SM U-27 (Germany)
SM "U-27" was a German Type "U-27" U-boat built for service in the Imperial German Navy. She was launched on 14 July 1913, and commissioned on 8 May 1914 with Kapitänleutnant Bernd Wegener in command. On 18 October 1914, the British submarine was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by "U-27". This was the first action in which one submarine sank another. Sinking of HMS "E3". had sailed from Harwich on 16 October to patrol off Borkum in the North Sea. On 18 October, "E3" spotted some German destroyers ahead but was unable to get  into a position to take a shot at them. Unable to pass them, Commander Cholmley retreated into the bay to wait for them to disperse. As he did so, he failed to see that the bay was also occupied by "U-27", under "Kapitänleutnant" Bernd Wegener. Wegener was surfaced and patrolling between the Ems and Borkum when at 11:25, an object resembling a buoy was spotted where no buoy should be. Suspecting a British submarine, "U-27" immediately dived and closed the object. Although the enemy was ‘conned down’, the number 83 was clearly visible on the conning tower of the British  boat, now identified as such beyond reasonable doubt. Wegener tracked the submarine for two hours until able to approach ‘up sun’. He noted that the look-outs were staring intently in the other direction, towards the Ems. When the distance had closed to , "U-27" fired two G6 torpedoes. An explosion 12 seconds later sank "E3" immediately. The KTB records that men (probably the look-outs from the bridge) were visible in the water but "U-27" dived and withdrew, fearful that a second British submarine might be lurking nearby. 30 minutes later, the U-boat returned to the scene to search  for evidence and possible survivors but without success. All 28 members of "E3"s crew were lost. Sinking. On 19 August 1915, "U-27" was sunk in the Western Approaches in position by gunfire from Q-ship . The same day, U-boat "U-24" had sunk the White Star Liner SS "Arabic", infuriating the crew of "Baralong" which were in the region but could do nothing. Upon encountering "U-27", the crew of "Baralong" hauled down the neutral American flag they had been flying as a false flag and hauled up the White Ensign. A one-sided engagement ensued in which "U-27" was hit  several times and began to sink. According to Tony Bridgland; Herbert screamed, "Cease fire!" But his men's blood was up. They were avenging the "Arabic" and the "Lusitania". For them this was no time to cease firing, even as the survivors of the crew appeared on the outer casing, struggling out of their clothes to swim away from her. There was a mighty hiss of compressed air from her tanks and the "U-27" vanished from sight in a vortex of giant rumbling bubbles, leaving a pall of smoke over the spot where she had been. It had taken only  a few minutes to fire the thirty-four shells into her. 12 German survivors swam from the wreck "U-27" to "Baralong" seeking safety;, but commanding officer Godfrey Herbert, allegedly worried that they might try to scuttle captured British steamer "Nicosian", ordered his men to begin shooting at them with small arms, killing all 12. Herbert dispatched marines from "Baralong" to kill the remaining Germans on "Nicosian". The incident sparked outrage in Germany, and a debate took place in the "Reichstag" on 15 January 1916, where it was described as a "cowardly murder"; the German government soon announced that they would  conduct reprisals, although they did not specify what they would be.