RMS Mauretania (1906) and were requested by the British government to become armed merchant cruisers, but their huge size and massive fuel consumption made them unsuitable for the duty, and they resumed their civilian service on 11 August. Later, due to lack of passengers crossing the Atlantic, "Mauretania" was laid up in Liverpool until May 1915 at the time that "Lusitania" was sunk by a German U-boat. "Mauretania" was about to fill the void left by "Lusitania", but she was ordered by the British government to serve as a troop ship to carry British soldiers during the Gallipoli Campaign. She avoided becoming prey
U-boat Campaign (World War I) operations. One of the ships sunk near the Norwegian coast was the Romanian merchant "Bistrița", sunk by "U-43" on 11 November. Before sinking the ship, the captain of the U-boat allowed the ship's crew to take refuge in his submarine, then later he handed over the crew to a Russian sailing ship which took them to Vardø. From there, they were eventually repatriated. The Constantinople Flotilla was established in May 1915 and operated U-boats in the Black Sea. Bulgaria joined the campaign in May 1916, when the German submarine "UB-8" was commissioned by the Bulgarian Navy as "Podvodnik". In three