What Port Was The Lusitania Sailing To?

RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906, becoming the world’s largest passenger ship until the completion of the Mauretania three months later. The ship was awarded the Blue Riband for its speed and luxury. On September 7, 1907, it made its maiden voyage. On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I began in Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner. The Lusitania, like the Titanic, was torpedoed off the Irish coast during World War I.

On May 1, 1915, the RMS Lusitania set sail from New York City to Liverpool, England, carrying 1,959 passengers. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat fired a torpedo that sank the Lusitania within twenty minutes, killing 1,198 passengers, including 128 Americans. On May 29, 2015, the Lusitania was sunk on her 202nd trans-Atlantic crossing, 11 miles (18 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1195 people, including 123 Americans.

The British Admiralty had warned the Lusitania to avoid German U-boat activity along the coast of Ireland. Despite warnings, the Lusitania sailed on. The Lusitania entered into waters south of Ireland on May 7, 1915, with 1962 people on board. Both ships came into service from Liverpool in 1907, the year of the ports 700th anniversary. Between May and May, German submarines sank 23 merchant ships in the waters just south of Ireland, through which Lusitania was now sailing.