As we have seen, it was on the 4th February, 1915, following the introduction of the British naval blockade of Germany, that the German government declared the waters around the British Isles a “war zone”. As from the 18th February, U-boats began sinking all Allied ships in this area. Given the unpredictable nature of submarine warfare at that time, this clearly meant that any neutral ships sailing in these waters did so at their own risk. It was a policy that, in practice, amounted to unrestricted submarine warfare, and the United States was among many neutral states that objected strongly to this loss of freedom on the high seas. As one would expect, this campaign soon involved the sinking of a growing number of neutral vessels. Asxwe have seen, the first American merchant ship to be involved was the tanker SS Gulflight, torpedoed off the Scilly Isles on the 1st May. Two members of the crew were drowned but, six days later, this number became but a drop in the ocean compared with the sinking of the British passenger liner, the RMS Lusitania, sunk by a U-boat off the south coast of Ireland.
The Lusitania, launched in June 1906, was one of the largest and most luxurious passenger liners of the day. It was making a return journey from New York to Liverpool when, off the Old Head of Kinsale, it was struck amidships by a torpedo. It sank within twenty minutes, and of the 1,959 passengers and crew aboard, 1,198 lost their lives, including 128 U.S. citizens. It was a tragedy that shook and shocked the international community. There were loud calls for the United States to enter the war, and a wave of anger and indignation in America itself. The former President, Theodore Roosevelt, called for immediate military action. The government, however, led by President Woodrow Wilson, clung to its policy of neutrality at this point. A number of strong diplomatic protests were sent to Germany, threatening to break off diplomatic relations, but the United States kept out of the war. Despite strong criticism of this decision abroad, this policy was somewhat vindicated later (in November 1916), when Wilson was narrowly re-elected on a campaign based on the slogan “He kept us out of the war”. He had correctly gauged – if only just – the feelings of the American people.
The German response to the sinking was assertive. It pointed out that the Lusitania was a British (Allied) ship; it was carrying 173 tons of war material in the form of rifle ammunition and shell cases (confirmed later); and that repeated warnings had been given about the dangers of sailing in a dedicated “war zone”, one such warning made, indeed, in New York a day before the liner’s departure. This said, the German government was clearly troubled by this event. It obviously feared the entry of the United States into the war, especially at this early stage. It was hoping that, given time, the U-boat campaign would be successful in bringing Britain to the negotiating table before America had entered the war or – having joined the Allies – before it had time to send substantial forces to the Western Front. For fearxof provoking the United States therefore, on the 18th September, after sinking without warning the British liners SS Arabic and SS Hesperian, the German government (overriding the naval high command), suspended its submarine campaign in the English Channel and waters west of the British Isles. And by what came to be known as the “Arabic Pledge” it undertook not to sink passenger ships without warning and to give civilians thirty minutes to leave any ship under threat.
But, in fact, the German offensive continued into 1916. In two months in particular (March and April), 143 ships were sunk in waters around the British Isles. This did not go unnoticed nor ignored by the United States, and this led to further trouble. Oncexagain matters came to a head, this time centred around the sinking of the French cross-Channel passenger steamer the Sussex (mistaken for a minelayer), on the 24th March. This led to 80 casualties – including the wounding of two Americans – and a threat by the United States to sever diplomatic relations with Germany. This was avoided by another pledge, the so-called “Sussex Pledge”, signed on the 4th May, whereby Germany promised to stop the indiscriminate sinking of non-military ships. In fact, this policy of appeasement served the Germans well. Over the next six months U-boats continued their indiscriminate attacks, successfully avoiding a showdown with the United States until – confident that they could starve Britain into submission if given the chance – they openly resumed a policy of unconditional submarine warfare early in the New Year (February 1917). As we shall see later, this time it was a step too far.
Incidentally, toxmark the sinking of the Lusitania, a German medallist by the name of Karl Goetz (1875-1950), working in Munich, produced the “Lusitania Medal”, ridiculing the American government for its alleged impartiality, and taking the Cunard Steamship Company to task for putting the making of money before the safety of its passengers. As you can see, one side shows the sinking of the ship and a large amount of armaments spilling over its bow. The heading reads “No Contraband Goods”. Its impact, however, was somewhat compromised by the fact that Goetz got the date wrong, giving it as the 5th instead of the 7th May! This enabled British intelligence to argue that the sinking was preplanned, and the fate of the Lusitania was sealed before her departure from New York!
As we shall see, the next significant event at sea centred around two encounters in the Baltic – the Battles of Gotland and the Gulf of Riga – during Germany’s Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. Waged during the invasion of Lithuania (following Russia’s “Great Retreat” in the summer of 1915), the Russian fleet proved a match for the Germans, and was successful in preventing an attack upon Riga. In fact, the Russians held on to this vital port until September 1917.
