I had heard that the sinking of the Lusitania was a 'false flag' operations of sorts, they either knew it would be sunk or sent it deliberately to evoke a provocation for America's entry into the war.

No matter the theory, at least we know now that she did in fact carry ammunition. Which had been denied by historians for quite some time.

Originally posted by Grailkeeper

This makes me wonder how good the German intelligence was back then, they seemed to know the true cargo unless it was just a good guess.
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And, the German government gave good and fair warning with regard to the Lusitania. That's not to say this wasn't an awful tragedy with the loss of many innocent non-combatants, but the ship was sailed through a declared war zone. I put most of the blame with Cunard and the British government, moreso if the ship's passengers were being used as unwitting 'gun mules'.

[edit on 6-10-2008 by Merriman Weir]

It would be interesting to take a look at which chains of newspapers and news services sourced the story. Could be an early indicator of which services were being used as controlled news organizations to frame the story as the government desired.

Information deleted by poster. Information was found to be incorrect by me!

[edit on 12/7/2008 by ZindoDoone]

[edit on 12/7/2008 by ZindoDoone]

The fact it was carrying ammo is irrelevant.

Because the Admiralty had ordered all British Merchant vessels to immediately report U-boat sightings and attempt to ram them if they did see any, they were no long considered Merchant ships and were considered naval auxiliaries instead. This made them a legitimate target, however unpallatable.

Lusitania was also fitted with gun mounts and was going to be turned into an Auxilliary cruiser anyway. She had been bought and paid for by the Uk Government by loans to Cunard under the understanding that in times of war, she could be fitted to be a blockade runner.

However, the sinking and subsequent events was a propoganda coup for the British and allowed us to begin formenting anti-German feeling in the USA, eventually bringing them into the War in 1917.

I actually find it quite interesting that in both world wars, the UK had to do an awful lot of media work, bribing and other underhand games to bring the USA on side. You would be surprised what we got up too

Originally posted by stumasonLusitania was also fitted with gun mounts and was going to be turned into an Auxilliary cruiser anyway. She had been bought and paid for by the Uk Government by loans to Cunard under the understanding that in times of war, she could be fitted to be a blockade runner.

If I'm not mistaken, all ships under British, and I think, Canadian registry actually 'belong' to the Crown for precisely this reason. While Cunard miight expect to be reimbursed for use or loss of the ship...they could not decline it's use.