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
German Type U 66 submarine under the command of "Kapitänleutnant" Ludwig Güntzel. Six days into her first war patrol, "U-68" encountered the British Q-ship (Q-ship number five) off Dingle and was sunk with all hands. "U-68" sank no ships during her brief service career. "U-69" was laid down on 7 February 1914 (yard number 206) by Germaniawerft at Kiel and launched on 24 June 1915. She was commissioned on 4 September 1915 under the command of "Kapitänleutnant" Ernst Wilhelms. During her service career, "U-69" sank 31 ships with a combined gross register tonnage of 102,875, the largest among them, the 13,441-ton armed merchant cruiser .