The Lusitania was built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland and owned by the Cunard Line. On May 7, 1915, she was hit by a torpedo from Germany and sank within 18 minutes. This occurred eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. The attack killed 1,198 of the 1, 959 passengers that were aboard. After this attack, public opinion turned against Germany and was another reason why the United States joined in during World War I. This sinking is known as the second most famous cruise line disaster since the famous sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Great controversy stirred after the sinking of the Lusitania and this controversy can still be heard today. Germany tried to justify their behavior by releasing a claim stating that the Lusitania was armed with weapons and had a lot of war material in her cargo hold. They also said that because the Lusitania was classed as an auxiliary cruiser, they had the right to sink her not regarding any of the civilian passengers that were on board. Also, the Germany Embassy issued the Lusitania a warning letter before she sailed and a note on February 18^th stating that there are existing “war zones” where she was heading and this relieved Germany of any responsibilities towards the destruction of the Lusitania and her passengers.

It was true that the Lusitania was properly fitted with proper gun mounts and that was due to the government loan requirements during her construction. The reason behind this was to enable her to convert to an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) in case of a war or attack. The guns, however, were never fitted. In her cargo she did hold about 4,200,000 rounds of rifle cartridges, 18 cases of non-explosive fuses, and 1,250 empty shell cases. All of these were only listed as part of her cargo, but none were actually classed as ammunition by the Cunard Line. She held it on board, but never planned to use it. Some theories state that she did contain explosives that were set off when the torpedo hit her, but that has not yet been proven.