“Within the Seat of War”

BLANK “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

“The whole world is in a state of chassis”: Dublin Port in a ...4 time of War: 1914 to 1918

“Run silent, run deep”: The history of the submarine ...6

“Unrestricted submarine warfare”: The U-boat threat 1914 - 1918 ...8

The life of the SS Hare: A tale of solidarity, hope and stout ...10

The final voyage of the SS Hare ...13

The life of the SS Adela: A Tedcastle ship ...16

The final voyage of the SS Adela ...18

SS Hare and SS Adela crew lists ...21

Obituaries, biographies and survivors’ stories ...22

Submarine victims: Help for dependents in Dublin ...37

The first of the famous Guinness fleet - Torpedoed in 1917 ...39

Commander Ernst-Friedrich Hashagen (U-62): “U-Boat Westwards” ...41

Kapitänleutnant Freiherr Degenhart von Loë (U-100) ...44

A publication of The Adela-Hare Centenary Commemoration Committee

Second Edition, December 2017

Email: [email protected] Find us on Facebook: www.fb.com/adelahare1917 “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR” T r o o p s

a t

N o r t h

W a l l

( S p e n c e r

D o c k )

1 4 t h

A u g u s t

1 9 1 4 “The whole world is in a state of chassis” Dublin Port in a time of War: 1914 to 1918 “...His Majesty's Government declared to tended. Troops, animals, vehicles and equip - the German Government that a state of war ment would pass through here on the way to exists between Great Britain and Germany as the battlefields of France and Belgium. from 11pm on August 4, 1914.” Just days after Britain entered the war it is ith these words Ireland, as part of the reported that thousands of people gathered on WUnited Kingdom would inevitably the Quays to wave goodbye to reservists head - find itself involved in the global conflict that ing overseas “most enthusiastic for England, would continue until November 1918. singing and playing God Save the King, an un - The consequences for cities and towns heard of thing hitherto”. Troop movement across the thirty-two counties would be pro - would become a two-way traffic as the injured, found over this period, but for the Dublin the maimed and horrifically scarred would Docklands and the surrounding community the soon arrive back via North Wall. This began as effects were immediate. early as September, with the first ship carrying Much of Dublin Port was immediately over 600 wounded men. An average of 400 seized by the military, with the North Wall Ex - would have been on these ships. A letter writer tension and Alexandra Quay taken over com - to the Irish Times in 1915 would ask “Cannot pletely on the day war was declared. There was something be done before the next hospital some easing of this militarisation over time but ship comes to Dublin to improve the awful sur - North Wall Extension remained under military face of the roadway down the North Wall? Its control for the duration of the war. Quay-side present condition is a disgrace to our city. The sheds were converted for use by troops and arrangements today at the ships’ side and at the built onto, and a section of the boundary wall various hospitals were admirable and worked was removed to allow the rail line to be ex - with perfect smoothness, but the passage from the dockyard gates to Carlisle Bridge must have been an inferno for badly wounded men”. three weeks after hostilities began, on 23rd Au - n the early years of the war, within the gust 1914. On this day, the Royal Irish Fusiliers IDocklands (as in other working-class dis - lost 350 men at the Battle of Mons, Belgium, tricts) recruitment was high. The motivation one of the first major engagements of the War. for joining up was varied. These propaganda (Originally hailing from Cork, just over two posters are clearly targeted at different poten - years later his brother Thomas would die at tial recruits. Loyalty to the King and Great Ypres, also serving with the Fusiliers). Many Britain was certainly a factor for some; while local employers enthusiastically supported the many Nationalist recruits would have hoped war effort. The London North Western Rail - that their service would be rewarded with way (LNWR) lost 13 staff associated with its home rule after a British vic - North Wall Depot, killed in Europe. tory. The Docklands suffered While military control and from grinding poverty, substan - in the early restrictions remained in place dard housing, unemployment years of the for the duration, commerce and casual labour – joining the continued, and for some local forces was paid well, depend - war, within the industrialists, business would ents received a separation al - be booming. In 1902, the Scot - lowance and many employers Docklands ARMY tish born ship builder John could be expected to favour Smellie was part of an endeav - former soldiers, so ‘Economic recruitment our to reinvigorate the indus - conscription’ was rife. Addi - was high. try here. He established the tionally, some workers re - Dublin Dockyard Company mained black-listed after the industrial dispute and by the outbreak of war this had developed of 1913. There are some reports of 200 Dock - into a major local employer. A repair contract ers, apparently known as “The Larkinites”, with the Royal Navy was signed as early as who joined the 7th Battalion of the Royal September 1914. They were soon producing Dublin Fusiliers. The Dublin Metropolitan Po - pontoon bridges, floating targets to train gun lice (DMP) claimed 2000 reservists from the crews, fitting ship gun platforms, depth ITGWU had re-joined their regiments to fight charges, wireless cables, mine laying appli - in France at the start of the war and in 1916 ances, telegraph poles, among other war related Transport Union organiser William Partridge work. They would eventually be repairing tor - stated that over 8,000 had joined up nationally pedo damaged ships following U-boat attacks. by March of that year. Smellie had an ambitious plan to develop an The earliest casualty from the Docklands we aircraft manufacturing company here, but

are aware of is 22-year-old William Regan; just while he received the necessary licences he had

y h

s y “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

difficulty acquiring a landing strip and aban - doned this scheme. Instead he established the Dublin Dockyard War Munitions Company. Between 1915 and early 1919 the factory em - ployed 200 women (mostly local) producing 648,150 shells during this period. Other local industries would also benefit from the conflict – such as T. &C. Martin’s, Timber Merchants, who would manufacture boxes and crates for military use. aster 1916, the capital itself became a Ewar zone, and Dockland residents would get to witness the horrors of combat first hand. Much of the North Dock was placed ““RRuunn ssiilleenntt,, rruunn ddeeeepp”” within a military cordon, and sniper fire and The history of the submarine deadly machine gun bursts would become a “It may be of great advantages against a Navy daily threat. South of the River, Boland’s Mill of enemies, who by this may be undermined in the was one of the main rebel garrisons, and some water and blown up” - John Wilkins, 1648 of the most intense combat of the week took ince human-kind first created a vessel to place near to Mount Street Bridge. A small Stravel across the water, human ingenuity number of artillery shells were fired into both has endeavoured to find a means to travel Grand Canal Quay and East Wall, and some under the water. Through all recorded history tenements on City Quay shook so much from there are references to submersible devices, the booming guns on the Helga that they be - with Greek historians claiming Alexander the came unstable and dangerous to inhabit. Civil - Great used diving bells in the third century BC. ian casualties were significant in Ringsend, In 1620 a Dutch engineer developed a vessel Pearse Street and in other residential areas on that is considered the first practically manoeu - each side of the Liffey. The Dublin Port and vrable submersible. Further successes are noted Docks harbour master himself would have a in the 1700s but it was not until the 19th cen - narrow escape when his driver was shot beside tury that design progressed rapidly. him. As soon as it was possible to navigate under It was almost three and a half years after the the surface, attention turned to how this could declaration of war that the attacks on the SS be turned to destructive purpose. In fact, mem - Hare and SS Adela would occur. Of the thirty- bers of the Fenian brotherhood had entered six souls lost during that tragic Christmas sea - into a partnership with John Philip Holland to son of 1917, seventeen of them came from the develop a submarine that could be utilised Dublin Dockland communities. This means against the British Empire. Their ambitions that this period represents the single biggest were sunk due to a disagreement over financing loss of life locally during the Great War. It is of the project (though the prototype ‘Fenian proper that this is recognised during this, the Ram’ can still be seen on display in New Jer - centenary year. sey). If successful, this would have not been the first time such a tactic was imagined by Revo - lutionaries – in 1776, during the American War of Independence a submersible called Turtle was used in an attempt to blow up a ship in

r r New York Harbour. The single person vessel i

s was manually propelled, and it took two hours

T o of strenuous labour to reach the target, the

s e British flagship Eagle. The exhausted rebel lit

r the fuse on his bomb but could not attach it to

1 the hull, and abandoned it to explode in a spec - 9

1 6 tacular but ineffective manner in the water. U

“Run silent, run deep” 1

9 The history of the submarine 8 It was almost a century later when the first successful sinking of an enemy ship by a sub - John Philip Holland marine occurred. In February of 1864, during From Christian Brother to sub-mariner the American Civil War, Confederate subma - rine Hunley carried out the attack in South While he did not invent the submarine, Carolina. While completing its mission, it ap - the innovations of Irish born John Philip pears it was too close to its target and would Holland were so significant that he is re - soon sink due to the force of its own exploding garded as “the father of the modern subma - torpedo. Five crew aboard the USS Housatonic rine”. Born in County Clare in 1841, his were killed as were all eight attackers, making father was a coastguard. Holland became a these the first casualties of submarine warfare Christian Brother and taught in Limerick, in history. Cork, Portlaoise, Drogheda and Dundalk be - fore leaving the order and emigrating to the s the 20th century dawned, the military United States in his early 30s. Living in New potential of submarines was high on A Jersey, he turned his attention to submarine the agenda of the world powers. During the design. His first design was completed in Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) both sides 1875 but considered impractible. He contin - developed small submarine fleets – Japan ac - ued his work over the following decades and quiring their vessels from America, while Ger - eventually in 1900 the U.S. Navy commis - many supplied the Russians. However, sioned the Holland design. This would be hostilities ceased before these were used in any adopted by both the Royal Navy and Japan - significant manner. ese Navy, making the Irishman central to the A decade later, International tensions were story of 20th century warfare. He died aged leading inevitably to Global War. Both Britain 73, on the 12th August 1914, just days after and Germany had developed efficient, combat the Great War began. He did not live to see ready machines. In addition to general design the terrible consequences of his engineering and manoeuvrability innovations, these boats genius. were fitted with torpedo tubes and deck guns.

The addition of wireless transmitters would

o h

also be of crucial importance. When hostilities n

l i

between these nations were announced in Au - p

o l

gust of 1914, Great Britain had a submarine l

fleet of 74 vessels, while Germany had 28 U- a

boats, but was rapidly developing more. These o

i s

would play a crucial role in the coming years, s

with tragic consequences for 1,000s of combat - i

2 0

ants and innocent seafarers alike. 1 4

“WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

‘

r ’ “Unrestricted submarine warfare” The U-boat threat 1914 - 1918 he war everybody knew was coming ar - had established a code for naval engagements Trived on 14th August 1914. ‘Britannia involving civilian vessels. Ships could be Rules the Waves’ was no idle boast, and stopped, boarded and searched for ‘contraband Britain’s superior sea power was immediately of war’. If they were to be captured or sunk put to use. A naval blockade of Germany was there was an obligation that the crew and pas - implemented and a list of contraband products sengers be safeguarded. Merchant ships were issued. In November the North Sea was de - required to fly their own national flag, and clared to be a War Zone, with any ships enter - were not allowed be armed or engage in hostile ing doing so at their own risk. A British or evasive actions. designation of food as ‘contraband of war’ was Though this code predated the age of the controversial, giving them greater opportunity submarine, initial engagements were conducted to challenge merchant vessels and also sig - according to these so-called ‘prize rules’ or nalling a clear intention to ‘cruiser rules’and were aimed starve Germany into submis - solely at the vessels them - sion. Germany would soon re - selves. The first merchant spond in kind. Britain, as an ship lost to a U-boat was on Island nation was more vulner - October 20th, when the SS able to such a tactic. However, Glitra was boarded. The crew they had anticipated their were allowed disembark in blockade would restrict the lifeboats before valves were

Kaiser’s fleet, and while this opened, flooding the holds

e a

was the case for surface vessels, with seawater and sinking the

s i

it was the aggressive deploy - d vessel and its cargo of coal,

r e

ment of U-boats that would al - d iron plate, and oil. Other

‘

i t

most be their undoing. h sinkings were achieved by ex -

t h

Following the Crimean e plosives placed on board or

War, the Paris Declaration Re - o by deck guns. Some early re -

w a

specting Maritime Law (1856) r ports suggest an almost light- ’ hearted attitude and even a swapping of pleas - Throughout the remainder of 1915 and antries during such operations. most of 1916 the Irish channel, the waters be - However, this was quickly to change. tween the islands, was relatively free of attacks. British merchant ships were encouraged to ram However, the war was lasting longer than ex - submarines that surfaced, and the use of neu - pected and Germany was determined to push tral flags was being abused. A policy of arming for victory and was prepared to risk a major merchant ships with deck guns was also being gamble. The starving of Britain into surrender implemented. This led to Germany formally de - was seen as a real possibility, and might be claring a policy of ‘unrestricted warfare’ on 4th achieved quickly before America could re - February 1915: spond. In February of 1917 ‘unrestricted sub - “Germany now declares the waters surrounding marine warfare’ was resumed. Almost Great Britain and Ireland, including the whole of immediately President Woodrow Wilson sev - the English Channel, to be comprised within the seat ered all diplomatic relations, and on 6th April of war, and will prevent by all the military means at 1917 would declare war on Germany. its disposal all navigation by the enemy in those wa - “Every means that is calculated to shorten the ters. To this end it will endeavour to destroy, after war is the humanest policy to follow. When the February 18 next, any merchant vessel of the enemy most ruthless methods are considered as the best which presents themselves at the seat of war above calculated to lead us to a victory and to a swift vic - indicated, although it may not always be possible to tory, and then they must be employed. This moment avert the dangers which may menace persons and has now arrived.” - German Chancellor, 31 January merchandise.” 1917 U

S Protective measures in place needed to be in -

p r o p s tensified. Many Merchant ships had become i a n g k a i n n d

g ‘defensively armed’, with deck guns mounted a o

p f

o t h s and naval gunners travelling onboard. Explo - t e e

r L u r e s sive mines were laid across the approaches to f i e t a r e n n i a

c the ports of Holyhead, Liverpool, The Clyde, i n g

t Belfast, Dublin and Arklow to restrict U-boat h e movement. Many merchant ships travelled in defensive convoys protected by Royal Navy he real horror of this policy struck warships and the use of ‘Q ships’ became com - Thome on 7th May 1915 with the sink - mon. These were heavily armed ships disguised ing of the passenger liner RMS Lusitania , off as merchants to lure U-boats which would then the coast of Cork. The world was shocked, and be attacked and destroyed. This was very suc - the fact that Germany was correct in claiming cessful, and confounded the Germans until one that the passenger ship was carrying a large escaped and revealed the secret of the U-boot- cargo of munitions destined for Britain was ir - falle (literally U-boat trap). In addition to these relevant compared to the loss of 1,200 lives. A measures, the United States Navy was now fierce propaganda war followed, with the at - added to the equation. For the German Admi - tack being used to encourage enlistment. ralty, the quick victory had not been achieved The sinking of the Lusitania almost brought and maintaining pressure on Allied shipping the United States into the war. It had sailed became difficult to maintain. However, the from New York and 128 Americans were Irish channel was recognised as a weak spot, among the casualties. A fierce internal U.S. po - and would earn the name U-boat Alley. Prowl - litical row and international diplomatic battle ing the routes between the islands, their tactic followed. In September Germany curtailed its was simply to wait until an opportune target ‘unrestricted war’, announcing they would only presented itself, strike swiftly and then be long attack confirmed British ships, neutral mer - gone before apprehending was possible. It was chant ships would be challenged under ‘cruiser in this context that the sinkings of the SS Hare rules’, and passenger liners would not be tar - and SS Adela (and many other ships) would geted. This ensured that the United States take place. stayed out of the war, for now.

“WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”



r e The life of the SS Hare A tale of solidarity, hope and stout he SS Hare was a steamship built in ground, and labourers, carters, etc., flocked to T1886 at Barclay Curle & Co. shipyard its ranks. The ‘Larkinites’ won many key con - in Glasgow for G&J Burns Ltd. In 1899 own - cessions and improvements in pay and condi - ership was transferred to George Lowen of tions, the use of the sympathetic strike being a Manchester. In partnership with Dublin busi - powerful tactic. Fearing the growth of organ - ness man D.J. Stewart, Lowen had established ised labour, powerful businessman and news - The Dublin & Manchester Steamship Com - paper owner William Martin Murphy, formed pany In 1897. Stewart was also the owner of the Dublin Employers Federation. Workers the SS Duke of Leinster , from which vessel a were urged to sign a declaration disassociating number of the crew of the SS Hare transferred. themselves from the ITGWU. When many re - This included Alexander Carmichael, 1st mate fused they were ‘locked out’ of their employ - on the SS Duke of Leinster , who joined the SS ment. The dispute escalated and soon 20,000 Hare in February of 1900 and the following workers were involved, and in an already month became its Captain, a position he would poverty stricken city this was catastrophic. still be holding on the ill fated voyage of 1917. Murphy believed that the workers could liter - For the years under his command, the SS Hare ’s ally be starved into submission, informing the activity was recorded as “Trading between Dublin Chamber of Commerce:"The employer Dublin & Manchester carrying General Cargo, all the time managed to get his three meals a Livestock and Passengers”. On occasion trips day, but the unfortunate workman and his fam - to Liverpool were also undertaken. ily had no resources whatever except submis - It was during the industrial conflict of the sion, and that was what occurred in 99 cases Great Lockout in 1913 that the SS Hare came out of 100. The difficulty of teaching that les - to fame among the Irish working class. James son to the workmen was extraordinary." Larkin had founded the Irish Transport & Gen - arkin travelled to Britain to rally sup - eral Workers Union (ITGWU) in 1909. He Lport, and the response from the workers sought to unite Irish workers into one big there was phenomenal. The British Trade union and used their numbers to force a radical Union Congress (T.U.C.) raised funds to send change not just in the workplace but in society. essential supplies to their Dublin comrades, and The Dublin Docks were a prime recruiting an initial shipment of 60,000 Shed on Sir John Rogerson’s food parcels was dispatched. Quay throughout the Lockout. The SS Hare was actually Thanks to the efforts of the strike bound with a cargo of T.U.C. by late November 255,330 Guinness on-board, but agree - packets of tea had been shipped ment was reached to unload to Dublin, 255,000 bags of sugar, the cargo and she soon set off 255,330 packets of margarine, across the channel. The SS 597,000 loaves of bread, 251,804 Hare sailed into Dublin on bags of potatoes, 1,856 lb of 27th September 1913 to scenes Jacob’s Biscuits, 72,639 pots of of jubilation. Paddy Buttner, a jam, 85,330 tins of fish, 12,500 young boy at that time, was boxes of cheese and almost 885 there to collect food for his tons of coal. Food parcels were family, his father being one of distributed right up until Febru - the strikers. ary of the following year when the strike was He recalled the excitement: “...a cheer rose ended. This act of solidarity literally saved lives from every throat of those watching when in Dublin, and has never been forgotten. someone cried ‘It’s the SS Hare!’ The captain The 1913 log book of the SS Hare for 1913 answered the swell of cheering with three sharp concludes: “Ship lying in Dublin through and one long blast on the siren, and it seemed Labour strike from Nov. 12th until end of year” to me, just a boy, to be saying – ‘It’s US, it’s US, he SS Hare would carry a variety of it’s US, HURRAY!’ The hair stood up on my Tcargo in its lifetime, but its most famous head and I shouted with the rest in joy. As the customer was undoubtedly the Arthur Guin - vessel came abreast of the South Point, we all ness, Son & Co. Ltd. The iconic brewery would turned about and kept pace with her; the cheer - begin to develop their own legendary ‘Guinness ing and the waving continued while tears fleet’ at the end of 1913, but the SS Hare would streamed down the faces of women and, in - continue charters with the company until its deed, men too. And all the while the crew and loss. The regular routine would see barrels of siren answered each cheer”. stout being delivered to Manchester and the This voyage of hope was only the first un - empty casks returned to Dublin. dertaken by the SS Hare , and she would be As stated, the SS Hare was carrying a cargo joined by the SS Pioneer and SS New Frater - for Guinness when it made its memorable nity . The goods were stored in the Manchester Lockout mission. Communications from Guin - ness show that they ex - pected nothing less than being accommodated-“I was fully aware of the circumstances under which she had been dis - charged”, but further added “under our agree - ment we were bound, while the boats were sailing, to give him our traffic and they were equally bound to take it.” Throughout 1916 there was a series of agreements which essen - tially saw the SS Hare being on permanent con - “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

tract during that historic year. Having enjoyed n the 12th October 1917, the first of a series of weekly arrangements, in February Othe Guinness fleet, the SS W.M. the Brewers accepted a “charter for one month Barkley was torpedoed crossing the channel. for £1,000, we to supply coal and pay all dues, Following the sinking of the SS Hare , Guin - the other expenses payable to Mr. Lowen in - ness noted the loss as follows: cluding full insurance of ship against war and “This boat, which carried our beer for many maritime risks”. For the first half of April the years between Dublin and Manchester, and was Ship was in dock for repairs but re-entered frequently chartered by us, was torpedoed on service just before the Easter Rising. Shipping Friday, the 14th, in the same locality as our from Dublin was curtailed during the rebellion, own steamer the Barkley. She carried none of but on 3rd May the SS Hare arrived in Man - our property on this voyage. Eleven of her crew chester with a cargo of Guinness, the first of twenty-two, including the Captain and the Dublin Port vessel to dock across the channel. Chief Engineer, were saved”. There was a request from Guinness to charter There is a final reference to the SS Hare on a three monthly basis but George Lowen recorded in Guinness reports, dated 25thJanu - was not agreeable. Lowen preferred a month- ary 1918:“Lord Iveagh was reminded that we to-month arrangement, but eventually they set - had written to Mr. Lowen telling him we were tled on a two monthly arrangement. willing to assist in giving any financial assis - Guinness of course had built up its own fleet tance granted to the relatives of those who were by now. War time restrictions on brewing im - lost in the HARE, but we’ve since heard from posed by the Government led to a reduction in Mr. Lowen stating that he considered the pub - the demand for cross-channel cargos and the lic arrangements were ample to meet the neces - arrangements with Lowen concluded at the end sities of the case, and that it was not proposed of May. However, in June the Admiralty com - to take any steps in the matter.” mandeered the SS Clarecastle and SS Clareis - That was their last word on the relationship land from the Guinness fleet, forcing the between the City’s most iconic product and one Company to request the return of the SS Hare . of the most famous vessels in the history of They were informed that the vessel was not Dublin Port. available due to other engagements. Eleven of those who were serving on the SS During this period Guinness was experienc - Hare in 1913 were aboard on the fateful voy - ing real difficulties in shipping its product to a age of December 1917. Daniel Eley, Donald variety of destinations. They entered discus - Gilchrist, Lachlan MacFadyen, Joseph Edward sions with Tedcastle’s to arrange for 100 tons Swords, Charles Walsh and James Wilson of stout to be carried to Liverpool on a weekly would lose their lives, while Alexander basis, though if this was to be onboard the SS Carmichael, Thomas Brown, John Hunt, Adela is unclear. William McGowan and Christopher Tallant would survive. G u i n n e s s

c a r g o e s

D e c

1 9 1 5

–

J a n

1 9 1 6 N o r t h

W a l l

Q u a y a n d

R i v e r

L i ﬀ e y The final voyage of the SS Hare he SS Hare set sail from Manchester to all Joseph Swords had time to say, before the Tmake the journey to Dublin on the impact. Tallant was “knocked senseless from evening of Thursday 13th December 1917. It the wheel” and “saw the chief officer no was a familiar route for the steamer, one it had more”. The SS Hare had been torpedoed with - regularly travelled over the previous two out warning by the submarine U-62 of the Im - decades, with many of the crew being old perial German Navy, under the command of hands onboard. She was carrying a general Kapitan Lieutenant Ernst Hashagen. The at - cargo of about 470 tons, including foodstuffs. tack took place in the early hours of Friday As a British Merchant Navy ship, it carried morning, 14th December. The ship so famous light armaments for protection. Accordingly in Dublin, a symbol of hope and solidarity was there were two Gunners, of the Royal Naval reported to have been hit forward, and to have Reserve, in addition to the ship’s crew. There gone down within 3 minutes of the time that were no additional passengers on board. she started to sink. The attack happened seven As the ship approached Dublin, 1st Officer miles east of the Kish Lightship. According to Joseph Swords and Able Seaman Christopher the log of U-62 , she had been prowling the wa - Tallant were on the bridge. AB Tallant survived ters at the entrance of Dublin Bay since just the catastrophe that was about to unfold, and after midnight. A number of potential victims would recount the final moments before the had appeared – “Single ships with all lights ship was struck: he had spotted a vessel which blazing, others with only one masthead light or appeared about 100 yards aft. The chief officer stern light”. There were in fact two torpedoes went to the starboard side with the glasses, and fired at the SS Hare , the first missed. It was as had a look at her."She is travelling fast" was U-62 moved swiftly on the surface towards its “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

prey that it was spotted, choppy, and there was a but it was too late to bit of a breeze from the react, and a second pro - West." jectile did not miss, striking the forward ive other crew hold. The entry in the F(Richard Daly, log is factual and pre - greaser; John Hunt, don - cise - “the ship breaks keyman; Tom Brown, in two and sinks”. Cap - fireman; Able seamen tain Hashagen gives the Patrick Keown and John order to submerge and Conlon) were clinging to they leave the area. the upturned boat Captain Carmichael nearby. Assistance could had been below deck in not be given, as accord - the wash-room when ing to Capt. Carmichael the impact occurred. their own boat was “half He was struck in the full of water” and conse - face by a wash basin, quently they were “un - receiving a severe blow able to render them any to his nose and fore - assistance, because their head. Quickly recover - boat could hold no more ing, he rushed on to and was in danger of deck. One of the ship’s being swamped”. lifeboats was already “We tried to keep as lowered and full with close as possible to the crew members. Along men on the upturned boat. with five other men he "A storm of great severity..." After about 3 hours we managed to get into a were picked up by a small boat aft, which Of those that were lost due to the sinking steamer, which went they launched 'with some of the SS Hare , no bodies were recovered round twice looking for difficulty'. from the SS Hare . The storm that followed the others. The captain of Tallant would simi - two days later, and the intensity of it, to - the latter steamer sent a larly escape the rapidly gether with the northwesterly winds would wireless message for assis - sinking SS Hare : "When have severely impaired any attempts at recov - tance. We were well I came to my senses I ery. The Irish Times reported treated by our rescuers". went down to the Their salvation had come lifeboat to get it right. I “A storm of great severity prevailed all at about 5.40am. saw the starboard boat day along the south Dublin coast. The wind “A steamer passing the was smashed to was mainly northwesterly and varied from vicinity of the disaster smithereens, and the port high gale to the force of a hurricane in the shortly after the occur - boat had capsized. I then early afternoon. It was extremely cold with rence heard calls from the rushed aft, and sat in a rain sleet and snow driven with great force water. It was pitch dark at boat there until they and volume. Vessels were torn from their the time, and despite the floated her. In that boat, moorings in Kingstown Harbour. Railway danger the passing boat beside myself were Cap - lines between Blackrock and Kingstown were was hove to and put tain Carmichael, Wm. inundated and below Greystones the perma - about, with the result that McGowan, A.B.; Ed. nent way was washed away. At Kingstown she picked up one of the Lyons, greaser; and sec - the seas broke over the East Pier, which was Hare’s lifeboats containing ond engineer Smith. We damaged. A steamer was driven on to the six of the crew of the latter pulled the bullock-man, East Pier and her bottom was torn on the vessel”. Another vessel John Forde, out of the rocks." would rescue the other five water. The sea was a bit men at about 10.45am; almost eight hours after their ordeal had begun. According to a report "the rescued men when first brought aboard were in a state of extreme exhaustion after their terrible experience, and were treated with great care and kindness by the officers and crew of the rescuing ship, to whom they expressed profuse gratitude". One of the rescued men, Thomas Brown from Pigeon House Road, gave a vivid descrip - tion of how he had been in the engine-room at the time of the explosion, and was very badly injured about the legs and body. He somehow made it into the port lifeboat but this did not drop; “The Hare capsizing brought down the boat and all hands”. He swam for some time A

before managing to reach the upturned boat, v i e w

and with his companions would cling on for f r o m

eight hours. He himself was said to have been t h e

d unconscious for 3 hours, and had no recollec - e c k

o f tion of subsequent events. On the rescuers who U - 6 2

removed them from the sea, he would comment a t

s e that "the officers treated us most kindly". a

The starboard lifeboat was described as being “smashed to smithereens.” There are “Will she ram us yet, with conflicting reports about the fate of Stewardess her last efforts?” Mrs. Arnott, the only woman crew member. One survivor recalled seeing her on the deck and being assisted to the lifeboat which was In his 1931 book “ U-Boats Westward ”, Ernst subsequently ‘smashed and its occupants Hashagen suggests that an attempt was made by the drowned’. Another man stated that she did not SS Hare to ram U-62 . As far as we are aware, this ac - leave her cabin in the few short minutes be - tion has not been confirmed by survivor’s accounts tween impact and sinking. An early report noted that “A deck load of ‘The steamship knew how to defend herself in a Jacobs’s large and empty biscuit skips was manner we could not foresee. Our torpedo took her floating after the disaster, and some of the crew in the fore hold, and produced a big burst of smoke, may have saved their lives by clinging to them”. mingled with coal dust. Mortally hit, the ship com - However, apart from the six men in one boat mences to go down on the spot, bow first. We stand and the five who were clinging to the upturned by, watching a few hundred yards away. But what is boat, nobody else was rescued. this? The shadow of the vessel suddenly grows larger, Of the 23 souls who had been onboard the grows gigantic. Is she making headway then? Have I SS Hare when it left Manchester destined for misjudged the distance? Will she ram us yet, with her North Wall, eleven would survive and twelve last efforts? But surely she was going down: the would be lost. None of the bodies of the de - thoughts flash through my brain. A hasty order to ceased were ever recovered. the engines. The monster advances on us still. At last we gather way. Like a bull, she makes for us, head down. We hold our breaths. Full speed, emergency full speed. At last, a crashing, bursting, splintering. The stern of the un - fortunate vessel rears almost vertical into the night, and we witness the grandiose spectacle of her sinking, Guinness records the loss of the SS Hare with a dull roar, not fifty yards away, into the deep. Ships that pass in the night!’ “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

The life of the SS Adela A Tedcastle ship he SS Adela was built in 1878 by Henry Robert Tedcastle was one of Dublin City’s TMurray and Co. at their Glasgow yard. most successful businessmen. His ships oper - The steamer was almost two hundred feet long ated from their berths opposite his premises on with a gross tonnage weight of 685. Built for Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. The adjoining prop - Robert Tedcastle, the vessel was intended for erties on the quayside were occupied by some the cross-channel passenger and cargo trade. of the best-known shipping companies of the Constructed with the most modern innovations day. In addition to owning and renting the ad - for the handling of livestock, and with im - joining houses on Lime Street and Brady’s proved cabin space for the number of fare-pay - Court, he also acquired extensive farmlands in ing passengers and twenty-one crew, she would Australia. In 1864 the family had purchased prove to be very popular ship on the Dublin- their house and estate at Marlay Park, Rath - Liverpool route, which she served until 1917. farnham, where they remained until his death Robert Tedcastle had been born in Dum - in 1919. friesshire, Scotland in 1825. He moved to During the Great Lockout of 1913 the Com - Dublin and became involved with his uncle’s pany would gain some notoriety, though theirs coal business. A successful endeavour, by the is a story in stark contrast to that of the SS 1840s it moved into the cross-channel shipping Hare and its voyage of hope. As the dispute of their product. When his uncle returned to began, Tedcastle & McCormick sacked work - Scotland, Robert remained and operated a ers for refusing to deliver coal to a Coolock growing fleet of sail and steam ships. His first farmer who was refusing to recognise the Irish steamer, the SS Dublin , was supplied in 1866 Transport & General Workers Union by the Dublin yard of Walpole, Webb & Co. (ITGWU). One hundred further employees re - Tedcastle’s ships eventually entered passenger fused to carry out deliveries until their col - and general cargo service on the Dublin-Liver - leagues were reinstated, and these were quickly pool route in 1872. His nephew John Tedcastle sacked too. The situation would quickly esca - also joined the family business, and they would late and explode into violence, with the Com - come to own an impressive fleet. In 1897, they pany and those it hired to replace its workforce brought this with them when Robert Tedcastle being associated with some particularly nasty & Co. would become partners with Dublin incidents. coal merchants McCormick & Co., leading to edcastle & McCormick were among the the creation of Tedcastle McCormick & Co. TDockland companies which would em - Ltd. ploy strike breakers brought into the City specifically for this pur - had been in the city pose. Described offi - just six weeks, and cially as Free-Labourers, that afternoon had though more com - bought himself a re - monly known as scabs, volver. A number of these men were often strikers were arrested armed with revolvers, and a North Dock

and these were used C man, Tom Daly was

t r

recklessly and on occasion o charged with his murder but

with lethal effect. k was eventually acquitted.

c h

Tensions came to a head The SS Adela continued

h r

when a full-scale riot broke e to sail the Dublin – Liver -

m e

out in the vicinity of n pool route without any sig -

h a

Townsend Street and Lom - r nificant incidents until 1917.

g e bard Street on the morning d The log records only minor of the 21st January 1913 when strikers am - matters. Charles Pescod had served on Tedcas - bushed and clashed with up to eighty strike tle vessels since at least 1880 and was 1st Mate breakers going to work at Tedcastle’s and shots on the SS Adela since he joined the crew in were fired on the street. One of the most tragic 1900. Himself and Captain Tyrell seemed to be occurrences during this period was the shooting particularly diligent, and regular safety checks of 16-year-old Alicia Brady. She was returning are signed by both men: with a food parcel from Sir John Rogerson’s “Life boats swung out & crew exercised. All Quay for her family at Luke Street, off Poolbeg gear working well. Life saving appliances ex - Street when she was injured by a ‘free labourer’ amined & in good order”. who fired two shots into a crowd jeering him, The torpedo attack on 27th of December dying from her wound two weeks later. Both 1917 led to the damage of the lifeboats and all Jim Larkin and James Connolly spoke at her were smashed except one. Unfortunately those graveside, the latter stating, "Every scab and who made it into this boat would still not sur - every employer of scab labour in Dublin is vive their ordeal, except for Captain morally responsible for the death of the young l, the sole survivor of the final voyage. girl we have just buried”. Patrick Traynor was In 1919 the Tedcastle & McCormick fleet charged with murder but found not guilty. came under the control of British & Irish Thomas Harten was a County Meath man Steampacket Company. The company contin - working for Tedcastle & McCormick. He was ued operating as coal merchants. The company, staying on Beresford Place at “The Barracks”, which was founded during the age of the sailing accommodation provided by the Employer’s ship has progressed over the two centuries of Federation specifically for strike breakers, lo - its existence, and is now Top Oil, still retaining cated dangerously close to ITGWU headquar - a presence in Dublin Port, at Promenade Road. ters at Liberty Hall. Harten and a companion had enjoyed a Saturday evening on the town, when at 10.30pm they were ac - costed on Eden Quay, and beaten by a group of men. Harten would die, his head ‘crushed like an eggshell’. Thomas Harten “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR” S i r

J o h n

R o g e r s o n s

Q u a y :

I t

w a s

f r o m

h e r e

t h e

fi n a l

v o y a g e

b e g a n The final voyage of the SS Adela hursday 27th December 1917: Christy cost of a lean patrol. Of the two torpedoes TWolfe, a ship’s stoker who lived in one fired for the duration of his patrol hitherto, the of the small terraced cottages adjacent to North first had just missed one of the two steamers in Wall, boarded the SS Adela well before the last “Quadrant 37” in the Irish Sea. The reason he of the livestock and cargo had been loaded, and gave for this failure was that he was too close, apart from the drovers who occupied the steer - and the torpedo passed under the target. This age, only one other passenger boarded. Al - was almost certainly the ship sent to the bot - though steam had been up for over an hour, tom ten months later on 10th October 1918, departure was delayed until nearly 5 o’clock, with such a dreadful loss of life. The packed when she slipped her ropes from the wall at mail boat, RMS Leinster , recorded this near- City Quay. The delay may have been caused miss after leaving Holyhead on the 27th. Com - by ‘awaiting Admiralty instructions’, without mander von Loë fired only one more torpedo which most vessels could not sail. Given the for the remainder of his cruise but the second all clear, Dublin’s lights faded behind her as she one did not miss its target. steamed down the River Liffey on what was to At 11.40pm, Commander von Loë posi - be her last journey across the Irish Sea. tioned his submarine on the surface a few miles Approximately three hours prior to the SS northeast of ‘The Skerries’ near the Isle of An - Adela ’s departure from the River Liffey, Com - glesey, Holyhead. The steamer SS Adela was mander Kapitänleutnant Freiherr Degenhart on a course only 350 meters to the South of von Loë of U-100 was already counting the him, heading for Liverpool. At 11.50pm, U- 100 submerged and fired the available reports on the one torpedo from tube inquest held for four of the IV, hitting the approach - the survivors crewmen. Theirs were the ing vessel amidships on only bodies recovered. the starboard side. Com - struggled Several days later, there mander von Loë later re - was an unusual display of ported that the vessel was grief by the coroner, who ‘heavily loaded’, and was for life in ‘burst into tears’ during his about 2,000 tons . summing up of the inquest. The light often played the middle of He described the incident as tricks with the apparent ‘the enemy’s treachery’. size and interpretation of Captain Tyrell was also the targets at sea, but U- a dark, overcome during the pro - boat commanders were ceedings at Holyhead, when also well known for a cold sea he testified that the crew had tendency to exaggerate ‘all discharged of their du - the size of their ‘hits’ in order to impress their ties faithfully and well’. superiors. Commander von Loë observed the The night was described as ‘moonlight’, and final moments of the SS Adela through the sub - the sea as ‘choppy but not rough’. As soon as marine’s periscope and recorded this brief epi - the SS Adela had cleared the Dublin Channel taph: buoys, she would have probably increased her ‘Steamer breaks in the front bridge and speed to the normal maximum, which might sinks immediately. According to her shape she have been as much as nine or ten knots. This must have been a tanker with three masts, tall meant that she would have cleared the Kish bridge in the middle, no guards noticed.’ Light Vessel a little later than 6 o’clock. Not all he description given of von Loë’s victim masters followed their instructions to steer a Tdoes not seem to fit the SS Adela , but zigzag course and to keep lights extinguished, there were no other losses recorded in that area or to sail with their lifeboats slung out. And it on that night, and it is to U-100 that the sink - is not clear what instructions were given to the ing of the SS Adela is accredited. crew in this respect on the night. Not unaware of, but removed from, the struggles that were being acted out on the sur - face by the surviving crew members from the Adela , U-100 and her crew stole silently away into the night, leaving behind a scene of total carnage. Before she finally disappeared, how - ever, Captain Tyrell caught sight of the retreat - ing submarine. The next day, Commander von Loë was still in the vicinity but fled when a de - stroyer came into view. Many vessels and their crews perished and disappeared without trace, but from the man - gled wreckage of the SS Adela , a lone sailor

managed to live and tell the tale of the ship’s

a p

final moments. Captain Tyrell was the only t

survivor, and he was badly affected by the ex - V

perience, and spoke very little of it again. o

c o

It is extremely difficult to picture the scene, m

m a

or to understand what went on in the minds of n

the survivors as they struggled for life in the o

U -

middle of a dark, cold sea. The story unfolds, 1 0 however, with the help of censored articles and 0 “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

Little is known about shipboard activity on the Christmas celebrations when SS Adela ’s the SS Adela during that night, other than what only survivors found themselves helplessly would have been the crew’s ordinary duties. adrift in a small lifeboat, bobbing about in the Together with tea and chat, gunner and sailor dark amongst the remainder of the struggling customarily found friendship in the galley. The livestock. The wretched animals lasted only a crossing would normally have lasted about short time, and the occupants of the small life eight to ten hours, during which time some of boat bravely struggled to rescue two more crew the crew would have taken the opportunity to from the freezing water. retire to their bunk for some sleep, and others The lifeboat had been damaged when it was might just have chatted for the duration of their wrenched from its davits, and needed exhaus - free time. tive baling in order for it to remain afloat. As the ship approached the ‘ The Skerries ’, Three of the men were utterly helpless but not one might expect the crew to have considered quite dead when they were washed out of the the sight of land to be a godsend, heralding the lifeboat ‘in their senses’ before a destroyer ar - imminent escape from the dangers of open rived on the scene at 2.00pm. the following water. This was not the case, and in fact, this day. Three of the remaining survivors had died, particular area was probably considered to be and a fourth succumbed soon after. the most dangerous part of the whole journey. (Date of death for the following men is The U-boats were well known to regularly lie listed as 28th December, and cause of death in wait off Anglesey, and the number of ship - recorded as exposure: Samuel Burrowes, wreck symbols speckled on the Admiralty chart Patrick Corcoran, Alexander Donaldson, John for this area is testimony to the slaughter of Mackey, Francis Mangan and Andrew Walsh). merchantmen that took place there during Captain Tyrell’s long experience at sea, and World War 1. his strong build, probably saved him, as he was The attack took place at 11.50pm, and pan - later described by an Irish Independent re - demonium erupted on the ship. The loud ex - ported as being a ‘typical master mariner, a plosion caused by the torpedo hitting the ship man of powerful physique’. was immediately recognised by the crew for This account is adapted from Chapter 8 of what it was. The little steamer suddenly be - U-Boat Alley , with the kind permission of author came a sinking mass of twisted metal and Roy Stokes. strewn animal carcasses. The SS Adela snapped in two just forward of the bridge, and she began to sink immediately. The lifeboats had not been slung out, and those that were not damaged in the violent explosion crashed onto the deck. There was only one lifeboat reported to have survived the explosion; the captain and four others scrambled into it. It had landed on the deck, and floated off when the ship began to sink. The SS Adela had just disappeared when U- 100 approached the scene of devastation, and

“

it was at this time that Captain Tyrell later re - -

called that he got ‘a momentary glimpse of the T

enemy craft stealing away in the gloom of the U

” night.’

r The members of the crew who survived the m

p explosion, and managed to reach the lifeboat, r

g were soaked, battered, and soon freezing cold. a

Lethargy and a mood of haplessness, brought fi

( about by the condition of hypothermia, soon 1

8 swept over them. It was only two days after ) The crew of the SS Hare The crew of the SS Adela (14th December 1917) (27th December 1917)

Those who lost their lives 1. William Barry (Fireman), age 35 - Leland Place, Common Street, 1. Sarah Jane Arnott (Stewardess), age 41 - Seville North Docks. Place, Dublin. 2. Samuel James Burrowes (Chief Engineer), age 52 - Palmerston 2. John (Jack) Boyle (Fireman), age 47 - Dunne Street, Road, Dublin. Summerhill, Dublin. 3. Peter Byrne (Winchman), age 32 - Pigeonhouse Road, Ringsend. 3. William Byrne (Fireman), age 40 - Hanover Square 4. William Henderson Caldwell (Second Engineer), age 33 - off Lime Street, Dublin. Kirkdale, Liverpool. 4. Daniel Eley (Cook), age 63 - Liverpool. 5. Patrick Connolly (Carpenter), age 30 - 335 Grafton Street, Liverpool. 5. Donald Gilchrist (Second Mate), age 37 - Born in Islay, Argyllshire. 6. Patrick Corcoran (Cattleman), age 48 - 77 Townsend Street, Dublin City. 6. Joseph Hopkins (Able Seaman), age 45 - Bay View Terrace, Pigeon House Road, Dublin. 7. Frederick W Davey (Seaman RNR Gunner), age 28 - 3 Crofton Avenue, Kingstown. 7. Lachlan MacFadyen (Carpenter), age 63 - Tiree, Argyll, Scotland. 8. Alexander Donaldson (Steward), age 47 - 38 Cowper Road, Old Swan, Liverpool. 8. Joseph Edward Swords (Chief Officer), age 37 - Alexis House, Dalkey, County Dublin. 9. James Farrell (Cattleman), age 28 - 32 Bessborough Avenue, North Strand. 9. Robert William Travers, (Royal Naval Reserve), age 26 - Acton Street, Liverpool. 10. John Fisher (Able Seaman), age 38 - (Born at Greenock) 10. Charles Walsh (Fireman), age 37 - Clarence Place, 11. James Fortune, (2nd Mate), age 55 - 8 Hastings Street, Great Brunswick Street, Dublin. Ringsend. 11. John Edward Walters (Royal Naval Volunteer 12. Patrick Halpin (Able Seaman), age 28 - 52 York Road, Kingstown. Reserve), age 27 - Tyneside. 13. George Jones (Able Seaman and Lamps) - 7 Upper Erne Street, 12. James Wilson (First Engineer), age 58 - Seaforth, Dublin City. Liverpool. 14. Thomas Jones (Fireman), age 55 - 100 Lower Gardiner Street, Those who survived: Dublin City. 1. Alexander Carmichael (Master/Captain) - 15. Christina Kavanagh (Passenger) - Queen’s Square, Great Lansdowne House, Howard Street, Salford Brunswick Street 2. Thomas Brown (Fireman) - Pigeon House Road, 16. Laurence Keegan (Cattleman), age 42 - Coolock, County Dublin. Dublin. 3. John Conlon (Able Seaman) - Somerset Street, 17. John Mackey (Fireman), age 45 - 17 Upper Oriel Street, North Dublin. Docks. 4. Richard Daly (Fireman), age 44 - Clarence Street, 18. Frank Mangan (Fireman), age 55 - Guild Street, North Docks Dublin. 19. Joseph M. Manning (Able Seaman), age 26 - 64 Dock Street, 5. John Forde (Bullockman) - Erne Street, Dublin. Ringsend. 6. John Hunt (Donkeyman), age 28 - Brunswick Street, 20. Patrick McCallum (Able Seaman) age 38 - Lower Mount Street, Dublin. Dublin City. 7. Patrick Keown (Able Seaman) - Sheriff Street, 21. Charles R Pescod (1st Mate) age 63 - 36 Dacy Road, Anfield, Dublin. Liverpool. 8. Edward Lyons (Greaser or Fireman) age 45 - 22. Henry James Pitt (Royal Marine Artillery) age 47. Longford. 23. Andrew Walsh (Donkeyman), age 44 - 8 Tighe’s Cottages, 9. William McGowan (Able Seaman) - Pigeon House Newfoundland Street, North Wall. Road, Dublin. 24. Christopher Wolfe (Winchman) age 32 - 22 Leland Place, 10. John Smith (Second Engineer) - Church Road, Common Street, North Docks. Dublin. The only survivor of the sinking of the SS Adela was Captain 11. Christopher Tallant (Able Seaman), age 37 - Leslie Michael Tyrell. He would later testify that the crew had “all dis - Avenue, Dalkey. charged of their duties faithfully and well”. “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

Obituaries and biographies SARAH JANE ARNOTT sinking. One of the 12 casualties of the attack, (1876 – 1917) her body was never recovered. Where all the children were in 1917 when arah Jane Arnott ( née McLean) was born their mother died is not known. However, there Son the 7th February 1876 in Malahide, is a reference in the Vaughan school list that North County Dublin to a Church of Ireland states Andrew went to a “situation” in Man - family. Her parents were William McLean, a chester in August 1917. An Andrew Arnott plumber and gas fitter, and Dora McLean ( née died age 27 in Hartlepool district in 1929. Leech). Rhoda seems to have stayed in Dublin and On 22nd July 1899 Sarah married Henry married. Arnott in Edinburgh, Scotland. He had enlisted Her estranged husband, Henry Arnott en - in the 13th Royal Hussars in 1892 in Ballincol - listed in the Royal Air Force (September 1918) lig, County Cork, and he would see service in as a cook, until his discharge in April 1920. He the Boer War. It is possibly for this reason (her died in 1937 at the Western General Hospital husband’s absence) that Sarah Jane is recorded in Edinburgh. Next of kin at that time was on the 1901 census records as spending time listed as his sister, a Mrs. Murray, in Edinburgh. with her family (her mother and two brothers It is hard to imagine the difficulties the fam - and two sisters) at Drumcondra, Dublin. She ily experienced after the death of their mother. also had with her their ten month old son, Incredibly, there was to be another U-boat Henry William Arnott, born in the North of tragedy to affect them. Her son Henry William England. Her early married years were spent in became an electrical engineer. According to Hartlepool, County Durham, and in 1902 she Richard McLean “He was put into a school had a second son Andrew. She would soon also and joined the merchant navy. He was on the have a girl, Rhoda. MV Seaforth which was torpedoed at sea in It seems that Sarah Jane and her husband 1941. He was 40 years of age and married and Henry became estranged, as in the 1911 census as far as I know he had no children. So it was she is recorded as working as a Cook in County a very sad ending for the family”. Roscommon, and her three children were “in (Information was provided by the Genealog - Care”. Henry William is shown as a pupil in ical Society of Ireland volunteer Clare Tuohy, Vaughan Charter School, Tubrid, Drumrush, with assistance from Fiona Tipple and Tom County Fermanagh in 1911. Andrew was in a Bourke, for which we are very grateful. Church of Ireland orphanage in Sandycove Richard McLean, living in Victoria, Australia, called the Spiddal Orphanage, but later fol - provided material regarding his great-aunt lowed his brother to the Vaughan Charter Sarah Jane Arnott.) School. Rhoda was in the Cottage Home, Cor - (Hilary Wallner) rig Road, Dún Laoghaire. Henry was appren - ticed to Harland and Wolff (shipyards in Belfast) in 1916. WILLIAM BARRY Sarah Jane Arnott was living at Seville Place (1882 – 1917) at the time of the sinking, working as a stew - ardess on the SS Hare . She would be the only illiam Barry female crew member onboard the ship when it Wwas born on was torpedoed. There are conflicting reports 14th June 1882 at 34 about her exact fate. One surviving crew mem - Commons Street, ber recalled seeing her on the deck and being North Docks, home assisted to a lifeboat which was subsequently of his Grandparents ‘smashed and its occupants drowned’. Another William and Maria man stated that she did not leave her cabin in Hampson ( née Levey). the few short minutes between impact and William was the second born son of James and Mary Ann Barry ( née Hampson). He was brother to Michael, James, Richard, Mary and Susan. Their family home was at 31 Commons Street, North Docks. William Barry was just 14 years of age when he signed on his first vessel. It was on 31st July 1896 when he was registered in Dublin on - port of five teams of scientists to the south Pa - board the SS Duke of Gordon , listed as ‘Boy’. cific to observe the transit of Venus in 1874. He In 1898, William would sign on with the SS returned home and married Jane Hamson in Duke of Leinster , but when this was ‘laid up’ 1885 and they had seven children. George on 16th July he would, within days, move to served on the SS Adela between 1885 and the SS Duke of Fife . The following year he 1917. He was an able Seaman and worked the would begin service on the SS Hare , but would lamps. George was 64 when he died. leave in 1900. William Barry who would also die aboard In William’s early voyages as a boy on the the SS Adela was a nephew of George Jones. SS Duke of Fife , he would serve with others George’s wife Jane and William’s mother Mary who would be associated with the tragic events were sisters. William was only 34 when he died of 1917. This included Cornelius Mackey, alongside his uncle. whose brother John would perish alongside (John Jones) William on board the SS Adela and Joseph Hopkins who would be aboard the SS Hare when it was lost. By the time he was twenty he SAMUEL BURROWES was working as a ship’s fireman. In the subse - (1857-1917) quent years he would serve on several vessels out of Dublin Port, mainly travelling across to amuel Bur - Liverpool and Manchester. Srowes was On the 5th March 1908, William married the Chief Engi - Mary McKeag, the ceremony taking place at St. neer of the SS Laurence O'Toole Church, Seville Place. The Adela . He was newly-weds moved to nearby 31 Leland Place, born in County where they would in the following years have Cork in 1857, five children - Eileen, William, John, James and with his family re - Mary, the last being just a baby when he died. siding at 78 Friars William Barry signed onto the SS Adela as a Walk in Cork fireman in July of 1916. His uncle, Able Sea - City. Around the man George Jones (married to Jane Hampson) turn of the cen - had been with the Ship since 1914. Both would tury, Samuel be onboard when tragedy struck in December moved to Dublin of the following year. with his wife and William is remembered with honour at the children. His wife Amelia was also from Tower Hill Memorial, London. County Cork, and they already had six children (Mark Hampson and Angela Matsell) when they arrived in the Capital (John Victor, Evelyn Laura, James, Alfred, Mildred and Samuel J). Another son, Charles Ryder was GEORGE JONES born shortly afterwards, and they had one final (1853-1917) child Mary Hilda, born in 1901. While Amelia was a Roman Catholic, all the children were y great Grandfather was George raised in the Church of Ireland tradition, as MJones. Born in 1853, he would travel was their father. to America to join the US Navy in 1873. He The family initially lived at number 35 Not - served on board the USS Swatara , a screw tingham Street, North Strand, a respectable sloop tall ship, where he assisted in the trans - middle class address, where they employed a “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

domestic, Kate Furlong. By the time of the McBennett. He was baptised in St. Patrick’s 1911 Census they were living at number 207 Church, Ballybay. After moving to Liverpool, Clonliffe Road, a short move for the family. he lived with his wife, Mary Ann Connolly ( née While the younger children were still at school, Hayden), a suffragette, at 335 Grafton Street. the older ones had found employment, John as As far as we are aware Patrick only served a Railway Clerk, Evelyn as a Drapery Assis - on one vessel prior to the SS Adela . On 22nd tant, James as a Clerk in a printing house and November 1911, he signed on to the Fulmar at Alfred as an Insurance Clerk. Amelia died in Liverpool, being listed as a Carpenter, with this 1914. being recorded as his first ship. He signed on During the Great War three of his sons again in early December of the following year joined the armed forces. Alfred Edward Bur - (at Belfast) but had left its service by the middle rowes joined a Dublin “Pals” Company of the of the month. The Fulmar sailed a route which Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He served at Gallipoli, included Liverpool, Belfast, the Netherlands Salonika, Flanders (Messines and Passchen - and Belgium. Patrick was an Irish volunteer, daele), before being wounded, and losing an who refused to join the British army during eye as a result. He had risen to the rank of Cap - World War One. Instead, he became the ship’s tain, and was awarded the Military Cross in carpenter on the SS Adela and sailed with the 1918. He went on to serve as an adjutant in the Mercantile Marine. He signed onto the ship Royal Flying Corp and afterwards as an officer sometime in the second half of that fateful year in the Royal Air Force. (He would also go on 1917. According to the Ship’s Captain, Patrick to study at the Kirksville College of Osteopathy died quickly when the SS Adela was torpedoed and Surgery, Missouri, USA, and would return by the U-boat, U-100 , and was not one of the as a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) to a practice crew who made it to the lifeboat. in London). His brother Samuel James joined He left three children: Rosaleen (born the Army Service Corps in 1917, while Charles 1913), Eileen (born 1915) and Patricia, who Ryder joined the Artist Rifles (Officer Training was born several months after Patrick’s death, Group) in 1918 and transferred to the R.A.F. in 1918. He has three grandchildren, nine great When the SS Adela was struck by the tor - grandchildren and currently, eleven great-great pedo, the Captain, the Chief Engineer and a grandchildren. His descendants live in London, number of crew-members managed to scramble Shrewsbury, Southport, Whitley Bay, York and into a lifeboat. They also pulled a number of Mexico City. others out of the water. It is believed that a total (Charles Kelly, Tlalpan, Mexico City) of eight men survived up to this point. Unfor - tunately, three of these would be washed over - board, and four would die of exposure. It has JAMES FARRELL been passed on in the family that Samuel did (1888-1917) survive to reach shore, but died shortly after - wards. ames Farrell, our grandfather, was born Samuel James Burrowes was aged 60 when Jon the 27th December 1888 in he died in the attack on the SS Adela . His ad - Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), County dress was listed as Palmerston Road, Dublin. Dublin. He was the son of Matthew and Brid - Remembered with honour at Tower Hill get Farrell of 31 Patrick Street, Dún Laoghaire. Memorial, London. The family later resided at 15 Seapoint Road in (Michael Burrowes) Bray. James had six siblings, Thomas, Margret, Bridget, Rose, Christina and Mary Ann. In 1909, James, now 21 years old, married PATRICK CONNOLLY Brigid Byrne, 19 years old, of Greystones, (1886-1917) County Wicklow. They lived at various ad - dresses in Dublin but finally resided at 32 Bess - atrick Connolly was born on 5th Octo - borough Avenue in East Wall. They had four Pber 1886 in Kilnacran, County Mon - children, Matthew, James, Molly and Lau - aghan to Charles Connolly and Anne rence. On the day of his death aboard the SS at the age of 55 years old. Laurence (Larry) Farrell worked with Palgrave Murphy and later as a Shipping Manager for the Jefferson Smurfit Group. He passed away in 1998 aged 81 years old. Grandchildren Jimmy and his wife Nancy were parents of six children. Laurence and his wife Sheila were parents of three children. Adela in December of 1917, James had just The surviving grandchildren of James & turned 29. His children’s ages ranged from 7 Brigid Farrell now live in Ireland, Canada & years to just 4 months old. Brigid, our grand - USA. mother, was 26 year old. (Gerard & Gregory Farrell, Sons of By all accounts, life was difficult. Subse - Laurence / James Farrell. Grandsons of James quent to James’s passing, Brigid and her four Farrell, SS Adela ) children moved to a rented room in Cabra, Dublin. She reared her children on a British War Widower’s pension, support from her fam - ily and the community in East Wall. She sup - JAMES FORTUNE plemented her income further by working as a (1852 – 1917) cleaning lady in Dublin. Molly, her daughter died due to illness at the age of 12 years old. ames Fortune The boys attended St. Josephs School (Wharf Jwas born in Road) and St. Laurence O’Toole’s (Seville Courtown, County Place). They completed primary school and Wexford circa went to work at a very young age. After her 1852. His parents, children left school, Brigid moved to 65 Seav - Christopher For - iew Avenue in East Wall where she resided until tune and Mary her death in 1977 at the age of 87 years old, McDonald had sixty one years after the drowning of her married in 1836. beloved husband. Christopher was a Matt and his wife Nell lived with Brigid Fisherman working until her death. James (Jimmy) & Laurence out of Courtown (Larry) visited her most Sundays after church Harbour, passing often accompanied by her grandchildren. They his knowledge on to his children. Over time the loved her very dearly. young James graduated from ‘Boy’ to ‘Ordi - Post School Years nary Seaman’ to ‘Able Seaman’ in the Mercan - Matt Farrell worked at various jobs finish - tile Marine, whilst skirting the rugged coasts of ing his working career at Irish Carton Printers, our two great islands. Dublin. He passed away when he was 78 years In 1877 disaster struck the family. One late old. November evening, a fishing boat had got into James Farrell worked as a “Plater” in the trouble at the mouth of the harbour, and three Liffey Dockyard. During World War Two he bystanders unhesitatingly jumped into the sea worked at various shipyards in the UK which to help the unfortunate fishermen. All three were building vessels for the Allied War effort. drowned, including the 81 year old widowed He was the plater for the beautiful bow on the Christopher Fortune, James’ Dad. His body Commissioners of Irish Lights vessel MV Isolda was found the next day near the Coast Guard launched in 1952. Jimmy passed away in 1969 Station at Ballymoney. The Gorey Correspon - “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

dent and Arklow Stan - A tragic reminder Westland Row. Sadly, dard reported that this within weeks of this had cast ‘a great gloom happy occasion his sister over the neighbourhood’. Jane Dillon died in 33

James worked at sea F Hanover Street. a t h e throughout the 1880s, in - r James moved in with

s cluding some forays on o his in-laws, in Lime Street, n :



‘foreign ships’ into the o and by 1911 they were all m a s

Mediterranean, the Black living in 33 Hanover D e m

Sea, etc. By 1890 James p Street with the widowed s e y

(

was living on the South S Robert Dillon. A fine h i p

Docks of Dublin City Q house, the family were u a r t

with his sister Jane and e quite comfortable. Rela - r m a brother-in-law Robert s tions from Courtown t e r )

Dillon. Another Cour - & came back and forth for

C h town native, Robert was a work in Dublin, and also r l e s also an experienced Sea - D for the adventure of living e m p man, moving fluidly s in ‘The Big Smoke’. Bal - e y

( S

through different roles h doyle relations and neigh - i p

(from ‘Able Seaman’ to W bours were familiar faces i n c h

‘Mate’ to ‘Cook’ to ‘Stew - m too, just a train-journey a n ard’). ) away after all. When James and Robert work was scarce in Bal - would both have a long Mary Anne Fortune’s niece, Catherine (a doyle, employment was association with the ship - Jacobs employee), had married Charles sought in the City, some ping company Tedcastle Dempsey, a seaman from Emerald Street. He even setting sail for & Co. Now in his forties, was a Trade Unionist, and was sent to Wake - months on end on the in 1896 he began his long field Prison in West Yorkshire after the Easter massive ‘Windjammers’ relationship with the SS Rising. He worked as a winch-man, and reg - to places like Australia. Adela . Faces became fa - ularly crossed the dangerous waters with the Sometime after 1911 miliar and relationships Mercantile Marine during the war years. In James and the family were built along the October 1918 Catherine shocked him with moved to 8 Hastings bustling city quays. Occa - the news of the sinking of the RMS Leinster Street in Ringsend. The sionally he worked with a and within hours he was at sea and witnessed following few years were Christopher Kane, who in the awful sight of hundreds of bodies floating hard times in Dublin, es - the early 1870s had lifelessly in the cold Irish Sea. Charles pecially in the Lock-Out moved with his young dragged as many as 15 bodies out of the period of 1913. family from the old ship - water and brought them to the North Wall. In 1896, when James building and seafaring vil - Catherine and many other locals brought had first signed on the SS lage of Baldoyle in bodies to Oriel Hall in Seville Place, taking Adela as an Able Seaman, County Dublin to Lime care of these poor souls as best they could. he earned £1 8s per week. Steet on the South Docks. These events were a tragic reminder for the In 1906 he was given an Like James and Robert, family and the community of what they had extra responsibility; he life at sea was in Christo - experienced the previous year. became the ‘Lamptrim - pher’s blood. James met mer’. This was quite a re - Christopher’s eldest sponsible job, requiring daughter, Mary Anne James to fill the lamps Kane, and in 1899, sev - with the correct level of eral months after Christo - oil, trimming the wicks, pher’s death, they were keeping a keen eye on married in St. Andrew’s them in case of fire. For Roman Catholic Church, this he earned the princely sum of £1 11s per week. JOSEPH HOPKINS In 1916 James was promoted to ‘2nd Mate’ (1870 – 1917) on the SS Adela . His salary was now £2 8s per week. Alas his good fortune was short-lived. On the 27th December 1917 James died when the ship was torpedoed. Unfortunately for Mary Anne (or Mrs. For - tune as she was known), her husband’s body was never recovered. She did not remarry. Mary Anne and her sister, Catherine Kane, a Tailoress, continued offering their services to the upkeep of their local church, the Seamen’s Church on City Quay ‘Church of the Immacu - late Heart of Mary’. James had given 48 years of his life to the Mercantile Marine, and in the end, had been embraced forever by the might of the sea. His name appears on the Tower Hill Memo - rial, London. (Sandra Dempsey)

n December 14th 1917 while on route PATRICK HALPIN Ofrom Manchester to Dublin carrying a (1889 - 1917) general cargo, the SS Hare was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine, U-62 , little more ble Seaman than seven miles east of the Kish Light. Twelve APatrick lives were lost that night, including my grand - Halpin aged 28 father, Able Seaman Joseph Hopkins, aged 47, when he died. Left of 5, Bay view Terrace, Pigeon House Road, behind a wife Mary Ringsend, Dublin. There were conflicting sto - Elizabeth ( née Jef - ries about the events of that night. One story is ferson) and three that Joseph was seen on deck by a survivor. children. However, his body was never recovered. (As recorded by Joseph Hopkins was born on 3rd September the Commonwealth 1870 in Ringsend, South Dublin. Joseph’s fa - War Graves Com - ther was a seaman, and Joseph himself is mission) known to have worked alongside his brother Francis (Frank) on the SS Hare . Ringsend was a fishing village at the mouth of the River Lif - fey, often called ‘Raytown’. The locals liked the fish, and when times were tough it is said there was very little else to eat. Many inhabitants worked or were otherwise engaged either on the docks or at sea. In July 1891 Joseph was recorded as being a crew member on the Burgh Castle, fishing Dublin Bay from Ringsend. HE received the Certificate of Competency as ‘Sec - ond Hand’ of Fishing Boats engaged in Trawl - ing, on 16th February 1893. He married Emily O’Sullivan in the ‘Star of the Sea’ Church in Sandymount on 1st June 1897. They began their married life in a one- “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

roomed apartment. However, they lived in several locations throughout their married life, as the family increased in size. This was quite usual at the time. Joseph and Emily went on to have nine children, seven boys and two girls: William, Francis, Joseph, Emily Maud, Josephine, Anthony, John, James and Gerard. At the time of the sinking of the SS Hare in 1917 the family lived at 5 Bay View Terrace, Pigeon House Road in Ringsend, and Gerard was still a baby. Emily had many hard years ahead rearing her large family. She needed to be and was a strong woman. Due to the news blackout during the First World War, it may have been about five days or longer before the family received details about the catastrophe, and who had or hadn’t survived. In later years Emily was adamant none of her sons would go to sea, and they duly complied with her wishes. Because their father was ‘Lost at Sea’, the family wanted Joseph remembered in perpetu - ity and had his war medal (the so-called ‘Widow’s Penny’) incorporated onto Emily’s gravestone, which was a lovely gesture. How - ever, it was prised or hacked off the stone by military antique robbers which was an awful loss. Joseph was also awarded the ‘Torpedo Badge’, together with the Mercantile Trade and War Memorial medals. J i m

L a r k i n

a n d

t h e

c r e w

o f

t h e

S S

H a r e

The SS Hare is renowned in Dublin history, even mentioned in Plunkett’s ‘ Strumpet City ’ as being the first boat that brought food parcels to the city during the Lockout in the winter of 1913-1914. Among the food items supplied to strikers families were Jacobs biscuits, and iron - ically it was empty Jacob’s Biscuit crates that some of the surviving crew of the Hare clung to in the water when the boat sank. There is an iconic picture of James (Big Jim) Larkin and some of the crew of the SS Hare . Joseph Hopkins is honoured on the Tower Hill Memorial, London. (Hillary Wallner) JOHN MACKEY but continued service in the Mercantile Marine (1871-1917) for a number of years. Tragedy would again strike the family in ohn was one of seven boys born to December 1917, when John (along with JRichard Mackey and Ellen Callaghan. brother-in-law Frank Mangan) died aboard the The family moved from North City Cork to the SS Adela . Responsibility for maintaining the North Dock area of Dublin about 1864. John family fell to his sons and daughters, Christy, was born here seven years later, in 1871. His Mary and Norah. At that time girls could enter father Richard was a Boilermaker. Four of John service (as maids) from the age of 12. Mackey’s brothers would become boilermak - Ellen applied for, and received in 1923, a ers, and another, Cornelius, would become a Medal and Scroll honouring her husband John. seaman like himself. The family were either Ellen died in 1926 aged 56 at her home at 17 making ships or sailing them! Two of his sisters Upper Oriel Street. She is buried in Deans - would marry seamen, Bridget to Michael Daly grange Cemetery, again in a common grave. and Mary Anne to Frank Mangan. (In fact, Her daughter Annie Gilligan died in 1933 and Michael Daly was a witness to the marriage of is buried close by. Mary Anne and Frank Mangan). In 1897 John himself would be married, to Ellen Lynch in the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra Without, Francis Street. Ellen had been born in this part of the City in 1869, to a Patrick Lynch and Anne Brien. Their first child was born the following year, a daughter named Ellen after her mother. Tragedy would come to the Mackey household Members of the family lived in 17 Upper when that child Ellen died in 1901, aged just Oriel Street until quite recently. In Number 16 three years old. John brought the coffin for lived a cousin, Patrick Daly (son of Bridget burial to Glasnevin Cemetery. Ellen is in a poor Mackey and Michael Daly), who continued the grave close to her Mackey Grandparents. In family tradition as a seaman. (In fact, not only 1911 they would also name their seventh (and was John Mackey's son Christopher a sailor, so final) child Ellen. too was his nephew Paddy Mackey, along with John and Ellen Richard, Michael and Patrick Daly). Mackey had seven While we commemorate those who lost children in total, one their lives in these tragedies, we must also re -

H boy Christopher member their dependents left behind who often i s s o (1899) and six girls - had to struggle to survive: n ,

C h Mary (1902), Norah Annie Gilligan (Died 1933), Christopher r i s t o

p (1904), Annie (1906), Mackey (Died 1968), Ellen Murphy (Died h e r

M Bridget (1908) and 1975), Mary Solan (Died 1981, USA), Bridget a c k e two named Ellen Carey (Died 1989) and Norah Barry (Died y , f r o (1898 and 1911). 1991). m h i s John Mackey (Joseph Knox) s e a m joined the Mercantile a n ’ s p Marine with his much a p e r s older brother Cor - FRANCIS MANGAN nelius. In the 1911 census he is down as a (1862-1917) Stoker. This was one who keeps the fire in the steam boiler hot enough to keep the turbine rancis was the eldest child of John Man - running. Generally, these were coal boilers. Fgan and Anne Bruder, who were married In 1917 his young son Christopher joined on the 24th January 1862 in St Mary's Cathe - the Royal Marine, giving his age as one year dral, Marlborough Street. Frank was born in older than he was. In 1919, he was demobbed, Dublin on 17th November 1862. His young “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

With the outbreak of WW1, Frank was pulled back into sea-faring, enlisting in the Mercantile Marine, where there was good money to be earned sailing across treacherous waters. During this period, his two sons John and Cornelius were also with the Mercantile Marine, while his other son Richard was a

Driver with the Royal Engineers.

(

)

(

a n

sister Bridget (born 1869) died when trampled t

to death by a runaway horse in Guild Street a M

n e

few years later, in 1876.

r d

In 1887, Francis married Mary Anne ) Mackey (originally from Cork, born 1857) in St. Lawrence O’Tooles Church, Seville Place, Throughout their married lives Frank and North Dock. They had three children, John Mary had looked after her younger brother, (1889), Richard (1890) and Cornelius (1895). Richard Mackey. Richard (one of the family’s Of the children, both John and Cornelius took twelve children) was disabled, but worked as a to the sea. A little-known fact of their marriage messenger. The Mackey family were originally was that Mary Anne was four years older than from North Cork City, and in terms of employ - Frank, it was easier in those days to conceal ment were blacksmiths, boilermakers or else your true age, and many women did. sailors. Mary’s brother John would die along - Frank took to the seas at an early age, a ca - side Frank aboard the SS Adela , while her older reer which generally began at 16 or 17 years brother Cornelius Mackey was also a seaman. old. At the time of their marriage his occupa - Frank’s son Richard died in 1968 and his tion was Sailor. With the births of the children son John died 1950. Cornelius stayed at sea he was listed as a Sailor or Fireman. A Fireman and died in the USA in the mid 1930’s. (also called Stoker) on steamboats in the 19th (Joseph Knox) century was an important position – in addi - tion to fuelling the fire to run the steam engine, they also had to maintain it efficiently and en - CHRISTOPHER WOLFE sure the vessel was not put at risk. In the 1911 (1885 -1917) census he was listed as working in a factory as an engine driver. y Grandfather Christopher Wolfe was It was within this year (1911) that his son Mborn in 1885 and was raised in Le - John married Kate Kelly; a poignant tragedy land Place, Common Street in the North Wall occurred in the family when twins born to Kate area of Dublin. His mother was Margaret in 1912 died at just three days old. Frank took Byrne (born either 1855 or 1858) and his father responsibility for burying them in Glasnevin was also Christopher Wolfe (born 1846 or Cemetery. Another son, Richard Mangan, 1847). He had 5 sisters and one brother (Mag - would marry Annie Murphy in August 1912, gie, Teresa, Bridget, Agnes, Lizzie and at St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church, West - Lawrence). According to the 1901 census he land Row. worked as a quay labourer in Dublin. However, 14 Atlantic convoys. At the end of one of these he was looking for a berth back to Dublin from Liverpool where they had landed. He ap - proached a Captain who, after looking at his papers, realised that he had known his Father. In a twist of fate that Captain was Captain Tyrrell, the only survivor of the sunken SS Adela . He told Christopher that his father was down below in the ship and wouldn’t have stood a chance when the torpedo came in. As a winchman he would have only been back on deck unloading the cargo when the ship docked. My Grandmother Elizabeth lived with us in 80 East Road, East Wall, and we would often hear her sobbing at night. She had had a very hard life and we don’t think she ever got over the loss of her first husband Christopher. She told us that she didn’t want him to sail that day due to the large number of deaths at sea, but he pinched her bum and said “Ah I’m going Liz, the lads will think I’ve swallowed the an - chor” (this mean to retire from sea-life and set - in June of that year he signed on board his first tle down on shore). We also found out that the ship, as a ‘boy’ on the SS Duke of Leinster . This censor restricted reporting ship losses to stop was a Dublin & Manchester Steamship Com - propaganda for the Germans. She said there pany passenger ship, who also operated the SS were always women crying on the docks and Hare on the same route. Christopher would she always made us pray for sailors on stormy actually move to Manchester where he married nights. We also heard rumours that the SS Elizabeth Tully on 16th June 1910. They had Adela had carried arms for the rebels in Dublin. only one child, my father, Christopher Wolfe. My Grandmother helped rear her and They then moved back to Jane Place, off Seville Christopher’s grandchildren and lived a long Place (behind Amiens Street train station), and life with them. he started working for Tedcastle’s. He was a In another twist of fate, the son of one of winchman on the SS Adela . the other victims on the SS Adela (cattleman When he was killed in the sink - ing of the SS Adela he left behind his wife Elizabeth and their son Christo - pher, who was only 6 when his fa -

ther died. Like so many others they n

lived in poverty. His wife went on to t

remarry twice (Mr. Rowan and i

Tommy Byrne) but didn’t have any n

more children. She brought up her 3

only son who grew up and married h

‘

Bridget Wolfe (Murphy). He and e

l Bridget had 6 children (myself, o

Christy, Paddy, Don, Larry and Eliz - x

abeth). He now has lots of grand - t

’

children and great-grandchildren. d

t My own dad worked for a few o

c different shipping companies and did k

“WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

James Farrell) married my mother’s sister fireman (stoker); he was known as ‘locks’ by Nancy Murphy. So there is a real family link his shipmates because of his golden hair. to this ship. Charles had many highlights during his ca - My Grandfather’s legacy lives on in all his reer; on 27th September 1913 he was one of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great the men on the SS Hare when it delivered food grandchildren and great-great-great grandchil - to the striking families during the lockout. dren. His death gave me a love of history and In 1906, Charles married Brigid Walsh ( née the docklands and I have spent a lot of time re - Kirwan) in Westland Row Church; they had searching his ship. Myself and my wife, Teresa, two daughters, Nancy Anne and May who visited the Tower Hill Memorial in London to were also christened in Westland Row Church. see his remembrance on the plaque erected by On 14th December 1917, when Nancy was five the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. years old and May was just five weeks old, the The memorial to him and all who died on SS Hare was torpedoed. Charles was lost at sea the SS Adela and SS Hare that is taking place and his body never recovered. Stories handed is a wonderful tribute to those who lost their down in the family recall a man setting off to lives, and, a century on, many of his descen - sea with his cap on and his sea bag over his dants will attend this memorial to remember shoulder (containing his belongings) as he him. made his way to City Quay. Brigid could not (Shay Wolfe) give Charles a funeral and was heartbroken by not having any of his personal belongings, such as his sea book, to remember him by. CHARLES WALSH Brigid remained in the Dock area for the rest (1880 - 1917) of her life, living with her daughter, Nancy, and her seven grandchildren (Vera, Christy, Mona, Breda, Stephen, Liam and Marian). Brigid’s sec - ond daughter, May, and grandchildren (Crissie, Charlie, Tommy and Paddy) also lived nearby in the same area. Brigid received the Mercantile Marine War Medal and the British War Medal for her late husband Charles. Brigid never got over the death of her husband and she spoke of him often. This gave us, his grandchildren, a keen interest in his life and history, including visiting the memorials to his remembrance, such as Kil - more Quay and the Tower Hill memorial in London. (Vera Plunkett and Stephen Whelan)

JOSEPH EDWARD SWORDS (1880-1917)

Our Grandfather, Charles Walsh, was born in 1880 to Michael and Mary Walsh of 32 Clarence Place, Great Brunswick Street, Dublin. As a young man Charles joined the oseph Edward Swords was born on 25th Merchant Navy, and trained and served as a JAugust 1880 in Dalkey, County Dublin. He was one of eleven children of Captain Joseph Swords and Rose Archbold. Their ad - afterwards a Brass Finisher. His mother died in dress was Alexis House, Convent Road, which 1878 when he was just 8 years old, leaving his still stands with a commanding view of Dalkey father to look after the children. Nancy’s sister Island and Scotsman’s Bay. It is thought that Emma Baines helped with the youngest, not yet this branch of the family originally came from 2 years old. Clontarf and were ships’ pilots who guided As a young man, Henry James chose a mil - sailing ships into Dublin Port from the general itary career. The 1891 Census records him as area of the Kish Bank. They were provided "Private in Royal Marines” based at the Royal with small houses in Bulloch Harbour for ease Marine Depot Hospital Barracks and Infir - of access to their business and to avoid the ex - mary, Walmer, Kent. In the 1901 census he is a cessive rents being charged in Dún Laoghaire "Gunner RMA”, onboard H.M.S Bellerophon , in the early 19th century. Devonport , and Devon . It is unclear when he Joseph had four brothers who were also left the Marines, but by 1911 his occupation is Master Mariners and many of his sisters also listed as baker, working alongside his wife, and married sailors. He had originally gone to sea living next door to his father in Lambeth. as a Boy on the Lady Olive out of Dublin in In 1910, aged 38 he had married a widow 1893 at age 13, and he passed his Certificate of Maria Kreszenzia Klemm, ( née Schaefer). Competency as a 2nd Mate for square-rigged Maria was German born, and had moved to vessels six years later. He then served as 2nd London around 1890. Her first husband (Carl Mate on the Helga, registered in Glasgow and Christian Klemm) had died in 1908, leaving her the Duke of Leinster out of Dublin in 1899. He with three sons. All three boys took the sur - is described as having fair hair and brown eyes. name of Pitt. A year later, on 12 June 1900, he passed an He may have been in the reserves, or re - examination in Belfast as Only Mate of a for - joined the service at the outbreak of the Great eign-going ship and as Master of a Home Trade War. Due to the U-boat threat, merchant vessel Passenger Ship. His address at this time is Rose had become “defensively armed” and regularly Cottage, Convent Road, Dalkey. had a naval gun and two crew members on - Joseph was 1st Officer on the SS Hare and board for perilous voyages. He was serving as was one of the twelve crew lost when it was at - Acting Bombardier, Royal Marine Artillery on - tacked in the early hours of Friday 14th De - board the SS Adela when he lost his life in the cember 1917. attack on 27th December 1917. He was aged There is a fine Celtic Cross monument to 47 years old. Joe’s father and family in Deansgrange Ceme - tery, that mentions the loss of his son in 1917. He is further commemorated on the Tower Hill THOMAS BROWN Memorial in London. (1880-1944) (John Goggins ) homas Brown first worked as a bottle Tblower in Ringsend and then went to HENRY JAMES PITT sea as young boy. He served under sail on a (1870-1917) schooner and later on larger sailing ships.

He joined the British Merchant Navy, and

r in 1903 while he was serving on the SS Olive

r d

t the ship was torn from its moorings during a

o u

r severe storm. It was washed onto the shore in

o l n County Sligo and left high and dry. There was enry James Pitt was born in June 1870 no loss of life. During the First World War he Hin Lambeth, London to Robert and was rescued from another ship which struck a Nancy Pitt ( née Ling). The couple had four mine and sank. children - Joseph Robert (1868) Henry James According to the 1911 Census he was living (1870), Ann (1875) and George (1876). at Thorncastle Street with his family (wife His father had been a railway labourer and Catherine and children William, Arthur, Elena “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

Following his recovery, Thomas Brown re - sumed his occupation as a seaman and com - pleted voyages to North America, Canada and UK costal ports. He spent his final years in the tin roofed Saint Catherine’s Isolation Hospital, Pigeon House, which was run by Dublin Corporation and had notoriously poor conditions for pa - tients. On the 9th February, 1944 he died in St. Kevin’s Hospital and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. (Tony Brown)

CAPTAIN MICHAEL JOHN TYRRELL (1872-1939)

ichael John Tyrrell had his roots Mfirmly in County Wicklow. He was born on 2 July 1872, son of Master Mariner, Robert Tyrrell and wife Eliza of Tyndalls Lane, Arklow. (Robert in turn was the son of Michael Tyrrell of Arklow). Following his family’s seafaring tradition, Michael became a mariner with the issuing of his Ship Pilot’s Licence on 27th September 1900, which reads as follows: “Know ye that Michael Tyrrell whose de - scription is endorsed hereon, and who is at the Valentine and Thomas Patrick) Date of these Presents the MATE of the Ship Thomas Brown, with an address at 19 Pi - called Cumbria of Dublin, drawing 17 feet 0 geon House Road, signed on with the SS Hare inches Water, and of the Burthen of One hun - as a Fireman. On Thursday the 13th December dred tons, whereof Tedcastle, McCormick & 1917 the SS Hare left Manchester bound for Co. are owners, having been examined as to his Dublin with general cargo of foodstuffs. As a fitness to Pilot the said Ship, called Cumbria or British Merchant Navy vessel it was ‘defen - either of the Ships named in the Specification sively armed’. At 3.00am on Friday morning at the foot hereof, within the Limits following, 14th December 1917, as the ship approached viz - Rock a bill on the North to the South end Dublin Bay it was torpedoed without warning of Arklow Bank – and having been found fit to by the submarine U-62 of the Imperial Ger - Pilot the same, the said Board do hereby, in many Navy. She is reported to have been hit pursuance and by Virtue of the power given forward and to have gone down within 3 minutes. them for that purpose in and by an Act of Par - Fireman Thomas Brown was in the engine liament, made and passed in the 57th and 58th room at the time of the blast and was badly in - year of the Reign of Queen Victoria, entitled jured about the legs and body. When the vessel under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, Certify capsized he was pitched into the sea. He swam under their Common Seal that the said Michael for sometime before managing to reach an up - Tyrrell hath been examined as aforesaid and turned boat, which a number of crew men been found fit to Pilot the said Ship called managed to cling to. He was said to have been ‘Cumbria’ or either of the Ships named in the unconscious for 3 hours. He had no recollec - Specification at the foot hereof, within the Lim - tion of his rescue, which took place hours after its hereinbefore described….” the sinking. Information obtained from the British Na - tional Archives at Kew, show Michael’s Certifi - cate of Competency number as a Master or Mate in the home trade as 105089 and his RS2 No. 9361. By 1901, Michael’s father Robert, age 54, appears as a Master Mariner on the Census, living with his family at York Street, Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), having moved up from Arklow. Michael had met an English lady, Edith Em - ilie Warley, who had been working in Wicklow for several years. Love blossomed and on 30th December 1901 the couple married in Bray, County Wicklow before moving to 5 Oxford JOHN CONLON Road, Ranelagh, where their children were (1891-1954) reared. On Census night 1911, Michael and Edith ohn Conlon, Able Seaman, with an ad - state they have five children, but more were to Jdress at Somerset Street, Ringsend sur - follow. vived the sinking of the SS Hare . On 1st March 1912 Michael became Cap - (Robert Conlon) tain of the SS Adela , a ship which sailed the Dublin–Liverpool route. Disaster struck on 27th December 1917. The highly experienced Captain Tyrrell, then aged 45 years old, was in charge of the SS Adela when his ship was tor - pedoed with the immediate loss of lives. Eight crew members managed to get into a lifeboat, but without oars. They spent many hours drift - ing in rough seas, during which time three men were washed overboard and a further four died of exposure, leaving Captain Michael as the sole survivor. A newspaper report attributed this to him being a ‘typical master mariner, a man of powerful physique’. This tragic event must have greatly affected Michael, particularly as he was the sole sur - vivor. However, in those days, it was a matter of “dry off and back at the helm” as quickly as possible, so Michael returned to work as Cap - tain, this time of the vessel SS Blackrock an - other Tedcastle vessel. Michael’s Pilot Licence shows it was renewed annually up to 30th June 1927. “Captain Michael John Tyrrell of Ranelagh, formerly of British & Irish Steam Packet Co. died 15 June 1939 at Sir Patrick Dunn’s Hos - pital and following a large funeral, was laid to rest in Mount Jerome Cemetery.” (Information provided by Louise Harrison) “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

Lost at sea Due to wartime censorship, the reporting of U-boat attacks was tightly controlled. Often sinking’s weren’t covered by newspapers, and in some cases the loss of ships was noted but no cause given. The images on this page were published in January 1918 but, as requested by the Censor’s Office, no vessels were named.

is photo is titled incorrectly. It is uncertain who this is. Submarine victims Help for dependents in Dublin ue to war-time censorship the initial across the Irish Sea. Dpress reports did not name the vessels Among the first individual donors was Wal - or refer to U-boats as the cause of the 'tragedy' ter Scott of the Dublin Dockyard Company. or ‘loss’. In the closely knit Irish Shipbuilding was boom - Dockland and seafaring com - ing during the war, led by munity they knew. The effect Belfast’s Harland and Wolff. of the sinking of the SS Hare That city’s “wee yard” at and SS Adela was seismic, with Workman Clarke was setting the ripples quickly spreading world records in building a through the business commu - new simplified transport craft nity of the city. From the start to replace the numerous ships of the war deaths of Dock - being sunk each month. The lands dwellers in far off places smaller Dublin Dockyard such as Gallipoli, the Somme, Company was struggling to and Passchendaele had been meet orders due to a shortage regular, and it was not uncom - of space and lack of skilled mon for ships to fall victim off men. This was so serious that the Irish coast. 159 ships were a blind eye was being turned sunk in Irish coastal waters during 1917. How - to former staff who had fought in the 1916 Ris - ever, the majority of these were sunk off the At - ing as craftsmen were in such short supply. The lantic coast, and though the Irish channel had Company itself gave £100 while the workforce, become increasingly hostile, these Christmas dividing along their trade union lines each gave season attacks brought home the reality of war individual donations amounting to over £50. like never before. The impact can be seen in the Local dockland based companies, reliant on tremendous support effort in the aftermath, ships for exports and imports, made donations where literally the whole population played a –Barrington’s Soap Factory on Sheriff Street, role, from the richest business owners to the Ross & Wallpole Iron Founders, The Dublin poorest quay side labourers, from those who Glass Bottle Company, Boland’s Bakery, T. & built the ships to those who C. Martin, Timber Mer - sailed them, from trade union chants, Cherry & Smaldridge leaders to captains of industry, Printers, on Seville Place, and crossing all religious and Goulding’s Fertiliser Com - political divides. pany, Smith & Pearson, In early January several in - British Petroleum (originally a fluential politicians, trade German Registered Com - unionists, and businessmen pany) and many others. met at the Mansion House to Municipal employees were set up a Submarine Victim’s generous - Dublin Corpora - Fund for the dependents of tion Main Drainage workers those lost at sea. A public meet - at the Pigeon House Fort do - ing was held three days later nated as did their colleagues and over the next six months at the Pigeon House Pump substantial funds were raised. Station, and the adjacent Electri - Although not complete, from the published lists cal Power Station. So too did those at the Pump we can get some sense of the reality check Stations on East Road and Forbes Street. which hit, as the community began to realise Those engaged in transport, both seafaring that nobody was safe even on the short trips and dockside, were affected, and most would “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

have known the victims and their families. The Brewery, and Guinness (all involved in export - Dublin Steam Trawler Company donated as ing their products) were not found wanting. did the captains and crews of the SS Carlow , Guinness coopers made a separate donation. SS Belfast , and SS Yarrow . Many of their crew The Car Company Ashenhurst Williams and members had previously served on both the the Iron Founders Thompsons (both engaged Adela and Hare. The crew of the Dublin Cor - in wartime manufacturing), are also on the list. poration dredger SS Shamrock gave funds as Hopkins and Hopkins Jewellers, The Irish did the Irish Ships Firemen’s Trade Union and Times , even William Martin Murphy of Inde - the Irish Stationary Engine Drivers Union, pendent Newspapers all donated as did hun - which represented crane-men on the docks. dreds of individuals from all over Ireland and Dublin Port’s Harbour Master, John Henry Britain. Webb, and his assistant James Brady con - The response crossed the religious divide. tributed (as did Brady’s brother, the MP for St. Canon Brady of St. Laurence O’Toole’s arish Stephen’s Green, Patrick Joseph Brady). The was one of the originators of the fund, with Workers’ Club of the Midlands Great Western many of the victims and their dependents com - Railway also supported the cause along with ing from his parish. His co-organiser, Reverend many other businesses and workforces North Dr. Denham Osbourne of Rutland Square Pres - and South of the Liffey. Hauliers such as Wallis byterian Church received numerous donations and Pickford’s also appear on the lists. Most of from amongst his co-religionists, while many these workers were earning war bonuses and parishioners from the three main religions con - there was no shortage of work. With the sink - tributed through their Parish Priest, Rector, or ing of these well-known vessels, the reason for Minister. The Irish Jewish Association made a this became only too apparent. generous donation and then over 50 individual Entertainment and sporting bodies were Jewish Businessmen also contributed. called upon to support these efforts and re - The largest business contribution came in sponded magnificently. The Queen’s Theatre January from the Irish Cattle Traders and performed a matinee of their successful pan - Stockowners Association and amounted to tomime, Tom Thumb, which raised £48. The £1,100. Michael Cuddy of their Committee Royal Theatre then staged a benefit night was from Seville Place and an extensive ex - which brought in £272. Whippet races were or - porter of cattle and sheep. Cuddy’s family had ganied at Shelbourne Park raising £66; The Le - a Butchers Shop at Spencer Dock Bridge, and inster Football Association granted permission it’s likely that he knew many of those that died for fundraising matches to be played in March and their families, having employed them at and April; Gold Clubs organised dances, bands one time. Both the SS Adela and SS Hare had played concerts, Picture Houses such as the Ro - cattle drovers among their crew. The sinking of tunda, Camden, and the Phoenix Picture Palace the RMS Leinster in October 1918 has histor - all donated takings, and in June, ically overshadowed the loss of the Committee in charge of the the Adela and the Hare. How - Irish Derby Sweep, run at Bal - ever, from the subscription lists doyle, announced that they were we can see how far reaching donating £1400 to the cause. the consequences were after In the wider business commu - the sinking of the latter two nity donations were received ships. Both ships were sailing from many of the leading depart - in what should have been safe ments stores and business such as waters. Now all was changed Arnotts, Switzers, Findlaters, the and the reality of it would re - Varian Brush Company, Dock - verberate not just through the rell’s, Pimm’s Department Stores, victim’s relatives but right individual donations from each of through the entire population the Eason brothers, and many of Dublin and beyond. more besides. Jameson’s and Power’s Distillers, The Mountjoy I

d The first of the famous Guinness fleet - torpedoed in 1917 uinness is the most iconic of all Irish 5pm it was at 7.45pm when her encounter with Gbrand names. Manufacturing stout UC-75 would see the vessel struck by a torpedo since 1759, in the early years of the 20th cen - and almost immediately break in half. tury the company was engaged in a busy cross This vivid account of the attack was written channel trade, contracting a variety of carriers. by survivor Thomas McGlue (and published by During the 1913 Lockout the disruption of Guinness in their HARP magazine in 1964): commercial shipping due to sympathetic strike “I was in the galley, aft of the bridge. I was action affected their cargoes. The company de - just reaching out to take a kettle off the fire to cided to invest in their own ships, and the leg - make a cup of tea for the officers. When we got endary Guinness fleet was born. Before the year the poke, the kettle capsized and shot the boil - was out the first vessel was purchased, the SS ing water up my arm to the elbow. The galley WM Barkley . Built in 1898, the ship was only was filled with steam and I said a few hard in service for Guinness a short time when world words, but apart from that there wasn’t much events would change her destiny drastically. In noise – not a murmur, in fact. 1914 Great Britain and Germany would go to “The port side of the ship was locked to war, and she was commandeered by the British keep it dark, so I went through the engine room Admiralty. A number of perilous voyages were and out on the starboard deck. There was a carried out in this new role, including trans - lifeboat hanging there, hanging by one end to porting road building material to France, car - the forward fall. The Barkley was doing her rying timber to Britain and iron from Glasgow best to go down, but the barrels were fighting to Dunkirk. However, the vessel was eventually their way up through the hatches and that kept deemed not suitable for this war work and was us afloat a bit longer – in fact, it’s the reason returned to the company. any of us got out of her. On Friday 12th October 1917 she set out “The master gave three blasts on the siren from Dublin Port with a cargo of Guinness des - and then I didn’t see him anymore. I climbed tined for Liverpool. Sailings from the Port had into the boat and a mate gave me a knife to cut been suspended due to the increase of U-Boat the fall and the painter. The boat dropped clear attacks, and had only been lifted that very day. and dipped under a bit and we had to do some Tragically, the restrictions would be re-imposed fast bailing. The other fellow was all for us get - almost immediately, but for this vessel and her ting away while we could, but I said No there’s crew this renewed caution would prove justi - more than two of us here and they’ll want to fied but too late. Having departed the city at come along. Then the gunner came up – we had “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

one gun on the after asked ‘Are you aliens?’ deck but he wasn’t at Yes, we’re aliens from it when we got the Dublin. He seemed to poke; as a matter of lose interest then, so we fact, he was in the walked out and got galley with me, wait - back into the lifeboat ing for some hot and rowed it up to

water to do his wash - I Custom House quay. m

ing with. I don’t know The Guinness superin -

r where he’d got in be - t tendent produced a

tween. f bottle of brandy and

i “Then another sea - n some dry clothes and

s man jumped in and sent the gunner off to A

h that was four of us. i hospital to have his

We rowed away from i leg seen to. The rest of

o the Barkley so as not us went over to the

a to get dragged under, n North Star for break -

d and we saw the U-boat fast. And later, after lying astern. I thought she was a collier, she was I’d had my arm dressed – the doctor said the so big. There were seven Germans in the con - salt water had done it good – the superinten - ning tower, all looking down at us through dent gave me a drayman’s coat to wear and put binoculars… me in a cab. I was glad to get back to Baldoyle, “The submarine slipped away and we were because I’d left my wife sick and was afraid left alone, with hogsheads of stout bobbing all she’d hear about the torpedoing before I could around us. The Barkley had broken and gone get home.” down very quietly. We tried to row for the Kish Those who died during this attack were: light vessel but it might have been America for all the way we made. We got tired and my 1. Alexander Corry (age 48), First Engineer scalded hand was hurting. We put out the sea from 3, Victoria Villas, Dublin. anchor and sat there shouting all night. 2. Edward Gregory (age 46), Master from 2 “At last, we saw a black shape coming up. Meadows Lane, Arklow, County Wicklow. She was the Donnet Head , a collier bound for 3. Arthur Kendall (age 40), Able Seaman Dublin. We got into Dublin about 5am and an from 3 Meany Place, Dalkey, County Dublin. official put us in the Custom House at the point 4. Owen Francis Murphy (age 28), Second of the Wall, where there was a big fire. That Engineer from 105 South Main Street, Wexford. was welcome because we were wet through and 5. Thomas Murphy (age 29), Ships Fireman through and I’d spent the night in my shirt - from 36 Lower Sheriff Street, Dublin. sleeves. But we weren’t very pleased to be kept there three hours. Then a man came in and The youngest man was unmarried, the oth -

l e ers each left behind a wife, and a total of seven

e children, and Arthur Kendall’s wife was preg -

d nant. A report by the Guinness Company on

a u the loss noted that the wife of Thomas Murphy

r of 36 Sheriff Street was “currently dying in hos -

(

m pital” and “who leaves in addition two chil -

c dren”. According to the company,

e “arrangements have been made for dealing

suitably with all cases”.

d In a strange sequel to this tragedy, reports

of casks of Guinness being discovered floating

C or being washed ashore continued in the fol -

) lowing weeks. Commander Ernst-Friedrich Hashagen (U-62) “U-Boat Westwards” rnst-Friedrich Hashagen was born on Ernst-Friedrich rejoined the Navy during Ethe 24th August 1885 in Eisenach, Ger - World War II, however there seems to be very many. He had eight siblings of whom some little information available on his involvement would pass away during early childhood. His during this campaign though it is known he father, Dr. Justus Hashagen was a Professor in commanded a U-boat training flotilla in the Baltic . Theology in Rostock and Eisenach. Ernst- Ernst-Friedrich passed away during the Friedrich spent most of his childhood in the summer of 1947 in Berlin, with his brother cities of Rostock and Eisenach, forming a Hans passing away 6 months later in Portugal. strong bond with his brother Hans Hashagen. Ernst-Friedrich’s widow Siegrid moved to He married Siegrid Crotogino before the First Hamburg after he passed away. Hans Hasha - World War, though the couple never had any gen’s widow, Marlene Hashagen moved to children. South Africa and later Namibia with their two Both Ernst-Friedrich and Hans Hashagen infants to make a living in Africa. joined the military forces of the ‘Deutsches The information contained in this short biography Reich’ (commonly translated to German Em - was provided by Katinka Hashagen, oldest daughter pire) during World War I, with Ernst-Friedrich of Hans Hashagen. Katinka visited Siegrid (Ernst- serving in the Navy and Hans serving in the In - Friedrich’s widow) on a regular basis in Hamburg fantry. and kept a journal of the stories her aunt shared with During the war years, Ernst-Friedrich be - her. came commander of the submarine U-62 and (Hans Hashagen, Grand-Nephew) described his voyage and experi - ences in the 1931 book titled ‘U- “U-Boat Westwards – My cam- Boote Westwaerts’ (“U-Boats paigns against England”

“

Westward”). After World War I, - B

Ernst-Friedrich and his wife Siegrid W Between February of 1916 and No -

t lived in Berlin where he spend most w

a vember 1918 Ernst-Friedrich Hasha -

s of his time on writing and getting – gen served as a U-boat Commander,

the book ‘U-Boote Westwaerts’ c initially of UB-21 but most signifi -

m published. He used the income p a cantly of U-62 . During this time the

n earned from his book to travel to s

a vessels under his command sunk 55

i the USA, Japan, China and India. n s ships (including two warships), dam -

E His wife accompanied him during n g aged five others and captured two

n most of his travels. d ” Norwegian steamers and their car - “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

get a safe shot, we must know the course and speed of the ship with accuracy. So first we run along for some time about a thousand yards from the ship, and match our speed ex - actly to hers. It is by now so dark that, with the naked eye, only a vague mass can be made out beside us. Nine knots, we calculate from our own rate of revolutions. It is rather dreadful to be steaming thus alongside one’s victim, knowing that she has only ten or perhaps twenty minutes to live, till fiery death leaps from the sea and blows her to pieces. A solemn mood pos - sesses the few upon the bridge. The horror of war si - lences us. Every one of our orders, every movement, and every turn of a wheel is bringing death to our oppo -

M nent. All is exactly settled in

advance. We, too, have be - s

come a part of Fate’.

The loss of lives from the

a sinking of the SS Formby

e and SS Coningbeg was 39

goes. The majority of these suc - cesses were claimed by U-62 , with forty-four of the incidents occurring throughout 1917. On December 14th of that year the SS Hare was lost. In the following days U-62 was active in the seas near Waterford, with the SS Formby lost on the 15th and the SS Coningbeg lost on the 17th. Hashagen describes the moments before this latter attack: ‘Towards midnight, a vessel passes to the westward. We leave

our station and creep nearer. She B

l is a large, deep-laden ship, un -

e escorted. It takes hours for us to a

c haul sufficiently ahead to be able k

to carry out a surface attack. To U -

and 44 respectively, a total of 83. Only one body was recovered, that of Stewardess Annie O’Callaghan washed up in Wales. Men of War In the final pages of his book, Ernst Hasha - gen lamented: “Can you hear it still ... how do Despite his track record, and his reputation as ‘one you know what you have lost? How much of of the aces of the German U-boat service’ he also dis - your being and your hope lies sunk... over - played a strong sense of humanity. In April of 1917 grown by barnacles and seaweed enveloped in British Captain Norman Lewis was in charge of HMS the silent depths of the sea?” Tulip, a Q-Ship, heavily armed but disguised as a mer - chant vessel, a ‘U-boat trap’. After being torpedoed by U-62 the Captain and sixty surviving crew members were taken onto the deck of the surfaced vessel. The men were sent off in lifeboats and Captain Lewis, despite his initial fear of the ‘tall, clean-shaven, pleasant looking officer with the Iron Cross”, was surprisingly well looked after as a prisoner on board U-62 for the next three weeks. During this time Ernst Hashagen and his crew stalked the Irish and British coasts, and

a p was even depth charged by the Royal t

L Navy. Lewis was eventually dispatched to

, a Prisoner of War Camp, but emphasised

s o that ‘The treatment I received aboard U- n

f 62 during my involuntary three weeks

s h undersea trip was irreproachable. Noth -

ing but kindness was meted out to me by

o men and officers alike... Captain Hasha -

U gen behaved in the friendliest possible

6 2 manner’. After the war the men met up and their families would become friends. In 1929 the former foes appeared to - gether at a packed meeting in London to promote the efforts of the League of Na - tions. Ernst Hashagen explained: “We each learned to understand the other, and peace would have been concluded imme - diately had it rested with us. Unfortu - nately, we were not authorised to do anything about stopping the war”. Ac - cording to a contemporary report, the

N men shook hands and departed “amid a

a storm of applause, induced by Com -

w mander Lewis demanding three cheers

n for the most chivalrous and humane man

n I have ever known.”

9 “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

Kaapgenihatrt ävonn Lolë ewasu botrn nin 1a884nt Fconrstreuctiinhg suebmrarirnes sDince e19g06.e It nhad hart von Loë (U-100) Dinto a prominent and noble German been in service since the beginnings of the war, family, holding the title of Freiherr (or Baron). and having sunk 27 ships it was withdrawn for He was fourteen year old when he entered the training duties in early 1916. Von Loë’s entire German Imperial Naval Service in 1902, and tenure with the U-28 (August 1916 to January over the next twelve years he rose steadily 1917) involved training exercises. through the ranks. In March 1914, he was pro - In May 1917, von Loë was appointed Com - moted to Kapitänleutnant. Much of von Loë’s mander of the U-100 , a Bremen built craft, wartime career was undistinguished until Au - with a top speed of 16.5 Knots (19 MPH) on gust 1916 when he was appointed Commander the surface or 8.8 Knots (10.1 mph) sub - of the submarine U-28 . This had been built at merged, which had been launched the previous the famous Gdansk Shipyard, which had been February. The crew consisted of 4 Officers and U28 and the Crocodile

Prior to being commanded by von Loë the U-28 was involved in one of the more bizarre stories to emerge from the war years. On the 30th July 1915, the U-28 encountered the British Steamer, the Iberian, off Fastnet Rock about 60 miles off the Irish coast. During the pur - suit eleven torpedoes were fired before two shots hit their target. The Iberian sank with a boiler exploding as it fell to the depths below. What happened next it still causing controversy today. According to accounts from a number of the sub - marine crew, a 60 foot long “aquatic animal” was thrown from the water to a height of 60 to 100 feet. Crew-members claimed it was “writhing and struggling wildly” and their descriptions suggest it was a prehis - toric type of crocodile. These stories only began to emerge many years after the events of 1915. Over sixty members of the Iberian crew were saved and landed in Ireland. Many, particularly American crew-members, gave interviews to local Irish and Amer - ican newspapers. None mention the crocodile-like crea - ture. Even the log of the U-28 failed to record the animal.

Kapitänleutnant Freiherr Degenhart von32 mLen, oandë wi th(inU two- w1eek0s of0 goi) ng into service would have their first success when they sunk a Norwegian vessel, the Cedarbank, in the North Sea. On the 5th August 1917, U-100 had their first success off the Irish coast sinking the SS Kathleen , 1907 built steamer carrying wheat, next encounter, when they sank the SS Adela , which they encountered off Skellig. Two days on 27th December 1917. later they sank the SS Blagdon , a Steamer, The U-100 was von Loë’s sole military com - which was in fact already abandoned by its mand and during its short service sank a total crew following an earlier attack by another U- of 10 ships and damaged two others. von Loë boat. It would be nearly five months before its was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class for his war service. “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

Produced by The Adela-Hare Centenary Commemoration Committee

Frances Corr (Community Representative/Communities of Ringsend and Irishtown) , David Cotter (Local Historian) , Joe Mooney (East Wall History Group) , Hilary Wallner (Relative Representative) , Elizabeth Watson (St. Andrew’s Parish Heritage Working Group) , and Dolores Wilson (St. Andrew’s Resource Centre) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This publication and associated commemorative events would not have been possible without the assistance of Dublin City Council’s Decade of Commemorations Fund for Communities. Images courtesy: National Archives of Ireland, National Library of Ireland (NLI), Dublin Dockworkers Preservation Society, Guinness Archive, Diageo Ireland, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Ian Lawlor, Patrick Hugh Lynch.

Sponsors Tony Price, Coxwain, RNLI Holyhead Dublin City Council Morrough Lacy Dublin Port Company Mayor of Holyhead, Cllr. Ann Kennedy, Holyhead Town Council Diageo Ireland Zandra Ball & Noel McGuiness, NEAR FM Fionnbarr Moore, National Monuments Service In-Kind Support Adele O'Connor, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Sandymount His - St. Andrew’s Resource Centre torical Society East Wall History Group Rose Kearney Dublin Dockers Preservation Society Jennifer Wann The Parish of St. Laurence O’Toole Stewart Andrews The Parish of St. Andrew’s Lucy McCaffrey, Chairperson, Dublin Port Company The communities north and south of the River Liffey, includ - The Board and Staff of the Dublin Port Company ing Ringsend, Irishtown, Sandymount, Pearse Street, City The Board and Staff of St. Andrew’s Resource Centre Quay, East Wall, North Wall and North Strand Hugo McGuinness (East Wall History Group) Special Thanks Marie O'Reilly (North Dock Peoples Voice Project) Ardmhéara, Cllr. Micheál Mac Donncha The Parish of St. Laurence O’Toole The Elected Members and Staff of Dublin City Council The Parish of St. Andrew’s, Westland Row Tara Doyle, Dublin City Council Fr Robert Colclough St. Laurence O'Toole parish Paula Ebbs, Dublin City Council Bernadette Guest, Heritage Officer, Waterford City & County Council Brendan Teeling, Dublin City Council David Power, South Dublin Libraries The Commemorative Naming Committee, Dublin City Council Eugene Garrihy, Dublin Bay Cruises Fanchea Gibson, Dublin City Council Ailbhe Garrihy, Dublin Bay Cruises Dublin City Library & Archive Iris Kavanagh, Top Oil Jackie O'Reilly, Dublin City Council Edward Bourke David Ryan, Dublin City Council Philip Lecane Clara Hickey, Dublin City Council Brian Ellis, National Maritime Museum of Ireland Brian Donnelly, National Archives of Ireland Hans & Ernst Hashagen Eoin McDonnell, Connolly Media Group Eddie Gahan, Genealogical Society of Ireland Damien Tiernan, RTÉ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cian McCormack, RTÉ Ado Perry Denis O’Brien Kevin Squires Aidan Killeen, Island Capital Services Limited Grehan Printers John Ryall, Ravensburg Limited Ciarán Swan Brian McGann, SIPTU Darren Shiels & Aoife Shiels, Jackie’s Florist Pádraig Yeates Christian Freiherr von Loë Brian Hanley John & Eoin Keating, Sound Lease Roy Stokes Richard Cruise Michael Lee Jeffrey Evans, Joint-Chairperson, Holyhead - Dún Laoghaire Link Breasal Ó Caoillaí Organisation Mark Kelly, Dublin Bus John Cave, Holyhead Maritime Museum The Mail Boat Leinster Centenary Committee Rosemary McNulty, Dublin City Council Ken Fleming, International Transport Workers’ Federation Reverend Deacon Dermot McCarthy Gerry Thomas, Archivist, Holyhead Maritime Museum Eric Ryder, Holyhead Maritime Museum Fergus Brady, Archivist, Guinness Archive Brian Dooley, Malahide Historical Society Barry Hillier, Trustee, Holyhead Maritime Museum Paddy McCormack, Office of Public Works Eddie Keane, Dublin Bay Cruises BLANK “WITHIN THE SEAT OF WAR”

On December 14th 1917 the SS Hare was torpedoed as it travelled from Manchester into Dublin Port. Twelve lives were lost.

On December 27th 1917 the SS Adela was torpedoed as it travelled to Liverpool from Dublin Port. Twenty four lives were lost.

Dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives. We also remember the survivors who endured a terrible ordeal. Each victim left behind family, friends and other dependants; they were part of a workforce and a community. In this centenary year, it is fitting that they are commemorated and remembered as innocent victims of war.

Published by The Adela-Hare Centenary Commemoration Committee Supported by Dublin City Council Decade of Commemorations Fund Email: [email protected] Find us on Facebook: www.fb.com/adelahare1917