File:RMS_Lusitania_coming_into_port,_possibly_in_New_York,_1907-13-crop.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
RMS Lusitania
Sign in to saveAlso known as Lusitania
British ocean liner sunk by a German submarine in World War I
The RMS Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was sunk by a German submarine during World War I. Its sinking is historically significant because nearly 1,200 people died in the attack, which helped shift public opinion, particularly in the United States, against Germany during the war.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Name
- RMS Lusitania
- Namesake
- Lusitania
- Owner
- Cunard Line
- Port of registry
- Liverpool , United Kingdom
- Route
- Liverpool – Queenstown – New York
- Builder
- John Brown & Co , Clydebank
- Laid down
- 17 August 1904
- Launched
- 7 June 1906
- Christened
- Mary, Lady Inverclyde
- Acquired
- 26 August 1907
- Maiden voyage
- 7 September 1907
- In service
- 1907 – 1915
- Out of service
- 7 May 1915
- Identification
- UK official number 124082 code letters HLJW by 1913: wireless call sign MFA
- Fate
- Torpedoed and sunk on 7 May 1915
- Type
- Ocean liner
- Tonnage
- 31,550 GRT , 12,611 NRT
- Displacement
- 44,060 long tons (44,767.0 t)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- four funnel liner
- Named after
- Lusitania
- Owned by
- Cunard Line
- Operator
- Cunard Line
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Mass
- 44060
- Manufacturer
- John Brown & Company
- Image
- RMS Lusitania coming into port, possibly in New York, 1907-13-crop.jpg
- Width
- 26.52
- Length
- 239.8
- Speed
- 26.7
- Significant event
- shipwrecking
Show 17 more facts
- maximum capacity
- 3125
- port of registry
- Liverpool
- cruise speed
- 25
- start time
- 1904-08-17
- gross tonnage
- 31550
- Commons category
- Lusitania (ship, 1907, Clydebank)
- topic's main category
- Category:RMS Lusitania
- yard number
- 367
- location of creation
- Clydebank
- beam
- 26.7
- draft
- 18.4
- nominal power output
- 76000
- native label
- Lusitania
- shipping port
- Liverpool
- country of registry
- United Kingdom
- different from
- Lusitania
- P12749
- 14097 Capdepera
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 as a Royal Mail Ship. She was the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her running mate Mauretania three months later. In 1907, she gained the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlantic crossing, which had been held by German ships for a decade.
Though reserved for conversion as an armed merchant cruiser, Lusitania was not commissioned as such during WWI but continued a transatlantic passenger service, sometimes carrying war materials, including a quantity of .303 ammunition, in her cargo. The German submarine U-20 hit her with a torpedo on 7 May 1915 at 14:10, 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, leading to her sinking about 18 minutes later. Only six of several dozen lifeboats and rafts were successfully lowered; there were 763 survivors out of the 1,960 people on board, while 1,197 perished.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “RMS Lusitania” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.