actions on 30 April was gazetted. The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on members of the military of the British Empire. All of the crew present on 30 April received awards; Sanders' lieutenant received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), two other officers the Distinguished Service Cross, and the rest of the crew was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Sanders was also promoted to lieutenant commander. Because the use of Q-ships such as Prize was still secret, the particulars of the action leading to the awards made to Sanders and his crew were not made publicly available. Instead, the published details of his VC when it was gazetted simply read: Final patrol Sanders, becoming increasingly fatigued from the stress of his duties, embarked on Prize for another patrol in early August 1917. Before he left, he made a request to be relieved of his command citing "overstrain". The Admiralty approved a few days later but Sanders had already departed on patrol. Sailing into the Atlantic under a Swedish flag, the ship was accompanied by a British submarine, . It was intended that D6 would submerge and observe Prize throughout the day. When an enemy ship was sighted, the crew of Prize would place discreet signals in the rigging to indicate the ship's position to the watching D6. The submarine would then attempt to move into a position where it could torpedo the approaching enemy. On 13 August 1917, a lookout spotted . Sanders opted to use the guns of Prize to shell the German U-boat; UB-48 was undamaged and it submerged to evade the attack. Prize and D6 remained on station. Oberleutnant , the captain of UB-48, was determined to sink Prize and stalked the ship. Soon it was dark and he surfaced his submarine and sighted a light in the distance. He believed that it was likely to be someone aboard Prize opening a porthole or lighting a pipe or cigarette. He launched two torpedoes, one of which struck Prize and exploded. Investigating what remained of Prize he found only wreckage and the body of a British sailor. The D6, still nearby, heard the explosion of the torpedo. At dawn on 14 August, D6 surfaced but no trace was found of Prize or her crew and it was presumed that she had been sunk. Medals and legacy Sanders, a bachelor, died