Page 156 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

142 JÙRGEN ROHWER

co ha ve sunk che British bactlecruiser Tiger, which was in reality che steamer Merion
of 19 380 gross tons, remodelled as a "dummy" Tiger, to mislead che Germans.
The stare of che U-boac operations in che Medicerranean was direcced against
che warships. Against the French and ltalian ships guarding the exit of the Adriatic
Sea the few Austrian U -boacs achieved some spectacular successes like che corpe-
doing of che French dreadnought]ean Bart on 21 December 1914 by the new U
12, an d o n 2 7 Aprii 1915 che sinking of che F rench armoured cruiser Uon Gambet-
ta by U 5 under Lt. Ritter von Trapp, who became after che war a legend with
his singing family, and on 18July 1915 che ltalian armoured cruiser Giuseppe Gari-
baldi by U 4. A few days earlier, on 6 July,' che small German UB 14 had sunk che
Italian armoured cruiser Amalfi.
While the small UB- and UC-boacs senc to Turkish ports proved co be insuffi-
cient in che Aegean Sea against che Allied fleet, they were sent into the Black Sea.
5 other UB-boats were transferred to the Austrian Navy for use in the Adriatic
Sea. To gec more effective U-boacs to attack che Allied fleet and che su,pply ships
in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean, the German Admiralty decided in
August 1915 to send more ocean-going U-boats into the Mediterranean. In Au~st
and September 1915 U 34} U 35, U 39 and U 33 a"ived, to be fo/lowed in November
by u 38.
The German Navy had in February 1915 started a mercantile warfare by U-
boats in British waters, but sinkings in which American citizens carne co harm,
as in the cases ofboth the Lusitania and che Arabic, led co che firsc cessation of sub-
marine warfare in both che Norch Sea and The Atlantic approaches co Britain in
September 1915 after an exchange of strong notes wich che American president
Wilson. So the U-boats sent to che Mediterranean were allowed only to attack ene-
my warships and transport ships supplying the Dardanelles operation. Merchant
ships had co be stopped by che surfaced U-boat and to be handled according to
the prize regulations. One problem with their operations was that ltaly was at war
with Austria since the 23 May 1915, but there was no dedaration ofwar between
Germany and ltaly. To allow the German U-boats to attack lcalian warships and
transports supplying che Allied forces an agreement was reached with the Auscrian
government, allowing the German U-boacs to hoist the Austrian flag in such at·
tacks. The Austrian government agreed also to h~ndle any diplomatic exchange
in case of an incident with a neutra! country following such an U-boat attack.
The big U-boats achieved some good successes during their first patrols in
che Aegean, but it soon became the custom to use the U-boats also in che open
eascern Mediterranean against the supply traffic. On 7 November 1915 U 38 un-
der Lc. Cdr. Max Valentiner, flying the Austrian flag, stopped and sank che l tali an
passenger steamer Ancona, leading co the loss of Americans when the abandonment
of the ship led to a panic. An exchange of strong notes with the US government
forced the Austrians co ask che Germans for a change. This led on 4 December
to che order not to attack passenger ships, even if armed and under Allied flags.