Raid on Lowca and Parton
| Raid on Lowca and Parton | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Naval warfare of World War I | |||||||
German U-24 submarine attacking Harrington Coke factory near Whitehaven (illustration by Willy Moralt) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Germany | United Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Rudolf Schneider | None | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| U-24 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 1 dog killed | ||||||
The Raid on Lowca and Parton during the First World War on 16 August 1915 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy submarine U-24 on the Harrington Coke toluene factory located near the villages of Lowca and Parton in Cumbria on the British coast. U-24 fired 55 shells and then left without British interference, causing minimal damage to the facility and the death of a local dog. The incident was one of only a few naval operations in the Irish Sea during World War One, and probably the first time Britain was bombarded by a submarine.
The event played a significant part in the espionage affair of Hildegare Burnyeat, the German-born wife of British Parliament MP William Burnyeat, who was accused, convicted, and finally pardoned on charges of spying for the German Empire.