This Flotilla is named
after Kapitanleutnant Bernd Wegener, Commander of
the World War 1 Mittel-U Class U-27. His successes were
nine ships sunk for a total of 29.5 tons during three war
patrols. The boat was launched on July 14, 1913 and Kapitanleutnant
Wegener took Command on August 1, 1914.
U-27 was notable for
being the first U-boat to sink another, British submarine
E3 was sunk by torpedo on October 18, 1914.
All hands were lost
(37) on August 19, 1915 when U-27 was sunk by the Q-Ship
Baralong in the Western Approaches.
From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia:
"The Baralong Incident
was an unprosecuted war crime of World War I. On August
19, 1915, U-27, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Wegener, was
sunk by the Q-Ship HMS Baralong, commanded by Lieutenant
Godfrey Herbert.
Herbert ordered that
all German survivors, including Wegener, should be executed
on the spot. Although the British Admiralty tried to keep
this atrocity a secret, news reached Germany and the "Baralong
Incident" was used to justify increased cruelty at sea both
during World War One and after.
A Kriegsmarine submarine
flotilla formed on June 25, 1938, was named "Wegener" in
memory of this incident."
Found on Google.com:
"In August of 1915
the British Q-ship HMS Baralong (ex Ellerman Line 4,000
ton tramp) responding to an SOS in the Bristol Channel came
upon the 6,250 ton freighter Nicosian taking gun fire from
U-27. Nicosian had a cargo of 750 mules loaded in New Orleans
and bound for Liverpool.
U-27 was firing from
the port side of the Nicosian. Baralong approached from
the starboard side of Nicosian and was flying the Stars
and Stripes and had two name boards indicating she was the
ULYSSES S GRANT, USA. She indicated with signal flags that
she was going to rescue the crew, who were in lifeboats.
While out of sight of U-27, behind the Nicosian, she dropped
the name boards, lowered the flag, and raised the British
Ensign.
Just as she cleared
the Nicosian she exposed her 12 pounders and commenced firing
at close range. U-27 was caught by surprise and sank, however,
6 members of her crew managed to swim to the nearby Baralong.
The Captain of the
HMS Baralong ordered Marines to board Nicosian and capture
it. The Marines reported that the 6 German sailors were
dead from wounds received from the 12 pounder's gunfire.
A New York newspaper
heard the story and published articles that questioned how
the German sailors died. The world press followed up on
the story and the German Government charged it was a case
of murder.
Crew members of the
Nicosian who remained on board during the event gave conflicting
accounts of what happened."
