A single torpedo sank the Lusitania in 18 minutes, killing 1,198 people

On 7 May 1915, the German U-boat U-20 torpedoed the passenger liner RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast. It sank in about 18 minutes, killing roughly 1,198 of the nearly 1,960 people aboard, including 128 Americans. The deaths outraged the US public and became a lasting grievance against Germany, though America didn't enter WWI until 1917.

— Erik Larson, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania — 2015
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