The Lusitania sailed on May 1st 1915 from New York bound for Liverpool. The German Embassy publicized that any ship that sailed into the "European War Zone" was a potential target for German submarines. Some newspapers printed the warning directly next to the Cunard Liner’s list of departure dates. Regardless, the Lusitania was packed with passengers because many thought that a luxury liner was simply not a legitimate target as it had no military value. Off the Irish coast, at 1:40pm on May 7th, the Lusitania was spotted by the Germans. The first torpedo was fired at 2:09pm. The Lusitania took eighteen minutes to sink. 1,153 passengers and crew drowned; 128 of them were Americans. Anger spread throughout America and Great Britain.
The sinking of the Lusitania had a major impact on America and World War I, but it was the not reason America joined the war; that didn’t happen for another two years.
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