 The Helgoland was a Dutch brigantine armed with 12 @-@ pounder guns and a machine gun . Sanders , second in command to fellow New Zealander Lieutenant A.D. Blair , helped oversee its conversion to a Q @-@ ship . On its first patrol in September 1916 his ship participated in two actions against U @-@ boats , and on its second the following month , it again engaged two U @-@ boats . During the first engagement , the Helgoland was becalmed , without engines and extremely vulnerable . Surrounded by three submarines and with limited manoeuvrability it was forced to reveal its identity early in the engagement . On this occasion a screen concealing one of the guns jammed ; Sanders and Blair exposed themselves to potential gun fire from the U @-@ boat being attacked in order to cut away the screen with axes and crowbars . 
