The Last Voyage of the Lusitania

(240 pp.) The torpedoing heard round the world. She was the biggest, the fastest, the most luxurious ocean liner afloat. Her captain was confident that she could "outrun any U-boat." In spite of German warnings the Lusitania sailed on schedule from New York on May 1, 1915, carrying nearly 2000 passengers and crew and 4200 cases of ammunition. Although war was raging in Europe, no naval vessels protected her as she sailed into foggy St. George's Channel six days later. A German U-boat captain, looking through his periscope, sighted the biggest ship he as ever seen. HE fired on torpedo- and the Lusitania was down in 18 minutes. But the outcry lasted for 3 years, and brought America out of its isolation and into the "war to end all wars..."