HMS E15
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HMS E15 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy, commissioned in 1914. During World War I, E15 served in the Mediterranean, participating in the Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire. On April 16, 1915, under the command of Lieutenant Commander T.S. Brodie, E15 sailed her base at Mudros and attempted to break through the Dardanelles to the Sea of Marmara. Early in the morning of April 17, the submarine, having dived too deep and become caught in the vicious current, ran aground some ten miles in near Kepez Point directly under the guns of Fort Dardanus. E15 was soon hit and disabled; Brodie was killed in the conning tower by shrapnel and six of the crew were killed by chlorine gas released when the submarine's batteries were exposed to seawater after a second shell strike. Forced to evacuate the vessel, the remaining crew surrendered, to be incarcerated in a POW camp near Istanbul where six later died.
The stranding was soon noticed by aeroplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and reported to the Hindu Kush, the Allied submarines' HQ and depot ship. It was considered imperative that the E15 be destroyed to prevent the Turks from salvaging her. Several attempts were made; first, the British submarine B6, with Brodie's brother on board, tried to sink her by torpedo but missed. Later, during the night, the destroyers HMS Grampus and Scorpion (commanded by the future Admiral A.B. Cunningham of World War II British Mediterranean Fleet fame), attempted to find her, but failed. The following morning, British submarine B11 also failed to locate the beached E15 owing to dense fog. Then the battleships Triumph and Majestic were ordered in but, prevented by intense fire from the Turkish shore batteries from getting within 11,000 metres of the submarine, were obliged to withdraw. Meanwhile, seaplanes attempted to bomb the stricken E15 but also failed.
Finally, on the night of the April 18, two 17 metre picket boats, one from Triumph, the other from Majestic, both armed with two 14-inch (356 mm) diameter torpedoes mounted in dropping gear, went in. Lieutenant Commander Eric Robinson commanded the expedition from Triumph's boat; Lieutenant Goodwin skippered the boat from the Majestic. Arriving undetected, Robinson's first shot missed, but minutes later a Turkish searchlight briefly illuminated E15, allowing Goodwin's boat to aim and score a direct hit. Goodwin's boat was crippled by gunfire soon afterwards, fatally wounding one sailor; Robinson unhesitatingly brought his boat alongside and rescued the crew. The E15 action would no doubt have earned Robinson the Victoria Cross had he not already been recommended for the award following earlier exploits on the Gallipoli peninsula. The picket boat crews, all volunteers, were awarded Distinguished Service Medals.
The E15 remains off Kepez Point in 8 m of water. The bodies of Lieut. Commander Brodie and several crew were buried on the beach nearby, but later reinterred at the Chanak Consular Cemetery.
[edit] References
- Evans, A. S. (1986). Beneath the Waves - A history of British submarine losses. Kimber, London. ISBN 0-7183-0601-5
- Stoker, H.D.G. (1925). Straws in the Wind. Herbert Jenkins Ltd., London. ISBN X006590403 [Submarine actions in the Dardanelles; includes the story of Lt. G. Fitzgerald RNR, E15's Navigator, whilst a POW in Turkey].
