2-973-074 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Lusitania, c1907. The RMS 'Lusitania' was a British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906, She held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing in 1908. On 7 May 1915, the 'Lusitania' was torpedoed by a German submarine off the south of Ireland, with the loss of 1,198 lives. Although unarmed, she was carrying munitions. The sinking presaged the United States declaration of war on Germany two years later.