
"Victories of U-9" - a contemporary German postcard showing the photo of Weddigen against the background of the sinking "Aboukir" and "Hogue".
On September 22, 1914 Lieutenant Otto Weddigen sunk three British armored cruisers. He was the first war hero for Germany.
A mere 600 tons of water was displaced when the Imperial U-boat "SMS U9" was immersed. Only 60 meters long, the boat had a driving force of about 1000 hp – not particularly strong. Although only four years old in September 1914, it was already outdated because it had petrol instead of more powerful diesel engines to power itself over water.
The three Goliaths the "U9" sighted in the early morning of September 22, 1914 were even older, but each was 144 meters long, with 12,000 tons displacement, 23.3-inch guns and 760-man crews,
Not the latest battleships of the British Home Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet, certainly—but each of these ironclads was deadly dangerous for a single small submarine anyway. Unless several special circumstances came together. That was the case on this Tuesday.