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 trade. She sank on her
German submarine U-652 The 3,410 ton merchant ship "Baron Pentland" remained afloat due her cargo of timber despite a broken back, but was later torpedoed and sunk by on 19 September. On 4 September 1941, off Iceland, the American destroyer received a signal from a British bomber that a German submarine was in the vicinity. "Greer" made sonar contact, and pursued the "U-652" at close range. The aircraft dropped four depth charges, and soon after the U-boat fired a torpedo at the US warship, perhaps believing she had launched the attack. "Oblt.z.S." Fraatz also misidentified the destroyer as ""one of the 50 American