SM U-48 was one of the 329 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s serving in the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

) in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.
U-48 was engaged in the naval warfare

Naval warfare of World War I

Naval warfare in World War I was mainly characterized by the efforts of the Allied Powers, with their larger fleets and surrounding position, to blockade the Central Powers by sea, and the efforts of the Central Powers to break that blockade or to establish an effective blockade of the United...

 and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic.

On 24 November 1917 she ran aground on Goodwin Sands

Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...

. There she was fired on by HMS Gipsy

HMS Gipsy (1897)

HMS Gipsy was a Gipsy-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy . She was launched by Fairfield on the 9th of March 1897 and served in home waters through World War I. She destroyed U-48, a U boat which had foundered on the Goodwin Sands on 24 November 1917. She was sold off in...

. U-48 was scuttled and abandoned. Gipsy continued to fire killing 19. 17 were taken prisoner.