ireland is world-renowned for many things including lush green meadows lively traditional
music and the ever-popular life-affirming black stuff better known as guinness in addition to
the endless charm and unrivaled beauty the emerald dial also features an enormous maritime graveyard
along its scenic shores according to the shipwreck inventory of ireland approximately 18 000 sunken
vessels reside in irish waters here's a small sampling of some of these soggy symmetries
number 10. m the auckland star when recalling his biggest fears during the second world war winston
churchill confessed in his memoirs the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was
the yubo peril that said silent otto undoubtedly caused the british prime minister many asleep last
night otto kretschmer whose moniker owed as much to his stealth tactics as his reserve demeanor
loudly made history as germany's most successful uber commander the highly decorated officer sank
47 ships including the british cargo ship and the auckland star on june 7 1940 kritschmar's u-99
fired three torpedoes into the transport vessel 80 miles northwest of valencia island county cary
the auckland star was returning to liverpool from australia with 10 700 tons of general merchandise
including lead steel hides wheat and refrigerated meat all of its 74 crew members managed to escape
to safety in four lifeboats the london evening standard later provided these nuggets about the
incident and in one of those boats were the three pets of the crew jacko the monkey held by the mate
at the tiller peter the chief steward's canary and cobber the ship's cat peter was saved in a
cigarette in caged when he reached the lifeboat at night the life jacket was wrapped around his cage
to keep him warm his signing kept our spirits up said one of the crew and after three days at sea
the crew and pets all reached port safely 9. edmund the mid-19th century saw thousands of
irish families emigrate to north america hoping to escape the starvation and disease exacerbated by a
widespread failure of the potato crop this exodus led to so-called coffin ships departing ireland
in boats plagued by overcrowding and unsanitary conditions not to mention the tupestuous fury of
the sea the unfortunate passengers of the edmund things would only get worse on november 18 1850
the 399-ton bark loaded with 195 passengers sailed down the shannon estuary enroute to new york city
the ship had sailed only 30 miles before suddenly encountering a violent storm that damaged two
of its masts helpless against the furious wind the edmund drifted back towards the jagged rock
surrounding kilkee bay resulting in the deaths of 98 people mostly women and children number 8.
ss lorentic situated on the rugged northern tip of ireland a glacial ford cuts through the western
side of the inuchon peninsula and the fenad peninsula in county donegal there on the evening
of january 25th 1917 an armed merchant cruiser loaded with 475 passengers and 43 tons of gold
went down after hitting two german mines launched in 1908 the laurentic
had operated as a luxury ocean liner prior to its conversion at the outset of world war one
it was part of the prestigious white star line fleet and built by harland and wolf in belfast the
same as the titanic the wartime vessel had been on route to purchase desperately needed war munitions
from canada and the u.s but after triggering the deadly explosives the lurantic went down in less
than an hour while attempting to abandon ship 354 died of hypothermia in wintry blizzard conditions
those who survived were taken to derry where they received 10 shillings and a pack of cigarettes
between 1917 and 1924 sandwich teams recovered most of the golden goods worth about 5 million
pounds approximately 350 million pounds today however at least 20 gold bars were never found 7.
port yarrick among the many perils facing sailors in the 19th century unpredictable weather often
bore responsibility for the countless lives lost at sea but for the crew of port yarrick
a perfect storm of greed cruelty and stupidity also contributed to sealing their fate the three
mastered ironclad bark loaded with 2 200 tons of copper ore departed santa rosalia baja california
mexico on july the 8th 1894 under the command of captain thomas forbes the port yarrick spent
the next six months at sea bound for cobb then queenstown ireland the on-demand 20-member crew
consisted mainly of inexperienced boys serving apprenticeships a common practice that ensured
maximum profit for ship owners roughly halfway into the journey it was discovered that the port
yarrick stewart had sold many of the provisions including a vital supply of limes to prevent
scurvy rather than face punishment for his crime the guilty man blew his brains out with a pistol
the stern captain already behind schedule opted to stay the course and condemned the crew to subsist
on meager rations for the remainder of the voyage by the time they reached ireland in late january
the crew were barely alive ravaged by disease and hunger adding to the misery the ship pounded after
running into heavy storms near brandon bray inexplicably the captain refused local offers
of getting towed to a safe harbor meanwhile the storm intensified causing the ship to break apart
and kill everyone on board 6. dictator the start of the new year in 1801 brought bitter cold and
heavy storms to southwest ireland battering the rural seaside village of ross bay its residence
however was soon rewarded with an unexpected bounty cargo from the recently shipwrecked
dictator began to wash ashore spreading a surplus of cotton coffee sugar and punch-ins of rum along
the rural coastline the dictator began service in 1799 as a fully rigged sail vessel and like many
other ships departing england's merseyside docks at the time it engaged in a particularly lucrative
type of commerce the transatlantic slave trade for over 200 years as many as 45 million africans were
shipped to european colonies in the new world including large plantations in south america
in the late autumn of 1800 the crew of the dictator departed guyana for its return leg
back to liverpool strong gale force winds caused the ship to veer terribly off course eventually
colliding with the rocky edges of the dingle peninsula only three of the 60 crew and passengers
on board survived the victims were most likely taken to inch graveyard where scores of unmarked
tombstones can be seen scattered throughout the ancient burial ground 5. lusitania first launched
in 1906 the lusitania made headlines as the largest and fastest shipped across the atlantic
however the luxury british ocean liner is best known for its demise of ireland's southern coast
after being torpedoed by a german u-boat on may 7 1915. the disaster which claimed the lives of 1195
people including 128 u.s citizens would catalyze america's entry into world war one at the time
of its sinking the lusitania named for a former roman province in modern-day portugal had been on
its 202nd transatlantic crossing after departing new york six days earlier a single torpedo from
u-20 struck the ship's starboard bow triggering a massive explosion within the hull the once mighty
ship tank in only 18 minutes near kinsale county cork almost immediately afterward conspiracy
theories began to circulate many historians have suggested the steamer had been deliberately lured
into danger by british authorities thus committing the u.s into the war along with its vast resources
adding weight to the controversy winston churchill penned a curious letter
to walter runsenman president of britain's board of trade a week before the lusitania's arrival
churchill who had been recently demoted as lord of the admiralty following the debacle at gallipoli
wrote the following it is most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores in the hope
especially of embroiling the united states with germany for our part we want the traffic the more
the better and if some of it gets into trouble better still number four rms taylor for years
the allure of gold has spurred treasure seekers to roam far and wide in hopes of striking it rich
such was the case for several passengers aboard rms taylor a iron clipper on its maiden voyage
to australia where gold fever had reached epidemic proportions the rush to exploit the booming demand
for travel down under ultimately led to a spate of design flaws in the taylor including a faulty
compass unbalanced masts and a rudder too small for the large vessel the addition of thick fog and
high winds to the mix quickly became a recipe for disaster after departing liverpool with
652 passengers and crew on january 19 1854 taylor immediately drifted off course and headed due west
the doomed ship then slammed into lambay island in dublin bay claiming the lives of 350 people 3. ss
gear sopa the kris marine called it the german for the happy time a period during the early stages
of world war 1 that saw german u-boats inflict heavy damage on allied ships in the north atlantic
one of those wrecks the british merchant vessel ss guessoper sunk approximately 300 miles southwest
of galway bay after being torpedoed the watery grave sat on disturbed for 70 years before being
found in 2011. the discovery led to the largest known precious metal cargo ever recovered from the
sea the steam-powered guest sopa had been tasked with transporting a large consignment of silver
bullion from calcutta to liverpool a harrowing journey covering 5 000 miles in rough seas after
making steady progress the slow-moving freighter was forced to break away from its convoy to refuel
it didn't take long for u101 to pounce on the easy target although all of the 86 crew members escaped
to the burning ship they soon fell victim to the icy waters and machine gun fire from the surface
submarine the lone survivor second officer rhaegar spent the next 13 days drifting more than 300
miles before finally reaching cornwall in england for his heroism eyes was made an mbe seven decades
later the odyssey marine exploration located the wreck of the guest opera at a depth of over 15
000 feet while conducting rov remotely operated vehicle operations the deep water specialists
gradually recovered 2 792 silver bars from the ship each weighing around 28 kilograms and stamped
hm mint bombay odyssey had been awarded a salvage contract by the uk government allowing the company
to retain 80 percent of the net value of the 0.999 high purity ingots estimated are being
worth 210 million dollars 2. santa maria de la rosa by the latter stages of the 16th century
the spanish empire had reached its zenith king philip ii having claimed large swaths of
north and south america and most of the caribbean looked to expand his realm by invading england
big mistake the blunder would result in a crushing defeat that saw two dozen spanish ships wrecked on
the irish coast a heap of carnage that included the santa maria dolorosa in august 1588 the
spanish armada the fleet consisting of some 150 ships set sail for flanders spanish netherlands
the spaniards intended to rendezvous with an army led by the duke of palmer and then ferry them
across the english channel but alas like many overly ambitious campaigns throughout military
history let's just say things didn't exactly work out as planned following a decisive victory by the
british royal navy at the battle of gravelines the decimated armada attempted to limp back to
spain by navigating around ireland however the ill-equipped spanish boats proved no match for
the volatile north atlantic winds the santa maria dolorosa which had previously served as a light
merchant ship quickly sank after hitting a reef near the blasket islands along the westernmost
reaches of ireland among its crew of 64 sailors and 233 soldiers only one man survived 1.
lady nelson sex jealousy booze this shipwreck has it all a notice in the freeman's journal from
october 1809 reported we are concerned to hear that the ship lady nelson bernard wade master from
a porto to liverpool about 11 o'clock on the night of the 14th struck on a rock between the skelligs
and the mainland and instantly went to pieces and melancholy to add the captain and crew consisting
of 22 men and also three women a child and a gentleman passenger were lost two of the crew
only accept it but there's more to this story a lot more before tragedy struck lady nelson
had experienced a colorful and well-traveled history the 2001 town full rigger a sailorship
with three or more masts all of them square rigged plied its trade out of numerous ports including
london dublin madeira and brazil the latter two suggested engaged in the smuggling of alcohol
and the slave trade reports listed in lloyd's register revealed that the heavily armed vessel
had been captured as a prize it later operated as a privateer a form of legal piracy in which
governments commissioned ships to attack and seize enemy boats so with that rich back story the not
so fair lady left portugal on what would be its final voyage with a cargo consisting of 450 pipes
of port wine a pipe is an elongated cask designed to suit transportation totaling more than 40 000
gallons of the celebrated beverage along the way the ship encountered foul weather near the
skellig islands a remote area of southwest ireland featuring a 6th century monastery
which later served as a filming location for all three star wars films according to an account told
by the two survivors captain wade ignored numerous warnings about sailing near the dangerous rocks
instead he wallowed in a drunken stupor after learning that his wife allegedly was
having an affair with the ship's mate finally to wrap up this delightfully juicy yet tragic tale
25 people eventually perished in the shipwreck as for the prized cargo only 12 pipes were recovered
by authorities leaving the remaining balance of top shelf hooch for the locals to enjoy