Las grandes batallas navales, 18. U-9

September 1914. The First World War has plunged the world into a grim domino effect. At sea, the Imperial German Navy is attempting to confront the British Navy, the undisputed world power on all seas. In this maritime war, where titanic battleships, battlecruisers, and even armored cruisers clash, one weapon is beginning to stand out: the submersible torpedo boat, commonly known as a "submarine." But in the early stages of the global conflict, the submarine—whether German, French, or British—remains an imperfect, smelly, slow, and weakly armed machine. What could a submarine of a few hundred tons possibly do against a surface vessel armed with powerful cannons and whose tonnage numbers in the tens of thousands? In the early hours of September 22, 1914, the improbable will prevail over the obvious. In the grey waters of the North Sea, the German Kaiserliche Marine's SM U-9, with a crew of 26 and under the command of Otto Eduard Wediggen, will sink three English armored cruisers in less than an hour, inflicting one of the most severe defeats of the war on the Royal Navy.