Why the Germans Torpedoed the Lusitania 

This video isn't on why they sunk it, its on how they sunk it. Change why to how.

Don't know what's worse, shooting a civilian vessel or using unarmed people as a meatshield to hide munitions.

this didn't really tell me why they did it

My great grandmother was on the Lusitania, I remember her telling stories before she passed away. She described the sinking as unexpected and unbelievably fast, my great grandfather died in the sinking because he was trapped below deck :(

The Lusitania was carrying war munitions, thus qualifying it as a legitimate military target. Divers recovered a sample of the arms from the Lusitania wreck in the 1980's. An agency associated with the German gov't ran a warning in a New York newspaper prior to the ship's departure, not to sail on the Lusitania.

You might mention that the Lusitania was carrying tons of munitions and weapons. The Germans knew the cheeky brits hid their supplies among civilians, to try to grant free shipping through contested waters. The Germans on many occasions warned the allies that if it continued they would have no choice but to shoot.

My great grandfather was on this ship.. his job was to transport the horses from America to Britain.. he survived however tragically turned mentally ill after witnessing all the horses die

For those who want to know exactly why they hit it: The Lusitania was secretly and illegally carrying weapons, making it a target that the Germans would torpedo (because Germans treated ships with weapons aboard as naval ships). There you go.

*every question went unanswered. Thanks again Smithsonian.*

Is it true that they were actually transporting weapons and supplies.

The British Admiralty knew all about the imminent danger due to the activities of Room 40, but neither did they warn the Lusitania of the imminent danger, nor did they provide a military escort, even though warships were stationed close by.

I can tell you this my great uncle was on the Lusitania and he was on crew when it was sinking Captain Turner ordered him to get on 1 of the 6 lifeboats that were safely launched. He was ordered to get on because the crew member on the lifeboat was crazy and could not control himself and he died but my great uncle survived.

Germany had publicly announced that they would consider the Lusitania an enemy vessel, since it was carrying large amounts of supplies and soldiers. Yes, even adds were placed in major US newspapers warning civilians not to board the Lusitania. What happened was simply that the US government was knowingly sending civilians to their death in order to have a pretext for war against Germany. So, of course they don't tell why. It was a supply vessel for the British/Allied war effort and hence, a breach of international law by the US. Firstly because they were officially not at war with Germany, Austria and Turkey and secondly because they used a civilian ship. Germany would not allow war supplies to be sneaked up to Britain. After duly announcing their stance on the matter, they did what everybody knew would happen.

I USED TO KNOW A WOMAN WHO WAS ON THE LUSITANIA WHEN SHE WAS IN HER 20's AND SURVIVED ITS SINKING. She's since died of old age, but she used to speak of it often.

All ship and submarine commanders (Allied and German) had current copies of ship's registries and classifications. The Lusitania had just been fitted with gun mounts along her deck. Even though no cannons were actually mounted, it was enough to have her re-classified from passenger ship to warship (Armed Merchant Cruiser). Captain Schwieger knew this as well the munitions she was carrying. I'm sure he regretted the loss of many lives, but did his duty by following procedures.

Churchill caused the sinking of RMS Lusitania.

Not only were the British employing the blockade to stop, destroy or confiscate ships carrying cargo to Germany, they also disguised warships as merchant ships, used neutral flags as cover (Q-ships), and armed merchant ships, giving them orders to ram German U-boats. This turned every British merchant ship into a warship in the opinion of Germany, who had objected to this policy in vain. The Royal Navy showed its own disregard of civilians by loading passenger ships with weapons. Early on, Lusitania had been withdrawn from passenger service for conversion to war before being returned to civilian status. The ship was also captained by a Royal Naval officer. Both the 1914 “Jane’s Fighting Ships” plus the “British Naval Packet Book” listed Lusitania and Mauritania, among others, as “armed merchantmen.” It is reasonable to conclude that she might no longer be considered a harmless passenger ship to the enemy and would be suspected of carrying war materials, which she was.

They say the Lusitania was smuggling weapons to England but has always been kept a Hush Hush.

Wait, most naval destroyers could make nearly 30 knots. Lusitania made 26 at her top speed... destroyers could have kept up with her easy.

My great grandmother's two family friends Gwendolyn and Anna Allan were both killed aged 16 and 15. Anna's body was never found. Rest in peace to all who died.

Because the video fails to actually say why the german's sunk it, here's what was found on the wreckage: "At the time she was sunk, she was carrying over 4 million rounds of small-arms ammunition (.303 caliber), almost 5,000 shrapnel shell casings (for a total of some 50 tons), and 3,240 brass percussion fuses, in addition to 1,266 passengers and a crew of 696."

Book by Erik Larson called "Dead Wake" does an excellent job of describing the sinking. Passengers, cargo, etc.

watch the guy on the left at 1:35 cuz the chick thinks he's leaning in for a kiss hahahahahaha damn she peeled off hella hard

The Americans were smuggling munition (proven), the Germans even took out a full page add in a major NY newspaper telling people not to travel on the Lusitania because she is now officially a military ship.

Brits using civilians to transport arms and munitions What's the difference from Taliban using civilians as shields

*Britain wanted US in WWI* - any other reason is BS The same trick is played again and again and We are the victims

To be honest, the Thumbnail made me think this will be a War Thunder Video

There is no answer for that "Why" given here. And it wasnt mentioned that serious doubts came up on the uboat to shout at a passenger ship. Not only in the ranks, one sailor was relieved and later courtmarshalled, And why just one torpedo for a big ship like the Lusitania? Too many questions unsolved with this vid, sry.

I’ve seen the full episode where this clip was taken from, it was so good that I had rewatched it over 10 times, xd

The British broke the neutral laws by loading a ship with ammo

HAHAHHAHA DID ANYONE REALISE AT 1:37 THE BABY WAS A CABBAGE?!😂😂🤣😂😂

The lusitania was actually hauling alot of weapons and ammunition like a convoy

Churchill was head of the admiralty when the Lucitania was torpedoed,some say he allowed it to happen for a reason. Thats called a false flag.

Germans fire on the Lusitainia Smithsonian: Its brighter here

Anyone know where I can watch or download it?

The reason why there was no escort with Lusitania is: They thought sending an escort will make the germans suspicious about what the ship is carrying. Thats why they didn't send an escort. It was a smart move but unfortunately it didn't work.

The Lusitania was smuggling munitions this is clear propaganda

The captain swore that the ship was carrying munitions, but he couldn’t prove it and nearly got locked up for sinking it. Only 60 years later did the truth come out that it was carrying a horde of weapons from the U.S. that were being sent to the British. The captain was right.

You: why the germans torpedoed the lusitania Me:idk?

My great great grandfather was one of the engineers of that ship.

so many freakin ships were sunk in 1910's

The fact that there were so many non-combatants who wanted to travel from America to Britain during the world wars just goes to show how unsurprising it is that people are travelling during the pandemic

Because it was carrying war material... But don't let that get in the way for good propaganda

They sunk it because it had ammunition on the ship

An elderly friend of mine told me his father was on the Lusitania. He said his father knew the sub was out their tracking them. All morning. When the ship was torpedoed. How he saved himself was he swam all the way to shore which was a long way off

They didn't necessarily say why did they shoot it. They said when and how.

RMS Lusitania was a legitimate military target.

Truly enjoyed narrating this documentary for The Smithsonian Channel. The complete program will air May 4 and 5 in the US

This short video is full of misinformation. Turner did not go to full speed. He was only travelling at 18 knots when he could have made 21 knots. The U-20's captain overestimated the Lusitania's speed. Turner ordered the turn to take a four point bearing to establish his exact position. That put him directly in the path of the U-20.

Bring back memories of silent hunter III when you spot a big fat target. TORPEDO LOSS!

How is it i stumbled up on this video from another video on May 6th..

Whether or not the Brits were carrying munitions, what kind of cold blooded individuals ruthlessly fire a torpedo knowing there are many hundreds of innocent lives, unsuspecting children, women, and men on board? I can not fathom such cold lack of human decency.

The Lusitana was'nt a civilian vessel from the beginning!She was partly built with fonds of the admiralty,and officially registered in the navy as "auxilliary cruiser"!

“The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war.” John Lyly

MH-17 of 1915, used to get things cooking .. USA : "But we have to do something!!"

It’s brighter here says the channel who shows plane crashes and also ships sinking

Germans: Sinking ships since since ww1

Click Bait.

They really should've had an escort. Even just a couple tugboats

My partner’s great grandfather was a 49 year old fire stoker, Jack Shepherd. He died on the Lusitania. He never stood a chance. The British were complicit in his death.

Passenger ship: *exists* Germany: *confused screaming*

R.I.P. RMS LUSUTIANA

Great explanation

What brought me here was the book "Dead Wake" by Erik Larson, which is about the sinking. Well worth the read.

Still waiting for their answer on why the did it

The Brits used " civilian ships" to transport weapons and ammunition across the seas. The Germans knew that fact. So,.... civilian ships were fair game.

“It’s brighter here”

My great great grandma came over to America on the Lusitania

Dis is exactly why I don't get on ships xD

my great great grandmom worked on the lusitania. she survived.

One lesson. Check your weather as the amount of sinking ships which sink because of the weather

The ending music is a bit fucked up

-Hans ich bin so tired.. *Otto leans on launch switch* -Ach! You armed ze torpedoes! Ve are pointing ein civil ship! -Kalm down, hans. Vat might happen?

PeeshooterGaming90823. You are one misinformed gamer. Maybe you should study more instead of playing games. The Lusatania was packed with material for artillery shells millions of bullets that are on the manifest. You need to understand that the Germans had alot of spies on the Ports. The British depth charged the Lusatania for two week in the Fifties do make the ship impossible to explore because technology was catching up to Churchill Hills and room 4l's terrible crime. In 1982 when the wreck was first explored and only in a few save places gun powder and Cooper and Alininum powder we're found. They make bombs and artillery shells out of that. The Germans had a right to sink her. They put advertisements in the papers telling Americans not to sail on British Ships. U20 had sunk numerous ships without any lose of life. Churchill fitted passenger and merchant ships with big Guns although the Lusatania had just the gun mounts at the time she was sunk. The Germans before this move let crews unload in life boats before the U Boats sunk to them. Now the U Boats couldn't take a chance they would get hit. U20 knew that one torpedo wouldn't cause the big ship to sink in 18 minutes. She sunk a ship like the day before with multiple Torpedos and it took over three hours to sink. U 20 knew the ship was eleven miles from the coast of Ireland and survivors would be easily picked up. About 30 seconds after the Torpedo hit a huge second explosion from inside the ship caused the rapid sinking. It was ammunition, coal dust or a steam explosion. The British made sure we will never know the truth. But the Lusatania was carrying war material. Churchill stated he wanted American Ship's to be sunk by the Germans to get America in the war. I ask you to research Churchill and his terrible deed.

How do I watch this in full?

Wow!! I did not know this!!

Lusitania would have been torpedoed even if it wasn't carrying munitions, as the Germans were in unrestricted submarine warfare and anything British would be sunk. The Germans told the British people this too

Room 40 was the Admiralty's secret intelligence-gathering and -processing department that provided vital intelligence to the British military commands and their allies during the First World War., ....a predecessor to Bletchly park.. To have informed lusitania of U 20s position would have indicated to the Germans that the Admiralty could read their codes.. I also do not think that the U boats were waging unrestricted warfare at that time, as they made efforts to spare neautral shipping where possible. Fog would have been the reason for a decrease in speed. Even today with radar, this is still the case And the Capt would have wanted to get an accurate fix for the simple reason he was aware of British Minefields in the area. Besides, as first lord of the Admiralty, would not have been in a position within the government to be concerned about getting the USA into the war....especially as he had other things to be concerned about, like the Dardanelles.

I urge everyone to look up "Tuckerton Tower" in NJ. The actual town would be Mystic Island in Little Egg Harbor Twp. The radio tower in the early 1900's was built by the Germans and reportedly used to sink the Lusitania with a signal "get Lucy". There are 3 very large concrete pillars spread throughout the small town here that were the bases for the tower which was at the time the 2nd tallest structure in the world after the Eiffel Tower.

Plz make videos about the Olympic Class (RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, and HMHS/RMS Britannic) on their tragic moments

im sure it has nothing to do with global banking interests and pulling america into their war.

The correct answer is because Lusitania was too large and fast to be successfully engaged with the submarine's deck gun. Next question please...

We learned about this in school. Great movie about it here on RU-vid somewhere

i saw in another video he slowed down when being told he should go full speed and zig zag another ship did that 90 minutes earlier but the same u boat could not get a hit on it

Why does it say “American tragedy” it should be “british tragedy”

did it for the bankers of course

So.. what's the explanation?

Lusitania is a Cunard luxurious passenger liner Who got torpedoed by a German uboat

They torpedoed the Lusitania because it had over 1 million bullets suppling the British for WW1 (from America to the UK) and it wouldn’t be considered a war crime since it had stuff for war on the ship

Idc if my sister was carrying weapons I would still ram any u boat I see OLYMPIC!

I hope there is a battlefield 1 mission in the campaign where you are on board the ship or the uboat that sank it.

MAN THERES A BIG HOLE WHEN IT HITS

This video is telling us, how the germans torpedoed the Lusitania, but not why they did it. Maybe World War I had something to do with it, and the total u-boat war.

To be helpful the reason why the Germans targeted the Lusitania was because the British told the Germans that the ship was not carrying weapons and bombs and the British lied and the Germans found out they lied

...The title misrepresents the video. I guess I'll go somewhere else to find out why they did it(!)

My birthday is one day before the sinking

It was sunk because any allied ships were to be considered 'targets' and the lusitania was a 'target' for the German navy in both world wars

Absolutely a legal shot in my opinion. The Lusitania carried like other civilian ships ammo and supplies for the Army. We even warned the Brits and the Americans that we Germans will sink their ships because we see them as an enemy vessel and not as a passenger ship. More like a freighter/merchant for war material. The Brits and Americans didn't want to listen to it and so paid the price for it. A price THEY (The UK And the United States) could have stopped.

TORPEDO CLOSING ON THE STARBOARD BOW! HARD TO STARBOARD!

Where's the why part