two submarines had sunk, three had been badly damaged, and 105 men had been killed.K14 was taken in tow by HMS Venetia'' and reached port. Aftermath A total of 104 lives were lost during the "Battle of May Island"; 55 from K4, 47 from K17, and two from K14. The subsequent hastily-convened Court of Inquiry began on 5 February 1918 and sat for five days. The Court of Inquiry released its final report on 19 February 1918, in which it placed the blame for the incident on Leir and four officers on the K boats. They recommended that Leir be court martialled. The case of negligence against Leir for the loss of K-17 was "not proved". Both the investigation and court martial were kept quiet, with much of the information not released until 1994, by which time all of the participants had died, to avoid embarrassment to the Navy. A memorial cairn was erected 84 years later, on 31 January 2002, at Anstruther harbour opposite the Isle of May. The Submariners' Association holds an annual commemorative service to honour the loss of life. Wrecks In 2011, surveyors conducting a detailed preparatory survey of the sea floor for the Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind farm published sonar images of the wrecks of the two submarines, K-4 and K-17 sunk during the accident. The site of the two sunken submarines, 100 metres apart and about 50 metres down, has long been known, but the wrecks have now been officially surveyed by divers from the specialist marine consultants EMU. See also Battle of Barking Creek, a 1939 friendly-fire aviation incident Honda Point disaster, a 1923 incident involving United States destroyers. Citations References External links Shipwrecks of Scotland 1918 in Scotland Maritime incidents in 1918 Maritime incidents in Scotland Military operations of World War I involving the United Kingdom Military action involving Scottish islands 1918 disasters in the United Kingdom Firth of Forth