The sinking of RMS Lusitania was and remains one of the most controversial acts of the first World War.
The ocean liner was on its way from New York to Liverpool when it was sunk less than 20km off the Old Head of Kinsale on May 7th, 1915.
The Germans introduced unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1915 in retaliation for the British naval blockade of the English Channel and North Sea, which was strangling German commerce.
Some 1,198 people died when a single torpedo sank the ship in just 18 minutes. The sinking caused international revulsion, but the Germans argued that the Lusitania's manifest showed it was carrying munitions destined for Britain and was a legitimate target.
To this day questions remain as to whether or not the Lusitania was carrying a secret cargo of 50 tonnes of high explosives that might have caused the secondary explosion after the torpedo struck.
Cobh was the centre of the rescue efforts and hundreds of small boats set forth to try and rescue survivors and recover bodies from the sea.
On Thursday, Cobh will remember the sinking of the Lusitania with a large programme of events, culminating in a visit by President Michael D Higgins.
There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at 11.45am on Thursday and then the President, the British, German and US ambassadors will lay wreaths at the Lusitania Peace Memorial in Cobh.
At 9.15pm a flotilla of small boats, each illuminated with white lights, will sail from Roche’s Point towards Cobh to re-enact the rescue efforts.
Next Sunday at 3pm the centenary of the victims’ funerals will be marked with a recreation of the funeral procession which attracted thousands of people on to the streets of Cobh 100 years ago.
