Action of 18 June 1918 The Action of 18 June 1918 was an attack on two allied ships near Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean by an Imperial German Navy u - boat during World War I . Sinking an allied merchant vessel , the U - boat failed to destroy an American warship which came to the merchantman ' s aid . Action . The was a British flagged merchant ship known for her involvement in the War at Sea . On 18 June 1918 , while steaming in the Atlantic from France to Newport News , Virginia , " Dwinsk " encountered the German submarine around from Bermuda . The submarine surfaced and fired a torpedo into the helpless British steamer which caused severe damage . No distress call is known to have been sent by " Dwinsk " . The deaths of 22 or more British sailors have been confirmed , others were reported to have minor injuries . The dead either went down with " Dwinsk " when she sank or were in a lifeboat that went missing after their vessel went down . " U - 151 " s action was not over though , instead of fleeing after sinking the " Dwinsk " , she waited in the vicinity for any allied vessels coming to aid the British lifeboats which did not attempt to abandon the wreckage of their transport . The German U - boat remained for a few hours , using the stranded Britons as bait . — which just happened to be returning to America from Brest , France — sighted the wreckage of " Dwinsk " from over five miles away . What the Americans saw were seven lifeboats that appeared to be empty . The boats appeared to be empty due to the captain of the " Dwinsk " ; he had ordered the crew to lie down to prevent allied vessels from approaching and being attacked by the Germans . " Von Steuben " made her approach anyway and began zig - zagging as a measure against torpedo attack . Sure enough , as " Von Steuben " closed the British lifeboats , the wake of one or two torpedoes were spotted coming towards the ship off her bow from abaft the port beam . Quickly the American commander was informed of the situation and ordered his crew to battle stations . " Von Steuben " fired her first shells in anger at the incoming torpedo , while another turret fired on " U - 151 " s periscope which was seen at the other end of the torpedo ' s trail . The shots fired at the torpedo apparently missed their target but " Von Steuben " was able to maneuver fast enough to keep out of the torpedo ' s path which missed by just a few yards from the auxiliary " Von Steuben " . Once over the U - boat ' s last known position , the Americans dropped over twelve depth charges which shook the submarine severely — according to German accounts — and forced her to flee . Aftermath . " Von Steuben " s crew did not rescue any of the Britons that night . It was not until later that the Americans learned that the survivors were lying down in their boats . The American commander did not want to risk his ship by slowing down to investigate the lifeboats . If " Von Steuben " had stopped to check the lifeboats , she would have been exposed to a torpedo attack . Six of the seven lifeboats were rescued by other allied ships ; the seventh boat with about 20 men aboard was never heard from again . rescued two boats on 21 June and picked up the final boat on 28 June . This engagement was " Von Steuben " s only combat action during World War I .