A British transatlantic liner (named after the ancient Roman province in the Iberian peninsula), torpedoed (7 May 1915) off the Irish coast without warning by a German submarine, with the loss of 1195 lives. The sinking, which took 128 US lives, created intense indignation throughout the USA, which until then had accepted Woodrow Wilson’s policy of neutrality. Germany refused to accept responsibility for the act, asserting (correctly) that the ship was carrying illegal munitions. Two years later (1917), following Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, the USA severed diplomatic relations and entered the war on the side of the Allies.