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)
Date 16 August 1915 Location near Lowca and Parton villages, coast of Cumbria, England 54°34′58″N 3°34′58″E / 54.58278°N 3.58278°E / 54.58278; 3.58278 Result indecisive
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Rudolf Schneider	none
Strength
SM U-24 U-boat submarine
Casualties and losses
none	1 dog killed

The Raid on Lowca and Parton on 16 August 1915 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM U-24 on the Harrington Coke toluene factory located near Lowca and Parton villages, Cumbria on the British coast on the North Sea warfare of World War I. Single German ship was able to fire 55 shells in total on her target and then left without any encounter of the British forces, causing minimal damage on the facility and death of local dog. The incident occurred as one of the few naval operations in the Irish Sea and probably the first time when the British land was ever shelled by a submarine vessel.

The event also played a significant part in an espionage affair of Hildegare Burnyeat, German-born wife the British Parliament MP William Burnyeat, shortly after that accused, convicted and finally pardoned, for an espionage for German Empire.