The first time he went /had gone?

Hello all.

I wonder why I can not (not sure) use past perfect in these sentences.

1) The first time he went (had gone)to the ocean was when he went to the Black Sea.

2) The 1st time a Germany ship was sunk (had been sunk) by a submarine was in 1916.

I thought it could work the same way is as in these examples:

It was the first time I had met him.
It was the first kiss she had given me.

In these last two sentences I was often told that there should be only past simple in the second part of the sentences until I met people using British English. For them there should be past perfect only. Therefore I think the same may work in my original examples - there should be past perfect instead of past simple as well? Is it all about the influence of American language?

If it is not the same case could you tell me please what makes the difference?

Thank you very much!