HMS Aboukir (1900) - Fate

Fate

At around 06:00 on 22 September, the three cruisers (the flagship Baccante with Admiral Christian had had to return to harbour to refuel) were steaming at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) in line ahead and they were spotted by the German submarine U-9, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen. Although they were not zigzagging, all of the ships had lookouts posted to search for periscopes and one gun on each side of each ship was manned.

Weddigen ordered his submarine to submerge and closed the range to the unsuspecting British ships. At close range, he fired a single torpedo at Aboukir. The torpedo broke her back, and she sank within 20 minutes with the loss of 527 men.

The captains of Cressy and Hogue thought Aboukir had struck a floating mine and came forward to assist her. They stood by and began to pick up survivors. At this point, Weddigen fired two torpedoes into Hogue, mortally wounding that ship. As Hogue sank, the captain of Cressy realised that the squadron was being attacked by a submarine, and tried to flee. However, Weddigen fired two more torpedoes into Cressy, and sank her as well.

The entire battle had lasted less than two hours, and cost the British three warships, 62 officers and 1,397 ratings. This incident established the U-boat as a major weapon in the conduct of naval warfare.

In 1954, the British government sold the salvage rights to the ship and salvage is ongoing.