What was the Lusitania used for?

Answer 1

Lusitania was built by John Brown & Co. of Clydebank, Scotland and was launched in 1906. Lusitania made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 7 September 1907. She was at that time the largest ship in the world, a distinction she would hold until her sister Mauretania entered service two months later.
Holder of both Blue Ribands, Lusitania set westbound crossing records in October 1907, July 1908, August 1908 and September 1909 and an eastbound record in October 1907.
At sea when World War I broke out, Lusitania arrived home safely. The British Admiralty considered the Lusitania for requisition as a merchant cruiser; however, large liners such as the Lusitania consumed too much coal, presented too large a target, and put at risk large crews and were therefore deemed inappropriate for the role. The Lusitania unlike Mauretania was kept in her regular service during the war, making monthly sailings between Liverpool and New York. However, on 7 May 1915, while heading east off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland Lusitania was torpedoed without warning by U-20 and sank within 18 minutes. (Two explosions rocked the ship. The first was clearly caused by a torpedo from U-20. The cause of the second explosion has never been definitively determined and remains the source of much controversy.)
Of those on board, 761 were rescued, while 1,198 perished. Lusitania's sinking, and the sinking of White Star's Arabic a few months later, vividly demonstrated that prior concepts of the rules of war no longer prevailed, and that unarmed merchant ships were no longer safe from attack.
The Germans immediately claimed that the Lusitania sank so quickly because the torpedo hit munitions being secretly carried on board, causing the second explosion. The Allies denied that the Lusitania was carrying any explosives and claimed that the sinking was yet another example of the "barbarity" of the German war machine. It has been said that there were British documents that later confirmed the German assertion that the ship was carrying munitions. Also, that after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt there was secret copy of the ship's manifest that had been given to Woodrow Wilson that also supposedly came to light. This is still being disputed.
By international law, the presence of military cargo made the Lusitania a legitimate target.
Of the 197 Americans on board, 128 lost their lives. There was massive outrage in Britain and America. The British felt the Americans had to declare war on Germany. US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, fearing that the US would declare war, resigned from the Cabinet in protest; however, President Woodrow Wilson still did not want the country to get involved in a European dispute because the American population (many of whom were German-American) did not want to be involved in a war. Instead of declaring war, he sent a formal protest to Germany. Wilson was bitterly criticized in Britain as a coward.
The incident, however, contributed to the rise of American sentiment for the entry of the United States into World War I, with recruitment posters two years later urging potential enlistees to "Remember the Lusitania!"

Answer 2

The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on June 7, 1906. She and her sister ship RMS Mauretania were built to compete with and better the fast German liners of the time. Lusitania took back the Blue Riband in 1907 and she and the Mauretania were the fastest liners of their day.

On May 7, 1915 the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine, the U-20. The Lusitania sank after a subsequent massive internal explosion blew out her starboard bow. The sinking galvanized American opinion against Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and played a role in the United States' later entry into World War I on April 17, 1917.

Answer 3

Target Practice

Answer 4

It was a British luxury liner, sunk by a torpedo from a German u-boat in WWI, this was the event that got the US into this war.

Answer 5

Transporting weapons but don't tell the Germans...

They might try to sink it....

;-)