Germany attempted to justify the sinking of the Lusitania
Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, the former German Colonial Secretary, delivered a speech in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 8, attempting to justify the sinking of the Lusitania. Dernburg was recognized as the Imperial German government's official spokesman in the United States at the time. Dernburg claimed that because the Lusitania "carried contraband of war" and was "classified as an auxiliary cruiser", Germany had the right to destroy her regardless of the passengers on board. Dernburg went on to say that the German Embassy's warnings prior to the ship's departure, as well as the 18 February note stating the presence of "war zones", absolved Germany of any responsibility for the deaths of the American citizens on board. He mentioned the ammunition and military goods declared on the manifest of the Lusitania and stated that "vessels of that kind" might be seized and destroyed under Hague rules without regard for a war zone.
The German government issued an official communication about the sinking the next day, stating that the Cunard liner Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank yesterday, that Lusitania was naturally armed with guns, as were recently most of the English mercantile steamers, and that, as is well known here, she carried large quantities of war material. The Collector of the Port of New York, Dudley Field Malone, issued an official denial to the German claims, stating that the Lusitania had been inspected before departure and no guns, mounted or unmounted, were discovered. Malone asserted that no commerce ship would have been permitted to arm and depart the port.
Following the sinking, the German government attempted to explain it by saying in an official statement that the ship was armed with guns and carried huge quantities of military material. They also claimed that because she was classified as an auxiliary cruiser, Germany had the right to destroy her regardless of the number of passengers on board and that the warnings issued by the German Embassy prior to her departure, as well as the 18 February note declaring the existence of "war zones," absolved Germany of any responsibility for the deaths of American citizens aboard. While the Lusitania was constructed with gun mounts as part of government loan conditions during her construction to allow for quick conversion into an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) in the event of a conflict, the guns themselves were never installed. Her cargo was estimated to be 4,200,000 rifle cartridges, 1,250 empty shell cases, and 18 cases of non-explosive fuses, all of which were recorded in her manifest, although the cartridges were not formally classified as ammunition by the Cunard Line.
