Herbert then sent Baralongs 12 Royal Marines, commanded by a Corporal Collins, to find the surviving German sailors aboard Nicosian. As they departed, Herbert ordered Collins, "Take no prisoners."Messimer 2002, p. 42. The Germans were discovered in the engine room and shot on sight. According to Sub-Lieutenant Gordon Charles Steele: "Wegener ran to a cabin on the upper deck – I later found out it was Manning's bathroom. The marines broke down the door with the butts of their rifles, but Wegener squeezed through a scuttle and dropped into the sea. He still had his life-jacket on and put up his arms in surrender. Corporal Collins, however, took aim and shot him through the head."Bridgland 1999, p. 43. Corporal Collins later recalled that, after Wegener's death, Herbert threw a revolver in the dead German captain's face and screamed, "What about the Lusitania, you bastard!" An alternative allegation by the Admiralty is that the Germans who boarded Nicosian were killed by the freighter's engine room staff; this report apparently came from the officer commanding the muleteers.McGill & Norris 2007, pp. 320–321.
