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Sinking of
the RMS Leinster and the loss of 501 lives
 ©ROY
STOKES
ON
THE 10 OCTOBER 1918 AT 9.45AM THE MAIL BOAT LEINSTER UNDER THE COMMAND OF
CAPTAIN WILLIAM BIRCH ,WAS UNDER WAY TO HOLYHEAD WHEN JUST OUTSIDE DUBLIN
BAY SHE WAS HIT BY 3 TORPEDOES FIRED BY THE GERMAN U-BOAT UB-123.
501
PASSENGERS AND CREW DIED IN THE SUBSEQUENT SINKING.
 
The
sinking of the Royal Mail Steamer Leinster, a short distance from Dublin Bay
in an operational area known
as 'Square-72', occurred during a period when events in Ireland and
throughout the world were climaxing with
the end to a terrible conflict.
The Irish Rebellion was two years old and Home Rule was in the balance. The end
of the First World War was imminent, yet the German submarine fleet was still
desperately trying to salvage some honour by continuing savage assaults on
shipping. The conscription of Irish citizens had been threatened almost daily, and
in an effort to defeat the advancing German Army and Navy, that giant of a nation
- the USA - finally joined hands across the water with their Allies in 1917.
This
joint effort against a common enemy forged new European-American friendships
which survive to this day.
It is also the account of a government's reckless abandonment in its refusal to
protect the travelling public and a commercial shipping company's vessels at a
time when it could easily have done so.
The sinking of the Leinster remains to this day the greatest disaster to befall
Irish citizens travelling in Irish waters.
This remarkable episode, although remembered from time to time on various
maritime occasions, has not received
the recognition due to it. Only very recently did the owner of the Leinster's remains,
Desmond Brannigan,
and several sub aqua divers from the locality of Dun Laoghaire harbour
rectify this lapse of memory.
With financial assistance from Stena Sealink, Irish Lights and others later
mentioned, they raised one of the wreck's anchors. Mounted opposite the
Carlisle Pier, it is a fitting reminder of the many local people who served
and travelled aboard the mail steamers and, in particular, to the 500 or
more who lost their lives while travelling on the Leinster. The violence
and the unusually high death toll associated with this tragedy is still not
comprehended and is in dark contrast with the many pleasant and tranquil
Victorian depictions of the Mail Boats exhibited throughout Dun Laoghaire's
hotels, pubs and banks.
Ireland was a country whose conscience was in conflict. On the one hand, it despised
the British occupation, but on the other, many who were not fighting in foreign
parts in defence of the Realm could be found working all the hours God
could send, fitting and repairing the British Fleet, producing munitions and generally
supporting the War Effort.
Although submarine attacks in the Irish Sea were not unheard of, their casualties
were generally perceived to be small. This complacency within Ireland was shattered
when it received the unbelievable news of the sinking of the mail
boat Leinster by a German submarine on 10 October, 1918. When the bodies began to
come ashore, Ireland gasped at the scale of the disaster that was revealed.
To many it came as a complete surprise, but to the seamen on the
route and the Ministry Of Defence, it had been inevitable. Indeed, it had
been almost a miracle that these mail steamers had escaped until then. The
protection of the mail boats was the responsibility of Flag Captain
Gordon Campbell VC who
commanded the Irish Sea Flotilla and, although not his only worry, he expressed the view
that the loss of a mail steamer would be considered a national disaster.
The loss of the Leinster also marked the demise of its owners, the City of
Dublin Steam Packet Co., which had been in the steam packet business since 1823.
This ship was the second in its quartet of famous mail steamers to be lost in
the
War and was the final nail in a coffin that made trading unsustainable. Despite
extremely difficult and sometimes discriminatory operating parameters, this company
produced excellent vessels that served Dublin and the cross-channel
ferry service well. Shortly after the end of the War, and probably because of
it, this company which had pioneered technical innovations in all of its
vessels and upheld the highest standards in a very popular service, faded into
obscurity.
Although in relative terms, this tragedy was far greater than that of the much
publicised Titanic and Lusitania, it has received comparatively little
publicity.
 
We
are tempted to remember this War in terms of our grandparents and the stories
they passed on to us as children. But they were the survivors. Those who died
in terrible conditions in godforsaken places were no more than boys and
they were killed in their millions.
©ROY
STOKES
In
June 2002 at a ceremony to commemorate the Leinster Mr.Philip Lecane gave
a speech in the county hall in Dun-Loaghaire on the sinking.
 Click
here to read the text of his speech
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