U Boat - 9

I Flotille

Kptlt. Otto Weddigen (1882 - 1915)

command 1 Aug 1914 - 11 Jan 1915

recepient of the:

Iron Cross 2nd Class

Iron Cross 1st Class

Military Order of Max Joseph Bavaria

Pour le Merite

u -9 in rough seas

SMU - 9

SMU - 9 Crew

                          Name                                                               Rank                                           d:o:b:                                         served on 

Ships sunk

                              22 Sept. 1914                             HMS 'Aboukir'               12,000ton British Warship                         

22 Sept. 1914                             HMS 'Cressey'               12,000ton British Warship                         

    22 Sept 1914                              HMS 'Hogue'                 12,000ton     British Warship                         

    15 Oct 1914                               HMS 'Hawke'                 7,350tons   British Warship        

U - 9

Early on September 22^nd 1914 the German submarine U9 under the command of Commander Otto Weddigen sighted the 'Cressy', 'Aboukir' and 'Hogue' steaming NNE at 10 knots without zigzagging. Although the patrols were supposed to maintain 12-13 knots and zigzag the old cruisers were unable to maintain that speed and the zigzagging order was widely ignored as there had been no submarines sighted in the area during the war.

U9 maneuvered to attack and at about 6.25 AM fired a single torpedo at 'Aboukir,' which stuck her on her port side. 'Aboukir' rapidly suffered heavy flooding and despite counter flooding developed a 20 degree list and lost engine power. It was soon clear that she was a lost cause and Captain Drummond ordered her to be abandoned, although only one boat had survived the attack so most crew had to jump into the sea. At first Drummond thought that 'Aboukir' had been mined and signaled the other two cruisers to close and assist but he soon realized that it was a torpedo attack and ordered the other cruisers away, but too late.

As 'Aboukir' rolled over and sank, half an hour after being attacked, U9 fired two torpedoes at HMS 'Hogue' that hit her amidships and rapidly flooded her engine room. Captain Nicholson of Hogue had stopped the ship to lower boats to rescue the crew of 'Aboukir', thinking that as he was the other side of 'Aboukir' from U9 he would be safe. Unfortunately U9 had maneuvered around 'Aboukir' and attacked 'Hogue' from a range of only 300 yards.

The firing of two torpedoes affected the trim of U9 which broke the surface briefly and was fired on by 'Hogue' without effect.

It only took Hogue ten minutes to sink as U9 headed for HMS 'Cressy'. 'Cressy,' under Captain Johnson, had also stopped to lower boats but got underway on sighting a periscope. At about 7.20 AM however U9 fired two torpedoes, one of which just missed but the other hit 'Cressy' on her starboard side, 'Cressy' briefly firing on U9s periscope with no effect.

The damage to Cressy' was not fatal but U9 turned round and fired her last torpedo which hit 'Cressy' sinking her within a quarter of an hour.

HMS 'Aboukir'

HMS 'Cressey'

                   HMS ' Hogue'                          

HMS 'Hawke'

Kptlt. Otto Weddigen took command of U-29 on 16 Feb 1915

and served until 18 Mar 1915 when his U-Boat was rammed by the

HMS 'Dreadnought' and sank with all hands lost.

HMS 'Dreadnought'

 U - 29

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