The Lion's Pride Lion's Pride Volume 12 (Spring 2019) | Page 32

much practical experience in modern warfare. They were best at stalking
and infiltrating enemy waters and sinking their opponents rather than
capturing them. The waters around the British Isles were declared a war
zone by the Germans; any ships, neutral or not, were liable to be
torpedoed and sunk by U-Boats. As Peck (2018) points out, it was
becoming harder for the United States “to remain impartial, given that
the country’s trading partners were at war with each other” (p. 28).
The United States government voiced its concerns over the safety of
neutral ships and vaguely intimated that the German government would
face some consequences if American citizens were made victims of
German torpedoes. This included Americans who happened to be
traveling on British ships. Frequently for ships carrying civilians
traveling through declared war zones, a notice of caution was given
regarding the danger and advising potential passengers to travel at their
own risk.
RMS Lusitania, one of the largest ocean liners of the era, was
launched in 1906, according to Wood, Smith, and Hayns (2002, p. 2). It
was, at first glance, the safest passenger ship from the United States to
England. However, before the war, the British government, upon
funding the Lusitania, expected it to be able to convert to an Armed
Merchant Cruiser (AMC) if necessary, and a secret hold was built to
store munitions. It was this information, as well as the Lusitania
neglecting to fly the British flag according to the proper wartime rules,