WI: SS Kaiser Wilhelm II: 1914

Easy, have the 'soldiers' wearing British or French uniforms with 'heroic German passengers' able to help save them. Or have the 'soldiers' actually be drunkards or 'spies' with forged evidence of plans to attack key American infrastructure.

A sort of reverse Zimmermann telegram might be plausible too, perhaps official-looking paperwork is found along with a map of 'Future Canadian (or British and/or French) Territories and Provinces' that are to be spared or where damage is to be minimized to it can be 'taken intact'. These might include any combination of the following: Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Maine/New Ireland, Montana, North Dakota, northern Idaho, northern New York State (new border at the Erie Canal?), northern Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Philippines, Cuba, Panama Canal, City of New Orleans, Florida, etc.
 
Easy, have the 'soldiers' wearing British or French uniforms with 'heroic German passengers' able to help save them. Or have the 'soldiers' actually be drunkards or 'spies' with forged evidence of plans to attack key American infrastructure.
Not that easy, otherwise intelligence agencies would be pulling that kind of false-flag operation off all the time. And when it turns out that your 'drunkards' or 'soldiers' only speak German, or the uniforms are inaccurately reproduced, or your 'spies' have absolutely no previous links to the countries they're supposed to spy for- well, it'd be almost as embarrassing as Customs boarding a passenger ship outside the harbour to find it crammed with armed soldiers.
 
Top