110 years ago today, on May 12th, 1915 (March 29th, 1915 in the lunar calendar), the passenger ship Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by German troops. The passenger ship "Lusitania" a few minutes after being torpedoed by German troops On May 12, 1915, the British passenger ship "Lusitania" was sunk, killing at least 124 Americans. President Wilson strongly protested to the German government for this. Wilson's note will be forwarded to the German Foreign Ministry by Ambassador Gerard tomorrow. The note accused Germany of its actions of violating international law. "In accordance with humanitarian and international law", the note states that the United States requests that neutral personnel have the right to travel on neutral ships or belligerent ships, and guarantee that there will be no further attacks on merchant ships carrying non-combatants. The Kennard Steamship Company's passenger ship Lusitania was struck by two torpedoes fired by a German submarine on May 8th. At that time, it returned from new york and approached the port of Liverpool in England, carrying 1,251 passengers and 650 crew members. One torpedo struck the front of the ship and the other struck the engine compartment at the stern. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The ship was located 10 miles off the town of Kinsale on the island of Ireland. The ship began to tilt almost immediately, and its speed made many lifeboats too late to launch. All but two lifeboats on the left side of the ship were crowded with people. Many survivors put on life belts and jumped into the sea, while others squeezed into lifeboats under the command of the crew. Despite these efforts, the casualties are still statistically high. More than 1,000 of the passengers have not been found, including 124 Americans. There were more first-class passengers among the casualties, because most of them were eating lunch when the torpedo hit. At that time, many people went to the passenger cabin below the deck. When they returned to the deck, they found that the ship was sinking. The sinking of the Lusitania passenger ship and the loss of many Americans caused more indignation than any submarine war incident. Germany reacted to the incident by pointing to newspaper advertisements warning neutral personnel not to take ships of the participating countries. This advertisement was posted shortly before the departure of the Lusitania. The German government also argued that the Lusitania was carrying soldiers destined for Britain, but Britain denied this. President Wilson's note to Germany may calm the anger of some political opponents at home, because Wilson's recent speech in Philadelphia angered them. In that speech, the president said that "self-respecting people disdain to use force, and a righteous state does not have to use force to convince people of its doctrine". Wilson's speech was criticized by many dissidents. One of them was former President Theor Roosevelt, who accused the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania of "piracy".