SS ''Connemara'' was a twin screw steamer, long, broad and deep with a gross register tonnage of 1,106. She sank on the night of 3 November 1916 at the entrance to

Carlingford Lough Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial fjord or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, the border between Northern Ireland to the nor ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

, Ireland after being hit amidships by the collier ''Retriever''. 97 people died that night with only one survivor – a fireman on ''Retriever''. The captain of ''Connemara'' was Captain G. H. Doeg. The captain if ''Retriever'' was Patrick O'Neill. Both men were experienced seamen and the incident was attributed to the atrocious weather conditions on the night.

Sinking

Vessels involved

SS ''Connemara''

* Ship type: Twin screw steamer * Captain: GH Doeg * Tonnage: 1106 gross register tons * Built by: Denny Brothers of Dunbarton in 1897 * Owners: London and North-Western Railway Company * Length: * Beam: * Draught: * Crew: 30 (all from

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

in Wales) * Cargo: 51 passengers (and livestock)

''Retriever''

* Ship type: Steel screw, three mast steamer * Captain: Patrick O'Neill from Kilkeel * Second Mate: Joseph O'Neill (Captain's son) * Tonnage: 483 gross register tons * Built by: Ailsa Shipbuilding Company in 1899 * Owners: Clanrye Shipping Company * Length: * Beam: * Draught: * Crew: 9 (all from Newry except the sole survivor James Boyle who was from Summerhill in Warrenpoint) * Cargo: Coal

Previous accidents

Both ''Connemara'' and ''Retriever'' had been in separate collisions with other ships before the fatal incident: * ''Connemara'' sank the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

vessel ''Marquis of Bute'' on 20 March 1910. * Similarly ''Retriever'' sank the Spanish ship ''Lista'' at Garston dock, Liverpool, on 31 August 1912.

Incident of 3 November 1916

The incident occurred on 3 November 1916. The sea conditions at the time were "mountainous seas & dark conditions". There were gale-force winds from southwest against a strong

ebb tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide ...

of approximately . ''Retriever'' had departed Garston, Merseyside at 4 a.m. on Friday, and was headed to

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

. ''Connemara'' had departed Greenore (her berth) at 8 p.m., and was headed to

. The outbound ''Connemara'' met the inbound ''Retriever'' approximately beyond the Carlingford bar. The bar in Carlingford is marked by Haulbowline lighthouse. Beyond the bar is the "cut" or channel, which in Carlingford's case is very narrow, being only about wide. This lack of space allows for very little manoeuvrability for passing vessels. Both vessels were showing dimmed lights, for fear of

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s. Their masters were on their respective

bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...

, and there was no evidence to indicate they were not alert. The watch at the Haulbowline lighthouse, seeing the ships too close for comfort, fired off rockets in warning. However, the atrocious conditions had caused ''Retriever''s cargo to

list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

. She was fighting both wind,

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

and cargo

inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...

. She hit the ''Connemara'' on the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

side, penetrating her hull to the

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

. Immediately Master O' Neill reversed engines and ''Retriever'' swung wide. ''Connemara'' however, was terribly ripped below the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the water's surface when the ship is afloat in a level trimmed position. Hence, wate ...

on the port side, from bow to amidships. She sank within minutes, her

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s exploding on contact with the cold water. ''Retriever'', with her bow stove in, took about 20 minutes to sink about from ''Connemara''. Her boilers also exploded on contact with the water.

Aftermath

A Maritime Tribute to those lost in the collision of the SS Connemara and the SS Retriever in 1916 - geograph

There were 97 fatalities from the incident, with just one survivor. The nearby shorelines were "littered with corpses, dead animals and flotsam and jetsam". 58 bodies were found the next morning, with other bodies washing up over the following weeks from Cranfield to

Kilkeel Kilkeel () is a small town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish on the Irish Sea coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the main fishing port on the Down coast, and its harbour is home to the largest fishing fleet in Northern Irel ...

. Many of the corpses were badly mutilated and burned (due to the boilers exploding). The unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave in Kilkeel. An inquest was held on 6 November in Kilkeel. The coroner and members of the jury journeyed to the scene of the tragedy to view the wreckage and the bodies that had been collected. The sole survivor of the incident, James Boyle, a fireman aboard ''Retriever'', gave his evidence breaking down several times. The verdict of the inquest was death by drowning caused by the collision of the ships.

References

External links

The sinking of the Connemara in Carlingford Lough
(archived 2002) *
BBC Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connemara Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Steamships of the United Kingdom History of County Louth Maritime incidents in 1910 Maritime incidents in Ireland Maritime incidents in 1916 1916 in Ireland 1916 disasters in the United Kingdom Ships sunk in collisions Ships of the London and North Western Railway 1896 ships Shipwrecks of Ireland