[elanaiba]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania

Germany declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone. Effective as of February 18, Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning. This was not wholly unrestricted submarine warfare, since efforts would be taken to avoid sinking neutral ships.[6]

Lusitania was scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on March 6, 1915. The Admiralty issued her specific instructions on how to avoid submarines. Despite a severe shortage of destroyers, Admiral Henry Oliver ordered HMS ships Louis and Laverlock to escort Lusitania, and took the further precaution of sending the Q ship Lyons to patrol Liverpool Bay. Captain Dow of Lusitania, not knowing whether Laverock and Louis[7] were actual Admiralty escorts or a trap by the German navy, evaded the escorts and arrived in Liverpool without incident.


On April 17, 1915, Lusitania left Liverpool on her 201st transatlantic voyage, arriving in New York on April 24. A group of German–Americans, hoping to avoid controversy if Lusitania were attacked by a U-boat, discussed their concerns with a representative of the German embassy. The embassy decided to warn passengers not to sail aboard Lusitania before her next crossing.


The Imperial German embassy placed this warning ad in 50 East Coast newspapers, including those in New York. This ad was prepaid and requested to be put on the paper's travel page a full week before the sailing date. However, even though the ads were sent to newspapers in time for the requested deadline, the State Department of the United States intervened by raising the specter of possible libel suits. The ads, intended by the German government to save American lives, were to appear in only one newspaper, the Des Moines Register. It has been argued (without any historical evidence) the actions taken by the U.S. government were taken to ensure the U.S. would become embroiled in WWI as the killing of innocent women and children by Germany would stir popular opinion against the Central Powers.[8]

Lusitania departed Pier 54 in New York on 1 May 1915. The German Embassy in Washington had issued this warning on 22 April.[9]
NOTICE! TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY,
Washington, D.C. April 22, 1915