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-272 German submarine U-272 German submarine "U-272" was a type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" in World War II. She was laid down on 28 November 1941, launched on 15 August 1942 and commissioned on 7 October that year under the command of "Kapitänleutnant" Heinz Hepp. She served in the 8th U-boat flotilla, a training unit and never reached operational status. She was sunk after colliding with on 12 November 1942. 29 of her crew died and there were 19 survivors. German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-272" had a displacement of when at