At 7 a.m. on the 10th February, 1917, a shot was fired at the British steamship _Sallagh_ by a submarine on her starboard quarter. The submarine then hoisted the signal "abandon ship," and while the boat was being got ready, fired again, killing the chief engineer and seriously wounding two other men. The Germans afterwards placed bombs in the vessel, and fired two shots into her. The second caused an explosion and the ship sank. Having provided bandages for the wounded men, the Germans rigged their craft like a smack and lay off about 5 miles in wait for another victim. The ship's boat was picked up at 4.30 p.m. on the same day. The British steamship _Afric_ was 12 miles S.S.W. of the Eddystone Lighthouse at about 5.15 a.m. on the 12th February, 1917. Suddenly a torpedo struck her on the starboard side about abreast of the engine-room, causing a terrific explosion, which stopped the engines, put out all lights, broke the telegraphs, and brought the aerial down. The engineers and greasers on watch at the time were killed. The rest of the crew left the ship and stood by in eight boats, leaving the master, first officer and steward on board. At 6 a.m. a second explosion occurred on the port side abreast of No. 1 hold. The ship was finally abandoned after this, and at about 6.20 a.m. a submarine appeared, questioned the master, and then shelled the ship, which sank at 7.45 a.m. The boats were picked up about 5 hours later. Five men were killed, probably by the first explosion. The steamer _Sallagh_ appears to have been shelled as a matter of course while her boats were being got out. Otherwise there would have been no loss of life and no wounded on board. As the submarine took the trouble to hoist the signal "abandon ship," which was at once obeyed, she had no excuse for the subsequent shelling. The case is one of wholly unnecessary murder, although the Germans were not so callous as on some occasions. At 11.15 p.m. on the 17th February, the British steamer _Valdes_ was torpedoed without warning. It was a pitch-dark night, and nothing was seen before the explosion of the torpedo. The master and seven of the crew were thrown into the water as the ship went down; three men went down with her. The port life-boat was successfully launched, and 20 members of the crew embarked. The starboard life-boat was blown to pieces. A trawler picked up the 20 survivors, but two of them died from exposure. Eleven men lost their lives.