Battle of May Island

The Battle of May Island, as it came to be called, was a series of naval accidents which occurred between numerous Royal Navy vessels.

The Battle of May Island occurred on the night of the 31st of January (and early morning of the 1st of February), 1918. It took place near the Island of May, in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. In total, over 100 men perished that night, two submarines were lost, and three submarines along with a cruiser were badly damaged.

Despite its given name, the Battle of May Island was not indeed a battle, no enemy forces were present. Events began with a fleet of 40 vessels leaving Rosyth and headed to Scapa Flow. The fleet consisted of three battleships and their destroyer escorts, four battle cruisers and their destroyers, two cruisers and a set of light cruisers which would lead a K-class submarine each. The vessels were in line formation, and were only showing dim stern lights. This was to protect the ships from a suspected nearby German U-boat, as this was thought to be enough under the present mist cover.

The Battle of May Island began when a group of light ships were seen approaching the line of submarines. The K-class flotilla altered course, but K-14 experienced a jammed rudder. In an effort to fix the problem, K-14 and K-12 stopped. Though K-22, which was now lost, collided and K-14. As it passed the event, the battle cruiser "Inflexible" collided with K-22.

Though radio silence was meant to be kept through what became the Battle of May Island, news of the initial crash had been sent out. The captain of Ithuriel, upon hearing the message, turned around, and was followed in formation by the vessels in behind. This nearly caused another collision with the 2nd Battle Squadron. Soon after, Fearless, the leader of the 12th Battalion collided with K17, causing the submarine to sink. Further, K4 was hit and sank.