SMS Cormoran ( 1909 ) SMS " Cormoran or SMS " Cormoran II was built at Danzig , Germany in 1909 for the Russian merchant fleet and named SS " Ryazan " ( Rjasan or Rjäsan , from the Russian town of Ryazan ) . She was used by imperial Russia as a combination passenger , cargo and mail carrier on North Pacific routes . History . SS " Ryazan " was captured southeast of the Korean peninsula by the light cruiser on 4 August 1914 as the first prize of World War I from the Russian empire . SS " Ryaezan " was taken to Tsingtao in the German colony Kiautschou and converted to an armed merchant raider . The new " Cormoran " replaced the original SMS " Cormoran " , a small shallow draft cruiser that had a long Imperial Navy career in the Pacific , having taken part in the events that brought Kiautschou into the German colonial empire in 1897 - 1898 . The old " Cormoran " was laid up at Tsingtao with serious maintenance issues and unable to go to sea , and all of her armaments were transferred to the captured merchant ship . On 10 August 1914 , the new " Cormoran " or " Cormoran II " left Tsingtao harbor and sailed through the South Pacific region , pursued by Japanese warships . On 14 December , " Cormoran II " pulled into Apra Harbor in the U . S . Territory of Guam with only of coal remaining in her bunkers . Due to strained diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany and the limited amount of coal stored at Guam , Governor William John Maxwell refused to supply " Cormoran " with more than a token amount of coal . U . S . authorities ordered the ship to leave within 24 hours or submit to detention . This created a standoff between the German crew and the Americans that lasted nearly two years , until Governor Maxwell was involuntarily placed on the sick list and replaced by his subordinate , William P . Cronan , who decided that the German crew should be treated as guests of the United States . The " Cormoran " was still not permitted to leave the harbor , but the crew were treated as friends , achieving a minor celebrity status on the island . When the U . S . Congress declared war on Germany on 7 April 1917 , Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt scuttled his ship rather than surrender her . This caused the " first shot " to be fired between the United States and Imperial Germany during World War I , though almost no US history books mention it . Naval forces at Guam saw the German crew preparing to sink the ship and fired a shot over their bow . Ironically , nine crew members perished during the scuttling of the ship and were buried with full military honors in the naval cemetery at Agana . After Americans rescued and captured the surviving Germans , Cronan congratulated Zuckschwerdt for the bravery of his men . The U . S . Navy conducted a limited salvage operation and the ship ' s bell was recovered . It is exhibited at the U . S . Naval Academy Museum at Annapolis , Maryland . Other artifacts have been removed by divers over the years . The German crew was sent to Fort Douglas , Utah , where some were transferred to Fort McPherson , Georgia . They were returned home to Germany nearly one year after the war ' s end on 7 October 1919 . SMS " Cormoran II " rests below the surface on her port side . The Japanese cargo ship Tokai Maru , { sunk by USS Snapper ( SS - 185 ) } , leans against her screw . It is one of the few places where divers can explore a World War I shipwreck next to a ship from World War II . In 1975 the wreck was placed on the National Register of Historic Places . The ship was listed because of its association with World War I