 In 1915 a German submarine torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania ; 128 Americans were among the 1 @,@ 198 dead . The event outraged McCay , but the newspapers of his employer William Randolph Hearst downplayed the event , as Hearst was opposed to the US joining World War I. McCay was required to illustrate anti @-@ war and anti @-@ British editorial cartoons for Hearst 's papers . In 1916 , McCay rebelled against his employer 's stance and began work on the patriotic Sinking of the Lusitania on his own time with his own money . 
