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Who was to blame for sinking of the Lusitania?

On the centenary of the wartime sinking of the luxury passenger liner Lusitania, Brunel’s Matthew Seligmann says answers still need to be found.

Dr Seligmann, the author of recent book The Naval Route to the Abyss, is the historical consultant for a new article about the tragedy in the BBC’s iWonder series.

The sinking of one of the world’s largest and most luxurious passenger liners by a German torpedo in 1915 has been heavily debated among historians.

Dr Seligmann asks such questions as: Who was to blame for the deaths of 1,201 people? Was the sinking justified? Was the captain negligent? Did the British deliberately stand back?

He said, ‘There is still controversy as to why the Lusitania travelled into what the Germans had designated a war zone, dense with U-boats, without any protection from the Royal Navy.

“Mystery also lingers as to why this mighty ship sank in just 18 minutes - was the Lusitania carrying arms and ammunition that caused a fatal explosion?”