14. A British Q Ship sank a British submarine less than a month before the end of the war
Q Ships were disguised merchantmen, used to lure in German U-boats, before sinking them with heavy guns. The Germans viewed Q Ships as violations of the Cruiser Rules, and the British strategy in deploying them led the Germans to counter with unrestricted submarine warfare. In October, 1918, the Q Ship Cymric, a converted sailing schooner, spotted on the surface a submarine with the marking U-6 on its conning tower. Cymric’s captain ordered the crew to open fire on the submarine. The undersea vessel attempted to escape and successfully eluded the Q Ship temporarily, though damage prevented it from submerging. Cymric relocated the submarine and in a fusillade of firing sank the vessel. Fifteen submariners died, and from the survivors in the water Cymric’s captain learned they were not Germans.
The Q Ship’s captain had thought he saw U-6 on the submarine’s conning tower. What he had seen was J-6. It had been a British submarine. The misidentification became worse when his initial fire killed the signalman sent to the submarine’s bridge to communicate with the Q-Ship. A hastily convened Court of Inquiry took no action against either commanding officer, and ordered the entire story classified under the Official Secrets Act. The loss of the J-6 was officially described as an accident in British records, any of the crew discussing its loss were subject to prosecution. Not until 1969, over fifty years later, did the British Government released the true story of the friendly fire incident.
