SS Indian City: The Day U 29 Came to Scilly
On 12 March 1915 a German submarine sank three British steamers around Scilly. The new Indian City went down south of St Mary's, and all her crew survived.
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On 12 March 1915 the war at sea arrived on Scilly's doorstep. A single German submarine, U 29, sank three British steamers in the waters around the islands in one day. One of them, the brand new Indian City, went down about ten miles south of St Mary's, and her crew owed their lives to a strange act of courtesy from the man who sank her.
Key Takeaways
- The Indian City was a new British steamer of 4,645 tons, built by Doxford of Sunderland for a Bideford company.
- She was sunk by U 29 on 12 March 1915, about 10 miles south of St Mary's.
- All 37 crew survived; the U boat towed their lifeboats towards the islands.
- The same day U 29 also sank the Headlands south of Scilly and the Andalusian to the west.
A new ship from Galveston
uboat.net records that Indian City was built in 1915 by W. Doxford and Sons and run by the Reardon Smith company of Bideford. She was bound from Galveston in Texas to Le Havre with cotton and metal. The Company of Master Mariners of Australia account says her cargo also included copper and cask staves, and that her master was John Williams.
Twenty minutes to leave
Early on 12 March the crew sighted a submarine. U 29 was commanded by Otto Weddigen. The crew were given about twenty minutes to take to their two boats before the ship was torpedoed. The Penwith Local History Group describes how Weddigen took Captain Williams aboard the submarine and offered to tow the lifeboats towards land. Some five miles out, he cast them off when other vessels appeared, and naval trawlers took the boats in tow. Indian City burned and sank in the early hours of the next day.
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The same day U 29 torpedoed the Headlands, carrying ore and fruit from Marseille to Bristol, about eight miles south of the islands, and scuttled the Andalusian west north west of the Bishop Rock. Wikipedia's list of March 1915 losses records that all their crews survived. Within a week U 29 herself was gone, rammed and sunk with all hands by HMS Dreadnought in the Pentland Firth, as Wikipedia records.
Where she lies
The position of the wreck is uncertain. Most accounts place the sinking about ten miles south of St Mary's, but uboat.net gives coordinates that lie much further south. We show a broad area and do not mark a dive site. No protection order is known. See where she lies on our Isles of Scilly shipwrecks map.
Last checked October 2026
