June 23, 1916 the Citta di Messina, an Italian auxiliary cruiser under escort by the French destroyer Fourche was torpedoed and sunk by the KuK U-XV, an Austrian submarine. The Fourche then depth charged the submarine and believed they had sunk her. Fourche returned to the scene of the sunken ship and begun picking up survivors. Shortly thereafter the un-sunken U-XV fired a single torpedo at the French destroyer, cutting her in half and sending her to the bottom of the Adriatic. KuK U-XV was damaged enough that she had to be towed back to port. I have no casualty figures available. |
