27, which had a 22-pounder forward of the high conning-tower, and a similar gun aft, steered so as to come along _Nicosian’s_ port side and towards the latter’s boats, apparently to prevent _Baralong_ rescuing the men. One who was present told me the full story, and I made notes and a sketch at the time. This is what happened: As soon as the submarine was blanketed by _Nicosian_, the _Baralong_, who was now roughly parallel with the other two craft, struck her American colours, hoisted the White Ensign, and trained her guns ready for the moment when the submarine should show herself ahead of _Nicosian’s_ bows. In a few seconds U 27 came along, and had the greatest of all surprises. The range was only 600 yards, and 12-pounder shells, accompanied by rifle fire, came hurtling along, penetrating the craft on the waterline below the conning-tower before the enemy could reply. The conning-tower went up in the air, panic-stricken Germans jumped into the sea, the submarine heeled over, and in about another minute sank for good and all. The whole incident had happened so quickly that _Nicosian’s_ people were as surprised as they were amused. The whole of _Baralong’s_ tactics had been so simple yet so clever and effective; deliverance from the enemy had followed the sudden attack so dramatically, that it was not easy to realize quite all that had happened. _Nicosian_ had been holed by the German shells, but _Baralong_ took her in tow and headed for Avonmouth. She was down by the head and the tow-rope parted during the night, but she managed to get to port all right. The sinking of this U 27 was a most useful piece of work, for her captain, Lieut.-Commander Wegener, was one of Germany’s best submarine commanders; she had left Germany a fortnight before. This incident, with many of its details, reached Germany via the U.S.A.; for _Nicosian_ was carrying a cargo of mules from across the Atlantic to be used by our army, and some of the muleteers were American citizens. On their arrival back home the news came out, and was published in the newspapers, causing considerable sensation. The German nation was furious and made some bitter accusations, forgetting all the time that on this very day they had fired on and killed fourteen of the crew of the British submarine E 13, which had grounded on the Danish island of Saltholm. All the officers, with one exception, and most of the crew of _Baralong_ were of the Royal Naval Reserve. A number of decorations was made and the sum of £1,000 was awarded.