Class, and was ordered to extend German submarine warfare to the western coast of the British Isles. On 21 January, he sailed from Wilhelmshaven and entered the Irish Sea, where he tried to shell the airfield on Walney Island, but had no success. On 30 January U-21 met and sank three merchant ships, Ben Cruachan, Linda Blanche and Kilcuan. In every case, Hersing respected the prize rules, helping the crew of the intercepted ships. He then sailed back to Germany and at the beginning of February docked in Wilhelmshaven, having passed through the Dover Barrage without consequences for the second time in a short while. Operations in the Mediterranean and the Dardanelles Hersing was ordered in April to transfer to the Mediterranean Sea to support the Ottoman Empire, allied to Germany and under attack of British and French troops at the Dardanelles. He sailed with U-21 from Kiel on 25 April and arrived at the Austro-Hungarian port of Cattaro after eighteen days. Due to a problem in refueling, Hersing was forced to slow down his submarine and proceed part of the way on the surface, exposing it to the risk of being detected by Allied units. After a week in the friendly port, Hersing sailed to his new operational area off Gallipoli, which he reached on 25 May. The same day, he spotted the British battleship HMS Triumph. Hersing brought his U-boat to within 300 yards (270 m) of his target and fired a single torpedo, which hit the battleship and caused it to capsize and sink, causing the death of 3 officers and 75 members of the crew. After the action, Kapitänleutnant Hersing took his submarine to the seafloor and waited there for 28 hours before resurfacing to recharge the electric batteries. On 27 May, U-21 sank her second Allied battleship in the Dardanelles, the Majestic. Hersing was able to avoid the escorting vessels and the torpedo nets that surrounded the ship, and the Majestic sunk within four minutes of being hit off Cape Helles, causing the death of at least 40 members of the crew (many of them were trapped in the defensive nets that were supposed to protect the ship) Hersing's successes forced the Allies to withdraw all major ships from Cape Helles, and Great Britain offered a 100,000 pound reward for the capture of the German commander. On 5 June Hersing received the Pour le Mérite,