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RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by U-20 on Friday May 7th 1915 approx 11 miles south of Ireland while en route from New York to Liverpool. The U Boat's captain Walther Schwieger on sighting the liner through his 'scope, called to his pilot Lanz, "Four funnels, schooner rig, upwards of 20k tons and making about 22knots." Lanz checked his copy's of Jane's Fighting Ships and Brassey's Naval Annual (British publications always carried by U-boats) replying, "Either Mauretania or Lusitania and both listed as armed merchant cruisers and used for trooping."

Not long after, Lusitania turned slightly to starboard directly into U-20's path and Schwieger, genuinely believing his target was a military vessel, fired one G-type torpedo from a range of 550m. It ran at 38knots and at a depth of 3m and slammed into Lusitania's starboard bow, the time was 1410 and 18 minutes later Lusitania was gone, 93m down on the seabed.

Those last 18 minutes for Lusitania's passengers and crew were both tragic and horrific. Unlike Titanic's final 2hrs and 40m on a relatively flat keel, Lusitania immediately listed starboard bow down and progressively continued to 25 degrees until the bow struck the seabed which prevented a capsize. Because of the rapid speed of her sinking great panic ensued on board for all. Almost immediately the port lifeboats could not be lowered because of the heavy list but they were filling with people anyway. Someone released the snubbing chain on #2 lifeboat and the five ton boat laden with 50 passengers swung inboard and crushed those standing on the boat deck against the superstructure, and this port side disaster continued.

No 4 boat was released exactly the same way sliding down the deck maiming and killing countless people before crashing into No 2. Driven by panic, passengers swarmed into boat Nos 6, 8 and 10. One after the other they swung inboard and then careered down the deck to join the others in a pile of jammed bloody carnage. At this point the list was 20 degrees and further back No 16 boat had somehow been manhandled over the side to prevent what was happening to the others, but because of no power its descent could not be slowed and it smashed to pieces during its slide down the side. The protruding rivet heads of the hull plating had literally torn the lifeboat to pieces.

Though very difficult, the launching of the starboard side boats was marginally more successful than the port side, but horrible mistakes were still made. Because the ship was sinking so fast, some boats were launched in such a hurry that the chains weren't released, so they remained chained to the deck of the sinking liner. Others that had the snub released were hastily lowered landing bow or stern first spilling their contents, or simply dropped into the ocean to smash themselves and any floundering passengers beneath them, to pieces.

Like Titanic, Lusitania carried several notable passengers on its list many of whom were Americans. Alfred G. Vanderbilt and his valet, Ronald Denyer, were last seen heroically shepherding all the children they could find to the starboard lifeboats, while in the process having to constantly ignore the pitiful and desperate screams of those doomed passengers trapped between decks in the first-class elevators by the power failure. Neither could swim and both died.

At 1428 hours GMT, Lusitania was gone. Only six lifeboats out of a total of forty eight were afloat amid the wreckage. The final casualty figures were 1,201 men, women and children dead out of a total of 1,962 persons onboard including three Germans who were locked in the ships brig, but whom are otherwise not included in the 'official' figures. Of the 159 Americans aboard, 128 had perished and of the 129 children aboard, ninety four died.

The Lusitania sinking caused outrage not only throughout the British Empire but also very importantly in the United States, which then began a catalyst of anti-German sentiment and eventually that nation's declaration of war against Germany (and much to the relief of an exhausted France and Britain!). Kapitanleutnant Walther Schwieger was KIA in September 1917 when his then command U-88 was lost in the North Sea after a career that sank 49 ships, and earned him a swag of medals including the Blue Max and the distinction of inadvertently heavily influencing one country to declare war on another.