The Lusitania

During World War I, the Germans were using underwater boats, or submarines, to attack the enemy at sea. These submarines were called U-boats, which stood for “undersea boats.” They could sink large ships by firing torpedoes underwater. The Germans gave no warning and could kill everyone on board. The German navy was making great strides at sea.

The Germans decided to start attacking passenger ships, as well as cargo ships. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat shot and sank a British passenger ship named the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland.

The attack killed over 1,200 people. Both adults and children were killed in this attack. Of those who were killed, 128 were Americans. This made the American public very angry.

President Wilson insisted that Germans had to give warning before shooting torpedoes at ships. This worked for a while, until the Germans decided they didn’t want to do this anymore. After the Germans attacked three American ships, the United States became involved in World War I. In April 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany.