might go to war over the incident, Germany backed down and ordered its U-boat fleet to spare passenger vessels. The Germans asserted the Lusitania was carrying war matériel and was therefore a legitimate target.įaced with the possibility that the U.S. The Allies and Americans considered the sinking an act of indiscriminate warfare. Nearly 1,200 men, women, and children, including 128 Americans, lost their lives. On May 7, 1915, German submarine U-20 torpedoed the Lusitania, a Cunard passenger liner, off the coast of Ireland. The goal was to starve Britain before the British blockade defeated Germany.
They were Germany’s only weapon of advantage as Britain effectively blocked German ports to supplies. The formidable U-boats ( unterseeboots) prowled the Atlantic armed with torpedoes. Germany retaliated by using its submarines to destroy neutral ships that were supplying the Allies.
Britain's blockade across the North Sea and the English Channel cut the flow of war supplies, food, and fuel to Germany during World War I.
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