Sinking Of The Lusitania

SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA

Hi all

Ive not been sleeping well since a shoulder injury.
so im up at silly hours readind and youtubing.
A suggestion came up and it was a docu/drama (if thats what you call it)
Wen I was at school doing history lessons in the early 90s, it wasnt quite proven 100 percent
that the lusitania was carrying ammunition on a civilian sea liner.
We do know now with proof that it was.

Now what is strange that U- boats were in the area where the lusitania was sunk.
Germany had declared that all ships are now a target, unrestricted warfare.
The british did not send the message to the captain till to late.
1 torpedo hit the lusitania and moments later another explosion that even shoock the U-boat.

A lot of lives were lost.
Among them 159 americans were on board and 124 died.
At the time wen woodrow wilson was campaighning he said
"America would never get involved in a european war".

My qs are
Did the captain know that he was carrying winchester manufactured .303 ammo?
yes
The admiralty?
Yes

Its hard to type this....
But theres always the question

Without america would we have won?
I dont think we would have.

Without the lives of the lusitania I think 100s of thousands more would have died needlessly.
Seems like a sacrifice.

Pearl habour is an example.
All the new ships were moved out and the ones there were mainly ww1 ships.
warning by japan was delivered to late..

Bit more reading now see you all later.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

By 1900, Germany had the largest economy in Europe, but just before the outbreak of WWI, the US had a larger economy than Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, and seventeen smaller countries, put together. Quite simply, if we had stayed out, Germany probably would have won. If we entered (which we did) we would have and did, win.

Ditto for WWII. Just before WWI, our position was not quite so dramatic as before WWI, but our economy was bigger than
Germany and the Soviet Union combined. That's why Churchill calculated that he had to bring the US in to the war on Great Britain's side. Which he did. We outproduced everyone, which is why the allies won.

a reply to: Boomer1947

You just remided me of this

The bloody ingenuity

youtu.be...

a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

I recall going to a museum in north Wales where they had on display some bits and pieces brought up from the wreck of the Lusitania. There was a piece of the filigree from the name plate or something that i was looking at and my Dad pointed out this metal thing the size of dinner plate. I didn't know what it was. He said, "it's a percussion cap...... the Lusitania wasn't supposed to be carrying armaments." I didn't understand the full implications at such a young age.

a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

There is correspondence out there between ambassadors in the US and Britain (I believe the US one had the surname Grey, I would have to go to my library to look it up) that basically stated that there needed to be an event that would pull America into the war. I also remember that the Germans posted an ad in the New York Times begging people to not get on that ship because they were going to have to sink it when it got to the other side of the Atlantic.

Arguably our first real demonstration of a "false flag" incident that included the whole world.

a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

Without america would we have won?
I dont think we would have.

Interesting point.

The actual troop contribution of the USA amounted (mostly) to one field army. Perhaps of note, U.S. infantry divisions of the period were about twice the strength of their French equivalents.

What may have counted for more was the uptick in Allied morale created by the arrival of U.S. forces. That was helped by successful actions like Belleau Wood.

Conversely, German morale may have been negatively impacted by having yet another enemy to battle on the Western Front.

It was all close run. Many today forget that Germany beat Russia in that war.

Cheers

US supplies such as weapons, ammunition and coal were also critical for the war in Europe.

Germany was aware of this and ran sabotage operations in the US even when they where still considered neutral.

The Black Tom explosion on july 30, 1916 in New York was a direct result of sabotage by german agents.

a reply to: Greazel

Thank you Ive never heard of Black Tom explosion.

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: alwaysbeenhere2

You are welcome , I enjoy reading about historic events and characters.