Commanded by Lieut. Commander M E Dunbar Nasmith, a brilliant officer inventive and daring but never foolhardy achieved a remarkable distinction in the Sea of Marmora.

It is said of Dunbar Nasmith that he never believed in wasting his precious torpedoes and that on one occasion when he had fired and missed he surfaced his boat, swam out to the errant torpedo, made it safe and attached a line so that it could be drawn back and reloaded through the stern tube.

The incident in Constantinople was part of a patrol in which E11 sank a large transport, became entangled with a moored mine and dragged it for five miles until clear of the Turkish shore batteries. Then E11 surfaced stern first and encouraged the mine to float clear.

Later the submarine torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship Hirredin Barbarosa and the name of Nasmith was well known in the Sea of Marmora for his exploits earned him the VC.

Photo's supplied by the kind permission of the Barrow-in-Furness