17. Several accusations of contraband cargo were levied against Cunard and the Admiralty
The German claims that Cunard carried munitions at the behest of the Admiralty gave rise to many theories, which were further advanced by the latter’s attempts to alter the official records of the liner’s sinking. Over the years several theories were advanced over what was being carried and how. It was postulated that explosives were hidden in barrels labeled as beef or cheese. The British government denied any such accusations, always blaming the sinking on German savagery. The truth was the ship was indeed carrying munitions, beyond what was listed on Lusitania’s released manifest, and the government lied to cover it up for a century.
The reasons for the initial lie were obvious, public sympathy in the United States was with the British following the sinking, and they hoped it could be parlayed into an American declaration of war against Germany. Subsequent British governments maintained the deception in order to save face and to avoid the possibility of lawsuits by survivors and the descendants of those killed in the sinking. For many years, during World War I and in the interwar period, the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force bombed the wreck, and bombarded it with depth charges, leaving the after portion of the hull riddled with holes, and creating damage which concealed the true nature of that caused by the torpedoing in 1915.