meanwhile, the commander of the "g132", oberleutnant zur see paul graf von montgelas, had informed rear admiral robert mischke by radio about the "e13's" grounding. german naval operations against the russian-held city of riga were at a critical stage and mischke felt that he could not afford to let the "e13" pass into the baltic, where it could threaten the german offensive in the gulf of riga. he ordered "g132" and another torpedo boat to destroy the submarine. the two vessels returned to saltholm and opened fire on the "e13" with torpedoes, machine-guns and shell fire from a range of 300 yards. the submarine was hit repeatedly and set on fire. seeing this, lt cdr layton ordered the submarine to be abandoned, but the firing continued while his men were in the water. the engagement ended when the danish torpedo boat "søulven" placed herself between the submarine and the two german ships, which withdrew. fourteen of the "e13's" crew were killed in the attack and one was missing, presumed killed.