However, RMS Lusitania was an ocean liner with 1,300 passengers, whereas Armenian was a cargo ship carrying mules for the Entente Powers' war effort.

The US Government continued to disagree with the way that the Imperial German Navy engaged Entente or neutral merchant ships, but also accepted that the U-boat was entitled to attack as Armenian had tried to flee instead of stopping to be searched.

[5] When new, Victorian, Armenian, and Cestrian were noted for being of "exceptionally large tonnage" among newly-built ships, second only to White Star Line's Georgic.

[6] Armenian had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 718 NHP[5] and gave her a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h).

On 16 February Armenian sighted Hurona 150 nautical miles (280 km) southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[12] At Tilbury in Essex on 23 October she embarked elements of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA), including three batteries, one ammunition train, and the Brigade Divisional Staff.

[12] On 28 December 1900 Leyland announced that it would start a new weekly service between Liverpool and New York, using six ships including Armenian.

[22] On 29 May 1901 she left Cape Town carrying 963 Boer PoWs, guarded by four officers and 184 men of the 2nd Battalion, the Warwickshire Regiment.

On 25 January she left Bombay carrying elements of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and 150 men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

However, on 28 November James Wilson, United States Secretary of Agriculture, suspended all livestock shipments through Boston for two months to suppress an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

[8] The pair were transferred to White Star's route between Liverpool and New York,[34] where its terminal was Pier 48 on the North River.

[35] Sailings left New York for Liverpool on alternate Tuesdays,[36] and included a call at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland.

[42] In a storm in the North Atlantic on 2 January 1913 the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) steamship Abessinia lost her rudder; broke either her propeller shaft or crankshaft (sources differ); and was drifting.

[43][44] On 11 January the White Star Liner RMS Cedric sighted Abessinia at position 42°40′N 53°21′W / 42.667°N 53.350°W / 42.667; -53.350, about 100 nautical miles (190 km) southwest of Cape Race, flying distress signal flags.

[45][46] Armenian steamed 29 or 50 nautical miles (54 or 93 km) (accounts differ) to Abessinia's position, but took five hours to arrive due to rough weather.

[45][46] However, Abessinia's crew rigged an emergency rudder and repaired whichever shaft had broken, which enabled her to proceed slowly under her own power.

[49] On 17 June 1915 Armenian left Newport News carrying 1,422 mules for the French Army, and 1,771 bales of hay and other fodder.

Her officers and some of her crew were British; her ships's doctor was Puerto Rican; and 87 of the hostlers were US citizens – most of them African Americans.

The U-boat fired two warning shots with her deck gun across Armenian's bow, indicating that the ship should stop.

Armenian's Master, Captain James Trickey, ordered his ship to turn her stern to the submarine, and telegraphed the engine room for full speed ahead.

[58] J. P. Morgan's International Mercantile Marine Company held a controlling 52 percent of Leyland Line stock.

[59] However, President Woodrow Wilson reacted cautiously, as Armenian was carrying cargo for the Entente war armed forces,[60] and had tried to escape instead of heaving to when U-24 ordered her to do so.

Anglo-Californian was shelled on 4 July 1915, and 21 people including her Master were killed, but she succeeded in fleeing to Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland.

To this end, the US accepted that if a merchant captain refused to stop, he did so at the risk of his ship and all persons aboard her.

[52] On 8 July Labor's National Peace Council protested to Lansing that the US was violating its neutrality by supplying the Entente with items including munitions, vehicles, submarine parts, horses, and mules.

They contended that Armenian had violated US neutrality, and Newport News' Collector of Customs should not have cleared her to leave.

It called on the US government to stop seven merchant ships that were then preparing to sail from the US to France or the UK, including three whose cargo was horses or mules.

On 1 July the British steamship Turcoman was in the Western Approaches with a cargo of mules, and Indore was leaving Newport News for Avonmouth with another load.

[citation needed] In 2008 marine archaeologist Innes McCartney found Armenian, using German naval archives from Freiburg im Breisgau to determine the search area.

The wreck is on an even keel on the seabed, at a depth of 312 feet (95 m), 45 nautical miles (83 km) from the position where the British had reported it sunk.