SM U-28 (Germany)

SM U-28 was a Type U 27 U-boat that served in the First World War. It conducted four patrols, sinking 39 ships totalling 93,782 tons.

Career
U-28 was commissioned into the Imperial German Navy on 26 June 1914, with Freiherr Georg-Günther von Forstner in command.

On 30 July 1915, U-28 sunk British steamer Iberian. According to Commander von Forstner's account of the incident, the wreckage remained under the water for about 25 seconds until an explosion sent some of the debris flying up. Along with the debris was a creature described as a "gigantic aquatic animal" resembling a crocodile, which quickly disappeared from sight.

Commander von Forstner was relieved on 15 June 1916 by Otto Rohrbeck, who was in turn relieved on 5 August by Freiherr von Loe-Degenhart. On 15 January 1917, Georg Schmidt took command.

Sinking
U-28's final patrol began on 19 August 1917, when it departed from Emden for the Arctic Sea. On 2 September, at 11:55 am, it encountered the armed English steamer SS ''Olive Branch, 85 miles north-by-northeast of North Cape, Norway. U-28 scored a torpedo hit, and closed in to finish the steamer with gunfire. The shells detonated the Olive Branch's cargo of munitions, which it had been carrying from England to Arkhangelsk, Russia, and the subsequent explosion so badly damaged the U-boat that it sank along with the steamer. All 39 of its crew were lost; some were seen swimming, but were not picked up by the Olive Branch's lifeboats.

An alternative description of the event states that when the ammunition detonated, a truck carried as deck cargo was blown into the air and fell from a great height on the U-boat, sinking it.