Some historians have interpreted the events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania as evidence of a conspiracy in which the British deliberately put the Lusitania in danger to draw the United States into the War against Germany. Colin Simpson, a British journalist, gave the following reasons in support of this argument in his book 'The Lusitania' written in 1972:

• Despite increased warnings the Admiralty did not assign any escort ships to the Lusitania.
• Before Lusitania sailed into the Irish channel the 'Candidate' and the 'Centurion' had already been destroyed by U20. Lusitania was due to travel through the same area but the Admiralty did not warn her of these attacks.
• Captain Turner went against several Admiralty orders designed to help avoid U-boat attacks. He was travelling slowly through a submarine war zone. Sailing in waters too close to the mainland where U-boats were known to lay in wait. He was not using a zigzagging manoeuvre, which made ships a difficult target for submarines.

Thinking point: How valid do you think this interpretation is?

Source A: This notice was issued by the Imperial German Embassy Washington D.C., 22 April. It appeared in American newspapers on the day the Lusitania set sail from New York.

'Travellers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British allies; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that any travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.'

Source B: The Times, 8th May 1915.

'Outside the newspaper offices dense crowds assembled watching in breathless silence the successive bulletins telling of this latest horror. Sandwiched in between them were Germans, who were saying, 'We warned them; our Embassy advertised the warning; we were within our rights.'

The German interpretation of events suggests that they were well within their rights to sink Lusitania. Not only had these warnings been issued, but also many Germans claimed that Lusitania was armed and carrying munitions to Britain that would be used against German troops. Therefore it was not a neutral ship.