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It's a foggy early morning on August 26th, 1914,

just one month into World War I. A German cruiser cuts through the Baltic Sea,

laying mines near the entry to the Gulf of Finland. The SMS Magdeburg

works under the cover of darkness, steaming along...

...until it comes to a shuttering halt. On deck, the captain curses as the ship runs a ground in

the shallow waters off a nearby island. Captain directs his crew to start throwing any

unnecessary equipment overboard. He's confident that if they can lighten the cruiser's load,

it'll pull off the shoals. But despite their best efforts, the ship doesn't come free.

So left with no choice, captain orders his crew to start lowering the ship's dinghings.

As the man prepare for evacuation, the captain's mind goes immediately to the most precious cargo on board.

A set of three codebooks used to write and decipher German communications.

Quickly, the captain orders a signalman to fetch the books. But as he awaits the crew members return,

he gazes out at the horizon. A break develops in the fog. The captain sees two unfamiliar vessels

bearing down on his boat. As they draw closer, he recognizes them as Russian ships.

As the enemy ships open fire on the Magdeburg, captain rushes to locate the signalman he

sent to retrieve the codebooks. When he finds them, the captain orders the signalman to take the

books, row out to deep water, and throw them overboard. Captain looks on as the signalman

boards a dinghy with codebooks in hand and is slowly lower down.

But before the boat can reach the water below, incoming Russian shells explode all around it.

...