Salmon torpedoes Leipzig and Nürnberg

13 December 1939, North Sea, west of Heligoland

British success; two German cruisers torpedoed

On 13 December 1939 the light cruisers Leipzig, Nürnberg and Köln sailed to meet German destroyers coming home from laying mines off the Tyne. The submarine Salmon, under Lieutenant-Commander Edward Bickford, which had sunk U-36 nine days earlier, sighted them and fired a full salvo of six torpedoes at long range. One hit Nürnberg forward and another hit Leipzig amidships. Both cruisers reached the Elbe, but Leipzig was out of action for a year, and afterwards was used mostly for training. The day before, Salmon had let the liner Bremen pass unharmed, as the rules of war then required.

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