18 Minutes That Shocked The World

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18 Minutes That Shocked The World

RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 7 May 1915. The luxury passenger liner was crossing the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool when the German submarine U-20 fired without warning. After a second explosion – the cause of which is still debated – the ship quickly sank. It went under in 18 minutes, killing 1,200 of almost 2,000 passengers and crew on board. LINK

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From 2018

Lusitania Remembered.


The sinking of Lusitania was one of the most horrific incidents at sea during the First World War (1914-18). In early 1915 the German Government declared that all Allied ships would be in danger of attack in British waters. Lusitania sailed from New York on 1 May 1915 with 1962 people on board. On 7 May 1915 at 2.10pm, the liner was near Kinsale in southern Ireland when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20. She sank in under twenty minutes with the loss of 1191 lives.


The sinking of this unarmed passenger ship caused international outrage. There were riots in Liverpool and London, as well as other cities around the world. The German government claimed that Lusitania was a legitimate target due to the war supplies she was carrying - as were many other British ships. However, British and American enquiries later declared the sinking to have been unlawful.


This event devastated the tight-knit dockland communities in north Liverpool, where most of Lusitania's crew lived. 405 crew members died, including many Liverpool Irish seamen.


Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool.

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Lest we forget,Lusitania sinking on May 7, 1915. Off the Old Head of Kinsale.


A few years ago the Merchant Navy Association from Barry Dock in Wales, as they looked out across the sunlit waters 15 miles south of Courtmacsherry, near Kinsale, on a day when the weather was similar to that of the sinking all strong men who had seen and experienced a lot at sea themselves and lost companions and relations during the Second World War, all had tears in their eyes, imagining what it must have been like for those aboard the Lusitania.

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