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Lusitania was built by John Brown & Co. of Clydebank and was launched in 1906. The first British four-stacker, Lusitania was also the world's first quadruple screw steamer and the first ship to exceed 30,000 tons. Dubbed the "Greyhound of the Seas" she soon captured the Blue Ribbon for the fastest Atlantic crossing.  On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania was sunk off the Irish coast by a German submarine.The Lusitania took just eighteen minutes to sink. The speed and the angle of sinking made it extremely difficult to launch the life boats and the first one that did get into the water spilled its occupants into the sea. In the sinking, 1,198 persons lost their lives, 128 of whom were U.S. citizens. The incident worsened relations between Germany and the United States and encouraged American involvement in the war.