HMS E18
Encyclopedia
HMS E18 was an E-class submarine
of the Royal Navy
, launched in 1915 and lost in the Baltic Sea
in May 1916 while operating out of Reval. The exact circumstances surrounding the sinking remain a mystery. The wreck of the submarine was discovered in October 2009.
patrols with the 8th Flotilla at Harwich
. On her one and only patrol prior to leaving for the Baltic E18 departed Yarmouth with D7
and E13
on 9 July 1915. On the 14 July 1915 when at the mouth of the Ems deep in enemy waters Halahan brought E18 to the surface as he preferred the sea to using the toilet arrangements onboard. While in this awkward situation a Zeppelin
appeared, E18 dived to the sea bed but was easily visible from the air. E18 was then straddled with 12 bombs which caused no damage other than some embarrassment for Halahan in being caught unaware. The fact E18 was surfaced wasn't passed on via Halahan's patrol report, he stated he was submerged at 20 ft, and an inquiry into submarine visibility from the air led E18 being painted in her camouflage scheme. Strangely there is no German claim of an attack on a submarine - the Zeppelins in the air that day in this area were, L4, L6 and L7, none of which sighted a submarine let alone attacked one. L6 was the closest to E18s position when a Zeppelin was sighted but she moved away to the west when the explosions occurred. German minesweeping divisions were exploding mines during the time of the alleged attack which could explain what the crew of E18 heard while submerged.
E18 was dispatched to the Baltic
as part of the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic
. She left Harwich on 28 August with her sister-ship HMS E19
, first travelling to Newcastle
to swing their compasses during which E19 burnt out one of her main armatures. After the delay to repair E19 they left Newcastle for the Baltic on 4 September at 1630 hrs. The two submarines separated and passed through the Oresund
between Denmark
and Sweden
on the night of the 8-9th September. During the passage E19 at one stage found herself only metres from E18s stern and decided not to enter together. E18 encountered two German destroyers. She dived into water only 23 feet (7 m) deep and — for almost three hours — progressed by crashing into the seabed and rising back up to break the surface. After several hours resting in deep water she surfaced in the morning only to be fired on by the cruiser Amazone; once again she dived to the bottom. The German cruiser and attending destroyers then began to criss-cross over the top of E18 knowing her batteries would be very low. E18 had to sit it out on the bottom until the German left the area. E18 was lucky the German ships were not then equipped with depth charge
s. After escaping she was set upon by another two destroyers one of which came close to ramming her. On the 10 September 1915 Halahan sighted what he thought was the German battlecruiser
s Lutzow
and Seydlitz
and tried in vain to get into an attacking position, but in fact they were just two German destroyers as the German battlecruisers where not in the area at this time. On 12 September she met up with E19 and E9
off Dagerort, arriving in Reval (now Tallinn
, Estonia
) on the 13th. Halahan later wrote that entering the Baltic again should not be attempted unless absolutely necessary.
She operated out of Reval through the autumn of 1915. E18 departed on her first Baltic patrol on the 21 September 1915, next day on the 22nd she was in an excellent position to torpedo the German cruiser Bremen, a surfaced Russian submarine caused the Bremen to turn away just as E18 was about to fire and she missed her opportunity, she returned from this first patrol on 29 September 1915.
On 9 October 1915 E18 departed for her second patrol, by the 12 October she was in position to attack the pre-dreadnought SMS Braunschweig
whilst patrolling off Libau
(now Liepāja, Latvia
), but her torpedo tube bow caps could not be opened, she then tried her beam tube but was forced to dive by German destroyers, when she did manage to get a torpedo shot off from her stern tube the range was too great and the opportunity passed. She returned to Reval on 16 October 1915 at 1700 hrs.
E18 departed for her third patrol on 9 November 1915, and was to patrol the Swedish trade routes, she arrived back at Reval on 15 November 1915 having sighted nothing of significance. During this patrol the crew had missed the visit of the Tzar.
Her fourth patrol was to patrol off Libau and try and find a way through the mine fields by following the courses of ships coming and going. She departed for this patrol on 30 November 1915 and returned on the 4 December 1915. This was her last patrol for 1915.
. The first two days of this patrol they were trying to call her back in as the patrol had been cancelled but she didn't reply. On returning she encountered gale force winds and icy conditions to the point where she had difficulty closing her conning tower
hatch due to ice. She was unable to return to Reval on her own and had to wait hours for the Finnish
ice breaker Sampo to arrive and bring her back in, she arrived in Reval on the 13 January 1916 completely iced over, after this the British submarines were iced in and could not move until April. Although she did not sail E18 was made ready for sea on the 13 February 1916. She was the first of the British subs to make a trip in the bay at Reval on 29 March 1916 after the big freeze.
After operations were halted for the winter, E18 resumed patrols in the spring of 1916. Her second last patrol was to the Gulf of Riga
with HMS E1
, leaving Reval on the 28 April 1916 to show their presence to the Germans, this was achieved by diving twice while the Russian destroyers shelled beaches. While returning via Moon Sound on the 1 May 1916 E18 ran aground and had to be towed off, she returned to Reval on 2 May. During this operation E18 and E1 tied up alongside the Russian battleship Slava
.
In late May, she sailed for her final patrol; E1, E8 and two Russian submarines
left the same day. Records differ on her exact fate, but it is certain neither she or any of her crew ever returned.
The diary of Francis Goodhart, commander of E8, states that E1 and the Russian Bars departed at 1400 hrs, E8, E18 and the Russian Gerpard left port together at 1800 hrs on 25 May; E8 's patrol was uneventful, and she returned to Reval on the 31st. However, E18 failed to return; by 5 June Goodhart noted that the crews were "very worried". On the 6th, he noted that he had "Heard from Essen that their W.T. had vaguely indicated presence of a submarine off Redshoff" on Tuesday'. Very slender hope..." By the next day, 8 June, he recorded that a meeting had noted she had sailed with only 15 days food; the situation was "very hopeless now, I fear. No news whatsoever" By the 9 June E8' s officers began collecting the belongings of E18' s Halahan, Landale and Colson from their cabins. On a sad note Goodhart learnt that Halahan had his future told by a local woman prior to this last patrol. She told him he was in grave danger, this affected the superstitious Halahan who then asked the wife of the British Vice Consul
in Reval to send a wire to his family before they got the official Navy telegram in case something happened to him. This indeed she did when Halahan failed to return.
Michael Wilson, a historian, records that E8 and E18 sailed on the 25th and parted the next day. On the 26th, at 4:42 PM, E18 torpedoed the German destroyer V100, blowing off her bow. Had it not been for the calm seas, it is likely she would have sank from the damage; as it was, she was towed back to port with several of her crew killed, requiring major repairs. Two days later, on the 28th, E18 was sighted by a German aircraft off Memel
(now Klaipėda, Lithuania), E18 was last sighted on the 1 June 1916 at 1500 hrs sailing north by the German U-boat UB-30 northwest of Steinort. Wilson further states that it is believed she was lost "most likely by striking a mine" on her return to Reval west of Osel
. The logs of the German destroyers with V100 also support the same dates as Goodhart's diary and Wilson's observations.
Various sources record her simply as having been sunk on 24 May by a German decoy ship
, though this clashes with the known attack on V100 on the 26th and the observations reported by Wilson and Goodhart in subsequent days. It is quite possible that this is a garbling of an encounter between one of the Russian submarines and a decoy vessel around the same time. The German decoy ship Kronprinz Wilhelm
(see: SMS Schiff K), known as K, did attack two submarines during E18s patrol in May. K rammed the Russian Gerpard and the following day took the Russian Bars under fire in Hano Bay, the Germans thought they had sunk both submarines, E18 was not in the area of these actions.
Tsar Nicholas II
sent a telegram of condolences on the loss of E18, and awarded Halahan the Order of St. George
, with the other two officers receiving the Order of St. Vladimir
and each of the crew being posthumously awarded a medal. These Orders were not normally awarded posthumously. Three of E18s crew did not sail on her last mission; one, John Ryan had measles and later transferred to E19; another, Albert Phillips, missed her patrol for unknown reasons. The other was E18s signalman Albert Edward Robinson who was replaced on this mission by E8s telegraphist George Gaby; he was later sent home in January 1917 and joined E4
on her recommissioning. Ryan and Phillips went home in January 1918. When people research the subject of E18, 11 June 1916 is stated as the date on the crews papers as being lost at sea, as they had no idea when and where E18 was lost at the time this date was purely for administration purposes to close the books on E18.
survey vessel MV Triad. The position of the wreck lies off the coast of Hiiumaa
, Estonia
. Photographs taken of the wreck show that it is likely that it struck a mine
while sailing on the surface.
British E class submarine
The British E class submarines started out as improved versions of the British D class submarine. All of the first group and some of the second group were completed before the outbreak of World War I....
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, launched in 1915 and lost in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
in May 1916 while operating out of Reval. The exact circumstances surrounding the sinking remain a mystery. The wreck of the submarine was discovered in October 2009.
1915
E18 entered service in the UK in 1915, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander R.C. Halahan. She joined HMS Maidstone on the 25 June 1915 and soon began North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
patrols with the 8th Flotilla at Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. On her one and only patrol prior to leaving for the Baltic E18 departed Yarmouth with D7
HMS D7
HMS D7 was a British D class submarine built by Chatham Dockyard. D7 was laid down on 14 February 1910, launched 14 January 1911 and was commissioned on 14 December 1911....
and E13
HMS E13
HMS E13 was a British E class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Chatham. E13 was laid down on 16 December 1912 and was commissioned on 9 December 1914. The hull cost £101,900.-Service history:...
on 9 July 1915. On the 14 July 1915 when at the mouth of the Ems deep in enemy waters Halahan brought E18 to the surface as he preferred the sea to using the toilet arrangements onboard. While in this awkward situation a Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
appeared, E18 dived to the sea bed but was easily visible from the air. E18 was then straddled with 12 bombs which caused no damage other than some embarrassment for Halahan in being caught unaware. The fact E18 was surfaced wasn't passed on via Halahan's patrol report, he stated he was submerged at 20 ft, and an inquiry into submarine visibility from the air led E18 being painted in her camouflage scheme. Strangely there is no German claim of an attack on a submarine - the Zeppelins in the air that day in this area were, L4, L6 and L7, none of which sighted a submarine let alone attacked one. L6 was the closest to E18s position when a Zeppelin was sighted but she moved away to the west when the explosions occurred. German minesweeping divisions were exploding mines during the time of the alleged attack which could explain what the crew of E18 heard while submerged.
E18 was dispatched to the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
as part of the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic
British submarine flotilla in the Baltic
A British submarine flotilla operated in the Baltic Sea for three years during the First World War. The squadron of nine submarines was attached to the Russian Baltic Fleet. The main task of the flotilla was to prevent the import of iron ore from Sweden to Imperial Germany...
. She left Harwich on 28 August with her sister-ship HMS E19
HMS E19
HMS E19 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy, commissioned in 1914 at Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. During World War I she was part of the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic....
, first travelling to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
to swing their compasses during which E19 burnt out one of her main armatures. After the delay to repair E19 they left Newcastle for the Baltic on 4 September at 1630 hrs. The two submarines separated and passed through the Oresund
Oresund
The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...
between Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
on the night of the 8-9th September. During the passage E19 at one stage found herself only metres from E18s stern and decided not to enter together. E18 encountered two German destroyers. She dived into water only 23 feet (7 m) deep and — for almost three hours — progressed by crashing into the seabed and rising back up to break the surface. After several hours resting in deep water she surfaced in the morning only to be fired on by the cruiser Amazone; once again she dived to the bottom. The German cruiser and attending destroyers then began to criss-cross over the top of E18 knowing her batteries would be very low. E18 had to sit it out on the bottom until the German left the area. E18 was lucky the German ships were not then equipped with depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s. After escaping she was set upon by another two destroyers one of which came close to ramming her. On the 10 September 1915 Halahan sighted what he thought was the German battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s Lutzow
SMS Lützow
SMS Lützow"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the second built by the German Kaiserliche Marine before World War I. Ordered as a replacement for the old protected cruiser , Lützow was launched on 29 November 1913, but not completed until 1916...
and Seydlitz
SMS Seydlitz
SMS Seydlitz"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was a 25,000-metric ton battlecruiserAdmiral Alfred von Tirpitz referred to the ship as a large cruiser in his annual budgets in an attempt to reduce opposition from the Reichstag; the ship was not referred...
and tried in vain to get into an attacking position, but in fact they were just two German destroyers as the German battlecruisers where not in the area at this time. On 12 September she met up with E19 and E9
HMS E9
HMS E9 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow. She was laid down on 1 June 1912 and was commissioned on 18 June 1914.-Service history:...
off Dagerort, arriving in Reval (now Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
) on the 13th. Halahan later wrote that entering the Baltic again should not be attempted unless absolutely necessary.
She operated out of Reval through the autumn of 1915. E18 departed on her first Baltic patrol on the 21 September 1915, next day on the 22nd she was in an excellent position to torpedo the German cruiser Bremen, a surfaced Russian submarine caused the Bremen to turn away just as E18 was about to fire and she missed her opportunity, she returned from this first patrol on 29 September 1915.
On 9 October 1915 E18 departed for her second patrol, by the 12 October she was in position to attack the pre-dreadnought SMS Braunschweig
SMS Braunschweig
SMS Braunschweig"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the first of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class in the German Kaiserliche Marine . She was laid down in 1901 and commissioned in October 1904, at a cost of 23,983,000 marks. She was named after the then Duchy of...
whilst patrolling off Libau
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
(now Liepāja, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
), but her torpedo tube bow caps could not be opened, she then tried her beam tube but was forced to dive by German destroyers, when she did manage to get a torpedo shot off from her stern tube the range was too great and the opportunity passed. She returned to Reval on 16 October 1915 at 1700 hrs.
E18 departed for her third patrol on 9 November 1915, and was to patrol the Swedish trade routes, she arrived back at Reval on 15 November 1915 having sighted nothing of significance. During this patrol the crew had missed the visit of the Tzar.
Her fourth patrol was to patrol off Libau and try and find a way through the mine fields by following the courses of ships coming and going. She departed for this patrol on 30 November 1915 and returned on the 4 December 1915. This was her last patrol for 1915.
1916
E18 left for her fifth patrol on 6 January 1916, her orders were to patrol the area between the Sound and BornholmBornholm
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
. The first two days of this patrol they were trying to call her back in as the patrol had been cancelled but she didn't reply. On returning she encountered gale force winds and icy conditions to the point where she had difficulty closing her conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
hatch due to ice. She was unable to return to Reval on her own and had to wait hours for the Finnish
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
ice breaker Sampo to arrive and bring her back in, she arrived in Reval on the 13 January 1916 completely iced over, after this the British submarines were iced in and could not move until April. Although she did not sail E18 was made ready for sea on the 13 February 1916. She was the first of the British subs to make a trip in the bay at Reval on 29 March 1916 after the big freeze.
After operations were halted for the winter, E18 resumed patrols in the spring of 1916. Her second last patrol was to the Gulf of Riga
Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....
with HMS E1
HMS E1
HMS E1 was a British E class submarine built by Chatham Dockyard and cost £101,700. E1 was laid down on 14 February 1911. She was launched on 9 November 1912 and was commissioned on 6 May 1913...
, leaving Reval on the 28 April 1916 to show their presence to the Germans, this was achieved by diving twice while the Russian destroyers shelled beaches. While returning via Moon Sound on the 1 May 1916 E18 ran aground and had to be towed off, she returned to Reval on 2 May. During this operation E18 and E1 tied up alongside the Russian battleship Slava
Russian battleship Slava
Slava was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the last of the five s. Commissioned too late to participate in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War, she survived while all of her sister ships were either sunk during the battle or surrendered to the Imperial...
.
In late May, she sailed for her final patrol; E1, E8 and two Russian submarines
American Holland class submarine
The American Holland Class Submarines, also AG Class or A Class, were Holland 602 type submarines used by the Imperial Russian and Soviet Navies in the early 20th Century...
left the same day. Records differ on her exact fate, but it is certain neither she or any of her crew ever returned.
The diary of Francis Goodhart, commander of E8, states that E1 and the Russian Bars departed at 1400 hrs, E8, E18 and the Russian Gerpard left port together at 1800 hrs on 25 May; E8 's patrol was uneventful, and she returned to Reval on the 31st. However, E18 failed to return; by 5 June Goodhart noted that the crews were "very worried". On the 6th, he noted that he had "Heard from Essen that their W.T. had vaguely indicated presence of a submarine off Redshoff" on Tuesday'. Very slender hope..." By the next day, 8 June, he recorded that a meeting had noted she had sailed with only 15 days food; the situation was "very hopeless now, I fear. No news whatsoever" By the 9 June E8
Vice Consul
A vice consul is a subordinate officer, authorized to exercise consular functions in some particular part of a district controlled by a consulate....
in Reval to send a wire to his family before they got the official Navy telegram in case something happened to him. This indeed she did when Halahan failed to return.
Michael Wilson, a historian, records that E8 and E18 sailed on the 25th and parted the next day. On the 26th, at 4:42 PM, E18 torpedoed the German destroyer V100, blowing off her bow. Had it not been for the calm seas, it is likely she would have sank from the damage; as it was, she was towed back to port with several of her crew killed, requiring major repairs. Two days later, on the 28th, E18 was sighted by a German aircraft off Memel
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
(now Klaipėda, Lithuania), E18 was last sighted on the 1 June 1916 at 1500 hrs sailing north by the German U-boat UB-30 northwest of Steinort. Wilson further states that it is believed she was lost "most likely by striking a mine" on her return to Reval west of Osel
Osel
Osel may refer to:* Ösel - the Yoga of the Clear Light* Ösel, the German name of the island of Saaremaa in Estonia* Osel Hita Torres - a Tibetan Buddhist tulku* Osel - a symphony orchestra based in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium...
. The logs of the German destroyers with V100 also support the same dates as Goodhart's diary and Wilson's observations.
Various sources record her simply as having been sunk on 24 May by a German decoy ship
Merchant raider
Merchant raiders are ships which disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels, whilst actually being armed and intending to attack enemy commerce. Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I, and again early in World War II...
, though this clashes with the known attack on V100 on the 26th and the observations reported by Wilson and Goodhart in subsequent days. It is quite possible that this is a garbling of an encounter between one of the Russian submarines and a decoy vessel around the same time. The German decoy ship Kronprinz Wilhelm
Kronprinz Wilhelm
Kronprinz Wilhelm may refer to:* SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, an auxiliary cruiser converted from a civilian liner in 1914, surrendered to the United States in 1915* SMS Kronprinz , a König class battleship, renamed as Kronprinz Wilhelm in 1918...
(see: SMS Schiff K), known as K, did attack two submarines during E18s patrol in May. K rammed the Russian Gerpard and the following day took the Russian Bars under fire in Hano Bay, the Germans thought they had sunk both submarines, E18 was not in the area of these actions.
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
sent a telegram of condolences on the loss of E18, and awarded Halahan the Order of St. George
Order of St. George
The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...
, with the other two officers receiving the Order of St. Vladimir
Order of St. Vladimir
The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....
and each of the crew being posthumously awarded a medal. These Orders were not normally awarded posthumously. Three of E18s crew did not sail on her last mission; one, John Ryan had measles and later transferred to E19; another, Albert Phillips, missed her patrol for unknown reasons. The other was E18s signalman Albert Edward Robinson who was replaced on this mission by E8s telegraphist George Gaby; he was later sent home in January 1917 and joined E4
HMS E4
HMS E4 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, costing £101,900. E4 was laid down on 16 May 1911, launched on 5 February 1912 and commissioned on 28 January 1913.-Service history:...
on her recommissioning. Ryan and Phillips went home in January 1918. When people research the subject of E18, 11 June 1916 is stated as the date on the crews papers as being lost at sea, as they had no idea when and where E18 was lost at the time this date was purely for administration purposes to close the books on E18.
Discovery of the wreck, 2009
In October 2009, the wreck of HMS E18 was discovered by a ROV deployed by the SwedishSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
survey vessel MV Triad. The position of the wreck lies off the coast of Hiiumaa
Hiiumaa
Hiiumaa is the second largest island belonging to Estonia. It is located in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Saaremaa, a part of the West Estonian archipelago. Its largest town is Kärdla.-Name:...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. Photographs taken of the wreck show that it is likely that it struck a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
while sailing on the surface.