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-247 German submarine U-247 German submarine "U-247" was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 16 December 1942 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 681, launched on 23 September 1943 and commissioned on 23 October under the command of "Oberleutnant zur See" Gerhard Matschulat. In two patrols, she sank one ship of 207 GRT. She was sunk by Canadian warships in September 1944. German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-247" had a displacement of when at the surface and