... the British Isles (102). With so many ships being sunk, German U-boat commanders were bound to mistakenly hit the wrong target, like a civilian liner. The Lusitania was that mistake. On May 7, 1915, Ballard explains, U-20 was returning from an excursion off the southern coast of Ireland when the ... of the torpedo and the oxygen in the air. A spark, probably from the boilers, ignited this volatile mix (195). Eighteen minutes later the luxury liner was gone leaving 1,195 people dead, among them 123 Americans (10, 13). This tragedy was labeled as the "Incident that brought America into the...

• Word Count: 1988
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Minister Neville Chamberlains announcement that the war had begun (Pitt, 8). The first victory that came to the German U-boats was over the British liner Athenia (Pitt, 8). The German submarine force was also known as the Sea Wolves, and they struck time and time again on the merchant ... The German submarine campaign was so deadly that it almost succeeds in severing Britain's lifeline for good, unfortunately the allied forces began to use the convoy system (Pitt, 18). Prime Minister Winston Churchill later said, " The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-b...

• Word Count: 1770
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... on who was to blame for the war. There were three main causes for the outbreak of war: "(1) the clashing of national interests and ideals in Europe; (2) the maintenance of a system of secret military alliances; and (3) the economic rivalry of the nations of Europe." On June 28, 1914, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated ... for the islands of Great Britain or Ireland, neutral or not. The German submarines in a two-year span sunk over 225 ships. On May 7, 1915, a submarine sunk the Lusitania, a British liner. Approximately 1,250 passenge...

• Word Count: 2216
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School