The first submarine in history to sink a hostile warship without also sinking herself is the _E-9_ of the British navy. Together with most of her consorts, she was sent, at the outbreak of the present war, to explore and reconnoiter off the German coast and the island fortress of Heligoland to find where the enemy’s ships were lying, how they were protected and how they might be attacked. After six weeks of such work, the _E-9_ entered Heligoland Bight on September 13, 1914, and discharged two torpedoes at the German light cruiser _Hela_. One exploded against her bow and the other amidships, and the cruiser went down almost immediately, drowning many of her crew. [Illustration: Copyright, London Sphere & N. Y. Herald. English Submarine Rescuing English Sailors.] Another British submarine had already appeared in action off Heligoland but as a saver instead of a destroyer of human life. On the 28th of August a number of German torpedo-craft and light cruisers were decoyed out to sea by the appearance and pretended flight of some English destroyers. (It has been declared but not officially confirmed that the “bait” consisted not of destroyers but two British submarines, which rose to the surface where one of them pretended to be disabled and was slowly towed away by the other till their pursuers were almost within range, when the line was cast off and both boats dived to safety.) The Germans found themselves attacked by a larger British flotilla and a confused sort of battle followed. During the mêlée, an English cruiser lowered a whaleboat that picked up several survivors of a sunken German vessel. The cruiser was then driven away by a more powerful German ship, and the crew of the whaleboat found themselves left in the enemy’s waters without arms, food, or navigating instruments. Suddenly a periscope rose out of the water alongside, followed by the conning-tower and hull of the British submarine _E-4_, which took the Englishmen on board and left the Germans the whaleboat, after which both parties went home rejoicing. Shortly after this, the German submarine _U-15_ boldly attacked a British squadron, but revealed herself by the white wake of her periscope as it cut through the calm water. A beautifully aimed shot from the cruiser _Birmingham_ smashed the periscope. The submarine dived, temporarily safe but blinded, for she was an old-fashioned craft with only one observation instrument. Her commander now essayed a swift “porpoise dive” up to the surface and down again, exposing only the conning-tower for a very few seconds. But a broadside blazed from the _Birmingham_, a shell struck squarely against the conning-tower, and the sea poured in through the ragged death-wound in the deck of the _U-15_. [Illustration: Copyright, London Sphere & N. Y. Herald. Engagement between the _Birmingham_ and the _U-15_.