von Weddigen, who commanded the _U-9_ when she sank
the _Hogue_, _Cressy_, and _Aboukir_ in September, 1914, was confirmed
by a report issued by the German admiralty on April 7, 1915, after
rumors of her loss had circulated throughout England and France for a
number of weeks.

In order to encourage resistance on the part of crews of British
vessels attacked by German submarines, the British Government rewarded
the crew of the steamship _Vosges_. It was announced on April 9, 1915,
that the captain had been given a commission as a lieutenant in the
Royal Naval Reserve and the Distinguished Service Cross; the remaining
officers were given gold watches, and the crew were given $15 per man.

Rumors had reached the outside world that the German submarines were
using hidden spots to store fuel and provisions so that they might go
about their raiding without having to return to German ports for
reprovisioning. Neutral nations, such as the Netherlands and Norway,
found it necessary, to maintain their neutrality, to keep watch for
such action. On the 9th of April, 1915, Norwegian airmen reported to
their Government that such a cache had been discovered by them behind
the cliffs in Bergen Bay. Submarines found there were ordered to
intern or to leave immediately, and chose to do the latter.

Certain acts of the commanders of German submarines seemed to make it
evident that their intention was to sink ships of every description,
no matter where found, in order to make the "war zone" a reality, and
to make it shunned by neutral as well as belligerent ships. Thus the
Dutch steamship _Katwyk_, which lay at anchor seven miles west of the
North Hinder Lightship off the Dutch coast, was sunk. This lightship
was maintained by the Netherlands Government and stood at the mouth of
the River Scheldt, forty-five miles northwest of Flushing. The
_Katwyk_ was stationary there on the night of April 14, 1915, when the
crew felt a great shock and saw that their ship was rapidly taking
water. They managed to reach the lightship in their lifeboats just as
their vessel sank. The same submarine sank the British steamer
_Ptarmigan_ only a few hours later.

Among victims flying the flags of neutral nations the next ship was of
American register. This was the tank steamship _Gulflight_, which was
torpedoed off the Scilly Islands on the 29th of May, 1915. The hole
made in her hull was not large enough to cause her to sink, and she
was able to get to p