The action was fought between a German U-boat and two United States Navy destroyers in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Their mission was to escort convoys and rescue survivors of sunken merchant ships as well as to seek out and destroy German U-boats.

The German submarine lined up for a shot at the British merchant steamer SS Welshman and almost immediately Officer of the Deck Lieutenant William O. Henry ordered the destroyer to make circles and engage.

The Fanning and Nicholson's sinking of U-58 was one of only a few engagements of World War I in which U.S. Navy warships sank an enemy submarine.

Fanning and Nicholson continued the war escorting and patrolling the North Atlantic, making several more inconclusive contacts with German submarines.