Part1.
In the autumn of 1914 the Admiralty, anxious to bring home the battle-cruisers from the Mediterranean for the Grand Fleet and the destroyers to fight U-boats, handed command of the Dardanelles blockade to a French Admiral. His small force included three British and three French submarines which were based at Port Sigri in Mityleni (Lesbos), the British under the command of Lieut. Cdr. C.P.R. Pownall.

Enemy warships had been active against the Russians in the Black Sea. In November the two German cruisers GOEBEN and BRESLAU had badly damaged the Russian flagship EVSTAFI but reports from agents suggesting that GOEBEN had suffered too proved to be unfounded because at the beginning of December they were both back in the Black Sea with the Turkish HAMIDICH, the BRESLAU actually laying mines off Sevastopol.

A `B` Class Submarine

There was intense competition among the six allied submarine commanders for a chance to make an attempt on the Dardanelles and try and make it through into the Sea of Marmora. Eventually the choice fell on Lieut. N. Holbrook of B-11. His submarine was eight years old, having been built by Vickers at Barrow in 1906, and it may seem surprising that she had actually reached the Aegean under her own power, but she had recently had her batteries renewed and Holbrook had already taken her two miles up the Straits in chase of Turkish gunboats. Lieut. Holbrook, who was about 25 was a submarine officer of long experience. The boat was 135 ft. long with a beam of 13.5 ft. On the surface her 600hp engine managed to drive her at about 12 knots, and submerged, her electric motor gave 7-9 knots. She was armed with two 18" torpedo tubes in the bow and her complement was 18 men.

The straits leading from the Aegean into the Sea of Marmora are 27 miles long and for one stretch of three and a half miles they are less than a mile wide. In 1914 little was known about the fierce underwater currents which ripped through this narrow channel in both directions. There are two main changes in course: From north-east to north after passing Charnak to starboard, then from north to east after passing Nagara Liman, returning to north-east again shortly after. It was known that five rows of mines formed a protective field in the narrowest part

The narrow part of the straits

After being fitted with guards to help her pass under obstacles, B-11 sailed on 13 December 1914 and Holbrook`s orders were to torpedo anything he could find and report on the going. He passed between Cape Helles and Kum Kale to the north and south of the entrance and made Kephez Point on the surface without being seen by the shore batteries. Here he had to dive to pass under the five rows of mines and when he put up his periscope to find his position he saw a large, grey-pained vessel with two funnels and flying the Turkish ensign. He closed to 800 yds, fired one torpedo and immediately dived. There was an explosion and another peep with the periscope showed the enemy settling by the stern.
She was the old battleship MESSUDIYEN, originally built in 1874 but reconstructed in 1902. Outdated as a battleship, her large number of Vickers guns made her a formidable defender of the narrow waterway. According to the Turks, she had been placed in this exposed position at the insistence of the Germans. She rolled over and sank in ten minutes and many men were trapped inside her, but most were released by divers who cut holes in the hull. The casualties were 10 officers and 27 men killed. Most of her guns were salvaged and added to the shore defences.

As patrol boats milled around above, Holbrook, lying on the bottom, considered the problem of getting home. He was not entirely sure of his position and to complicate matters further, the glass of his compasses had become so fogged as to make them useless. Since he was almost surrounded by land he assumed that he was in Sari Siglar Bay. So, ordering full speed he steered in the direction he thought best. Several times he bumped bottom but the risk of ripping open the plating had to be taken. After half an hour, when he judged that he had passed under the minefields he raised his periscope for the first time and found a clear horizon on his port beam. Shore batteries kept him under until he was past Cape Helles, a total of nine hours submerged. British destroyers, watching outside, saw a Turkish patrol boat hunting for him, but this was not noticed by Holbrook.

The Admiralty responded immediately. Holbrook was awarded the Victoria Cross, His second in command, Lt. S.T. Winn a DSO, and every member of the crew a DSC or DSM according to rank. Another submarine, B-9 made an attempt to follow B-11`s example but was spotted by shore batteries and was forced to return.

B11 survived the war and was scrapped in Italy in 1919.

© 1996 Michael Phillips