RMS Lusitania Sinking of the RMS Lusitania. RMS Lusitania RMS "Lusitania" was a British ocean liner and briefly the world's largest passenger ship. The ship was sunk on 7 May 1915 by a German U-boat off the southern coast of Ireland. The sinking presaged the United States declaration of war on Germany in 1917. The ship was a holder of the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing and was briefly the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister ship . The Cunard Line launched "Lusitania" in 1906, at a time of fierce competition for the North Atlantic
German submarine U-306 German submarine U-306 German submarine "U-306" was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 16 September 1941 at the "Flender Werke" yard at Lübeck as yard number 306, launched on 29 August 1942 and commissioned on 21 October under the command of "Oberleutnant" Claus von Trotha. During her career, the U-boat sailed on five combat patrols, sinking one ship and damaging two others, before she was sunk in October 1943 in mid-Atlantic, northwest of the Azores by British warships. She was a member of three wolfpacks. German Type VIIC