fitting out of the ship. Prize was formally commissioned into the Royal Navy a few days later, on 25 April, with a crew of 27, including Sanders. It departed for its first patrol the next day. In the evening of 30 April, near the Isles of Scilly in the Atlantic, Prize was attacked by a U-boat, , commanded by Kapitänleutnant Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim. The Q-ship was badly damaged by shellfire from the U-boat's deck gun. Sanders, having dispatched the panic party to a small boat, remained under cover with his men. Despite several of them being wounded, the crew remained in place to maintain the facade of an abandoned ship. After 20 minutes of shelling, Prize appeared to the Germans to be sinking. The U-boat approached her port quarter, whereupon Sanders ordered the White Ensign hoisted and Prize opened fire. Within a few minutes the submarine had received severe damage to her conning tower, with several crew members blown into the water. After moving away, the U-boat disappeared from sight in mist, and was believed by the crew of Prize to have been sunk. The panic party, still in its boat, collected three survivors, including the captain of the U-boat, and brought them back to Prize. The damage to the ship was serious, and the German prisoners assisted in repairs as it made for the Irish coast and received a tow as it approached Kinsale. In the meantime, U-93 managed to struggle back to the island of Sylt, near the German coast, nine days later. While Prize was being repaired, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, offered Sanders command of a destroyer of his choosing, which he declined. Preferring to remain in his current role, Sanders returned to sea in late May with Prize conducting a second patrol for three weeks. Sanders was wounded slightly in the arm during an action on 12 June, in which Prize encountered another German submarine, , on the surface. It was fired at 30 times by the U-boat as it approached. Once Sanders gave the order to fire, the U-boat turned away. Only a few shots from Prize were fired and the U-boat quickly submerged and got away. After being repaired, Prize undertook another patrol in late June and early July. On 22 June, while Sanders was at sea, his award of the Victoria Cross (VC) for his