HMS
D6
(1910
-
1918)
On 12 May 1918, HMS D6 (Lt C B Barry) was ordered to search for a German U-boat thought to be preparing to attack a troop convoy in the English Channel. Barry detected the U-boat and attacked from a range of 600 yards. The attack was successful and Lt Barry was awarded the DSO and, later, reached flag rank.
Two months later, on 24 June, under a new commanding officer (Lt S A Brooks), D6 was torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast, by the German U-boat UB73 (Kapitanleutnant Neurether). The Captain and Lt Bell, who were on the bridge, survived and were rescued by UB73; the rest of the crew perished.
Thus, D6 was the first submarine to sink and be sunk by another submarine.
PEOPLE WHO DIED WHILE SERVING IN THIS UNIT
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The sinking of D6 on 24 June 1918 produced the following record:
UB 73 was on her station off Skerryvore [Skerryvore is a reef of rocks located 11 miles southwest of the Isle of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland] and occasionally had to dive because of emerging destroyers at 09:58h, 12:20h, 15:00h and 16:19h. After resurfacing… “Da hier dauernd diese Bewachung steht, bleibe ich hier.” = “Because of this continued patrols I remain here.”
Kptlt. Neureuther rightly assumed that because of these patrol vessels in the vicinity there also must be traffic. Then… “Alarmtauchen vor einem U-Boot. Angriff. Boot fährt mit mittlerer Fahrt stärkste Zickzackkurse.” = “Crash dive because of a U-Boat. Attack. Boat proceeds with average speed strongest zig-zag-courses”
Note: The German meaning of U-Boat is “Unterseeboot” which means “submarine” and therefore even the British submarines and the French sous-marin or Russian podvodny lodka are refered to as “U-Boot” – it has nothing to do with the german abbreviaton U … for the individual boats.
19:06h Quadrat/square “017 gamma 4” = 55°37’N-07°15’W, approx. 20 miles SW of Skerryvore, “Schuß Bugrohr G6 AV mit M.Z., eingestellte Tiefe 4 m ohne Vorhaltewinkel, Entfernung 250 m. Treffer vor dem Turm, Boot schwimmt noch etwa ½ Minute, etwa 8 Leute auf dem Turm, dann sinkt es über den Vorsteven.” “Fired bow tube G6 AV (type of torpedo) with magnetic device (had to explode UNDER the target), depth setting 4 metres, without angle (straight shot), distance 250 metres (273 yards). Hit ahead of conning tower, boat remains afloat about ½ minute, approx. 8 men on the conning tower, then it sinks over the stern.”
19:10h “Aufgetaucht. Zur Schußstelle. Kommandant und W.O. aufgefischt und an Bord genommen. U-Boot “D 6”. Weiter auf Wartestellung mit verschiedenen Kursen” Surfaced to place of shot. Salvaged Commanding Officer and Watch Officer and took them on board. U-Boat “D 6″. Continued on position with various courses.”
gez./ signed Neureuther (Capt)
from: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/155874-hm-submarine-d6/
I have recently discovered that Stoker 1 Thomas Henry Pollington Stone, was my father’s uncle’s nephew, and on Thomas’s service record it not only records his “ship” as D6 but also as “Platypus”.