Today in Welsh history… 7th of May 1915, RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Welsh survivors included Welsh industrialist and politician David Alfred Thomas, the tenor Gwynn Parry Jones, and the Gwent Glee Singers, a Newport male voice choir who had performed in Washington for the American President. Surviving members sang in their lifeboat to keep up the spirits of fellow passengers. Of the 1,962 passengers and crew aboard Lusitania, 1,198 lost their lives. The sinking caused an international outcry, especially in Britain and the United States, with 128 U.S. citizens losing their lives.
Historians have suggested that the Lusitania was deliberately placed in danger by Britain, to prompt a U-boat attack and bring the US into the war. A week before the sinking, Winston Churchill wrote to the President of the Board of Trade, Walter Runciman - "it is most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores, in the hope especially of embroiling the United States with Germany."
Historians have suggested that the Lusitania was deliberately placed in danger by Britain, to prompt a U-boat attack and bring the US into the war. A week before the sinking, Winston Churchill wrote to the President of the Board of Trade, Walter Runciman - "it is most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores, in the hope especially of embroiling the United States with Germany."