |website=British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry |access-date=23 June 2017 |ref={{sfnRef|Titanic Inquiry}} |date=7 June 1912 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205091541/http://www.titanicinquiry.com/BOTInq/BOTInq19Wilding01.php |archive-date=5 February 2008}}
*{{cite web |title=Treasure Quest – ''Lusitania'' Revealed |publisher=Tv.yahoo.com |url=https://tv.yahoo.com/treasure-quest/show/43096 |access-date=19 May 2009 |ref={{sfnRef|Treasure Quest}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518052914/http://tv.yahoo.com/treasure-quest/show/43096 |archive-date=18 May 2009}}<!-- redirects to main TV.yahoo.com page -->
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite journal |last=Bailey |first=Thomas A |date=October 1935 |title=The Sinking of the Lusitania |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=54–73 |publisher=Oxford University Press |jstor=1839355 |doi=10.2307/1839355 |s2cid=227384759}}
*{{cite journal |last=Bailey |first=Thomas A |date=September 1936 |title=German Documents Relating to the Lusitania |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=320–337 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |jstor=1881539 |doi=10.1086/468453 |s2cid=144918061}}
*{{cite book |last=Bernier |first=Michelle |date=2010 |title=Did these Stories Really Happen? |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1-4505-8536-1}}
*{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Greg |date=2012 |title=Commemoration of Death: The Medals of the Lusitania Murders |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1-4791-1573-0}}
*{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Greg |title=www.lusitaniamedal.com |url=http://www.lusitaniamedal.com |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-date=18 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318180722/http://www.lusitaniamedal.com/ |url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal |last=Doubleday |first=FN |date=January 1908 |title=A Trip on the Two Largest Ships |journal=[[World's Work|The World's Work: A History of Our Time]] |volume=XV |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldswork08pagegoog/page/n320 9803]–9810 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldswork08pagegoog |access-date=10 July 2009}}
*{{cite book |editor-last1=Droste |editor-first1=CL |editor-last2=Tantum |editor-first2=W.H. |date=1972 |title=The Lusitania Case |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |location=Riverside, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-85059-097-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Larson |first=Erik |date=2015 |title=Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania |publisher=Crown Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-40886-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8YZoBAAAQBAJ |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070631/https://books.google.com/books?id=8YZoBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Layton |first=J Kent |date=June 2013 |title=The Edwardian Superliners: a Trio of Trios |publisher=Amberley publishing |isbn=978-1-4456-1438-0}}
*{{cite web |last=Ljungström |first=Henrik |title=The Great Ocean Liners: Lusitania |url=http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/index2.html |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918025540/http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/index2.html |archive-date=18 September 2012}}
*{{cite book |last=Molony |first=Senan |date=2004 |title=Lusitania, an Irish Tragedy |publisher=Mercier |isbn=978-1-8563-5452-3}}
*{{cite book |last=O'Sullivan |first=Patrick |date=2000 |title=The Lusitania: Unravelling the Mysteries |publisher=Sheridan House |location=New York |isbn=978-1-57409-094-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDProjpeCSAC |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703070631/https://books.google.com/books?id=nDProjpeCSAC |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Sauder |first=Eric |date=1 October 2009 |title=RMS Lusitania: The Ship and Her Record |publisher=The History Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-7524-5203-6}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sauder |first1=Eric |last2=Marschall |first2=Ken |date=1991 |title=RMS Lusitania: Triumph of the Edwardian Age |publisher=Trans-Atlantic Designs |location=Redondo Beach, CA |isbn=978-0-9633946-0-6}}
*Trommler, Frank. "The Lusitania Effect: America's Mobilization against Germany in World War I" ''German Studies Review'' 32#2 (2009), pp.&nbsp;241–266 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40574799 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820132800/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40574799 |date=20 August 2020}}
*{{cite web |title=Lusitania Timeline |url=http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania/timeline/ |website=The Lusitania Resource |date=26 March 2011 |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-date=17 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317034351/http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania/timeline/ |url-status=live}}
*{{cite web |title=Lusitania Specification |url=http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania/specifications/ |website=The Lusitania Resource |date=29 April 2011 |access-date=19 March 2015 |archive-date=30 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330005343/http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania/specifications/ |url-status=live}}
*{{cite web |title=Lusitania Cargo |url=https://www.rmslusitania.info/cargo/ |website=The Lusitania Resource |date=29 April 2011 |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=25 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125223618/http://www.rmslusitania.info/cargo/ |url-status=live}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lusitania (ship, 1906, Clydebank)}}
{{Collier's Poster|year=1921|Lusitania}}
*[http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lest-we-forget-the-lusitania.html Lest We Forget: The ''Lusitania'' – from Encyclopedia Titanica]
*[https://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html RMS ''Lusitania''], Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qluFYy2iiac ''Sinking of the Lusitania'' (1918)]

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{{s-ttl|title=[[Blue Riband]] (Eastbound record) |years=1907}}
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{{Four funnels}}
{{Largest passenger ships}}
{{Cunard ships}}
{{May 1915 shipwrecks}}
{{Underwater diving|prodiv}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lusitania}}
[[Category:RMS Lusitania| ]]
[[Category:1906 ships]]
[[Category:Blue Riband holders]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1915]]
[[Category:Four funnel liners]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1915]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in Ireland]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ships of Scotland]]
[[Category:Ships of the Cunard Line]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Ireland]]
[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:World War I passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]

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