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Lusitania
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The British ocean liner Lusitania, with four large smokestacks, approaches port in this early 20th-century black and white photograph. Infographic about the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, featuring a map of its route from New York to Liverpool, an illustration of the ship, a timeline of key events, casualty statistics, and facts about the German submarine that sank it during World War I. Sinking of the Lusitania Lusitania Front page of the New York Herald with the headline reading The Lusitania is sunk; 1,000 probably are lost, featuring a photo of the ship and images of crew members.
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Lusitania summary
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American infantry streaming through the captured town of Varennes, France, 1918.This place fell into the hands of the Americans on the first day of the Franco-American assault upon the Argonne-Champagne line. (World War I)
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Related Questions

Lusitania: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Robert D. Ballard and Spencer Dunmore, Exploring the Lusitania: Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking That Changed History (1995); Diana Preston, Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy (2002); Greg King and Penny Wilson, Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age (2015); Erik Larson, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (2015).

Article Contributors

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  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - RMS Lusitania. Sep 22, 2026
Add new Web site: Heritage History - The Sinking of the Lusitania. Aug 01, 2026
Add new Web site: New York Law School’s Digital Commons - The long voyage of the Lusitania (PDF). Jan 17, 2026
Add new Web site: National Museums Liverpool - Lusitania: life, loss, legacy. Nov 08, 2025
Add new Web site: NPR - Excerpt: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania. Oct 01, 2025
Add new Web site: BBC - Witness History - Sinking of the Lusitania. Jul 21, 2025
Add new Web site: Imperial War Museums - The sinking of RMS Lusitania during the First World War. Jun 11, 2025
Add new Web site: ABC listen - Nightlife - This Week in History: Sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Apr 15, 2025
Questions and answers added. Feb 21, 2025
Add new Web site: Digital History - Neutrality and the Lusitania. Feb 15, 2025
Add new Web site: Cato Institute - Sailing and Sinking the RMS Lusitania: a Century of Lying America into War. Oct 23, 2024
Add new Web site: Librrary of Congress - Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures, 1914 to 1919 - The Lusitania Disaster. Sep 13, 2024
Add new Web site: Doughboy Foundation - Why was the Sinking of the Lusitania so Controversial? May 09, 2024
Add new Web site: Khan Academy - Blockades, u-boats and sinking of the Lusitania. Oct 13, 2023
Add new Web site: Historic UK - RMS Lusitania. Sep 01, 2023
Add new Web site: University of Glasgow - Archive Services - Lusitania. Jun 22, 2023
Add new Web site: Warfare History Network - The Lusitania Disaster. May 10, 2023
Media added. Feb 17, 2023
Add new Web site: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War - Sinking of Lusitania. Sep 10, 2022
Add new Web site: United States History for Kids - Sinking of the Lusitania Facts. Mar 11, 2022
Add new Web site: History Learning Site - The Lusitania. Mar 11, 2022
Noted that the first formal response by the U.S. government to the sinking of the Lusitania was written by William Jennings Bryan. Oct 29, 2019
Corrected display issue. May 22, 2018
Add new Web site: Smithsonian Channel - Why the Germans Torpedoed the Lusitania. Feb 16, 2017
Replaced photograph. Feb 02, 2017
Added illustration. Apr 30, 2015
New bibliography added. Apr 21, 2015
Added information concerning its construction and ownership. Feb 09, 2012
Media added. Dec 07, 2011
Added new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - Lost Liners - Lusitania. May 13, 2009
Added new Web site: Lusitania Online - The Home Port of RMS Lusitania. May 13, 2009
Added new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - Lost Liners - Lusitania. May 13, 2009
Added new Web site: Lusitania Online - The Home Port of RMS Lusitania. May 13, 2009
Media added. Feb 09, 2007
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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