Carter Roy

Its 24 pages listed cargo including...

Explosives, artillery shells, fuses, and 170 tons of Remington rifle ammo.

Some of those rifle cartridges were recovered by a diver in 2008, so we know it's accurate.

Beneath civilian beds, the Lusitania was hiding ammunition for war.

And President Wilson kept it all top secret.

Because he'd been asked explicitly.

You see, the Lusitania wasn't the first ship to leave America with secret ammunition on board.

The practice of hiding weapons on passenger ships carrying families was commonly called bullets and babies, and it was unpopular.

Politicians called for the practice to end.

Worse, German spies in New York Harbor found out.

Germany sent President Wilson a warning.

If you guys keep doing this, we'll have to shoot those ships.

With a Lusitania, Wilson essentially called the Germans bluff, maybe because he wanted America to declare war on Germany.

Or maybe he thought everything would be fine.

because the Lusitania would have all the protection everyone expected it to have.

A UK Naval escort, timely danger warnings, the safest known route, everything that didn't happen.

After all, Wilson's historical reputation is as an isolationist.

Either way, U.S.

government officials neglected to warn the Lusitania's passengers that they might be sailing straight to their deaths.

Now, you're probably wondering, why would the British Navy sacrifice a ship filled with ammunition they needed?