USS Jacob Jones (DD-61)-- Part 4: The Sinking

In early December, the Jacob Jones helped escort a convoy to Brest, France, with five other Queenstown-based destroyers.  The last to depart from Brest and return to Ireland was the Jones and was steaming alone along a zig-zag pattern when she was spotted by  the German submarine U-53.  At 16:20 on December 6, 1917,  lookouts on the American ship spotted a torpedo 800 yards distant headed for the ship's starboard side.

Despite having her rudder put hard left and emergency speed rung up, the Jones was unable to move out of the way and the torpedo struck her rudder.  Even though the depth charges did not explode, the ship went adrift.  The jolt had knocked out the power, so the destroyer was unable to  send a distress signal since she was steaming alone.

No other ship was present that would know of the Jacob Jones' predicament.

--Cooter

Ten Details That Make History's Worst Tragedies Even Worse-- Part 1

From the January 25, 2017, ListVerse by Mark Oliver.  I just list the event.  There are more details and pictures at the site.

10.  Tiananmen Massacre--  Anywhere between 300 and 2,700 gunned down.  Reports have it that the Chinese government billed the families of those killed for the cost of bullets used to kill them, 27 cents apiece.

9.  My Lai Massacre, Vietnam War.  Over 350 Vietnamese civilians gunned down by American troops.  Nixon pardoned the man responsible.

8.  Pompeii and Herculeum--  Volcanic lava got so hot that people's heads exploded.

7.  9/11:  Fallout led to more cancer and car crashes.  Twin Towers built with 400 tons of asbestos and it spread out.  Around 1,400 first responders have died.  Plus, there was a marked increase in car accident deaths afterwards as people were afraid to fly.

6.  Irish Potato Famine--  Queen Victoria forbade people from donating too much to their relief.

--Cooter

SS Marina Sunk By U-55 in 1916

From the wrecksite site.

The SS Marina was built in 1900 and owned at the time of its loss by Donaldson Line out of Glasgow.  5204 tons.

On October 28, 1916, on a voyage from Glasgow to Baltimore, it was sunk by the U-55 30 miles from Fastnet.(southern coast of Ireland)  Eighteen persons lost their lives.

The Marina was a defensively armed British merchant ship and the torpedo was fired without warning.

A list of the eighteen who died accompanied the article and none of the men from Roanoke, Virginia, were on it.

You Hear A Lot About the Lusitania, But I Had Never Heard of This Ship Being Sunk By a German Submarine.  --DaCoot

Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse and the Lusitania-- Part 3: U-boat Skipper Gets Captured Later in the War Near the Same Site

Interestingly enough, after the U-boat which sank the Lusitania returned to Germany, the man who had captained it, Raimund Weisbach, returned to the sea and, in 1917 off the southwest coast of Ireland near Fastnet Lighthouse, was captured by the British after one of their submarines had torpedoed his new submarine, the U-81.

Turnabout's fair Play. --Cooter

Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse and the Lusitania-- Part 2

When the German captain sent a torpedo into the unsuspecting ship, it sank and over eleven hundred people lost their lives.  This tragedy helped galvanize American opinion to enter the war against Germany.

The principal keeper of the lighthouse reported the sinking of the Lusitania to the admiral in charge at Queenstown (Cobh), who mobilized rescue boats to save as many as possible.

Today, you can see in casement square of Cobh a memorial to the Lusitania's victims, many of whom are buried at the old church cemetery in Kinsale.

The liner lies in the sea about twelve miles south of the lighthouse in 320 feet of water.

Irish Lighthouse in World War I-- Part 1: Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse and the Lusitania

From  Lighthouses of Ireland by Kevin M. McCarthy.

I have been writing about the lighthouses of Ireland and their role in World War II in my Tattooed On Your Soul World War II bloh.

The captain of the Lusitania maneuvered his Cunard liner close to Ireland's Old Head of Kinsale peninsula in order to take his bearings, although being that close to the Irish coast was not safe in May of 1915.

On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, on her way from the United States to England, sailed nearer to the Irish coast than was safe, but the captain was determined to find out exactly where where he was by taking a bearing on the Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse.

When the officers sighted the three-mile-long peninsula and reassuring lighthouse, they knew that the port of Quenstown (now Cobh) was only thirty miles away.  They felt much safer, but lurking beneath the water was a German U-boat.

--Cooter

Titanic Victim Margaret Rice (nee Norton)-- Part 1: To Canada to U.S. and Back to Ireland

From the Encyclopedia Titanica.

Mrs. William Rice (Margartet Norton) was born in Westmeath, Ireland on 6 October 1872.

At age 19 she married William Rice in Ireland who became shipping clerk with the Grand Trunk Railway and they moved to Montreal after the birth of their first son, George Hugh, born 1902.    After their arrival in Canada, George died after choking on a dummy (pacifier).

In 1909, the couple moved from Montreal to Spokane, Washington where William worked for the Great Northern Railroad as a machinist.  Their youngest son Eugene was born in 1909.

In 1910, William was killed in a train accident and Margaret collected a substantial insurance settlement and returned to Ireland with her boys.

In 1912, she decided to return to Spokane.  She and her five sons, Albert, Eric and Arthur, booked passage on the Titanic and boarded at Queenstown with ticket number 382652, price 29 pounds, 2 shillings and 6 d.

--Cooter

Irish First World War Sailors Sought-- Part 2

Three hundred and fifty Irish sailors were killed at the Battle of Jutland, 91 at the Battle of Coronel and 62 on the HMS Hawke.

Others lost their lives when the MFA Whitehead, a steamship, was torpedoed in 1917, the submarine HMS K-17 which sank in an accidental collision in 1918 and the HMS Bayono, a converted merchant ship, torpedoed off Ireland which caused bodies to wash up on the Ard Peninsula.

At least 14 Irishmen lost their lives on the first warship lost to enemy action in the war, the HMS Amphion in 1914.

Overall, some 1,500 Irish sailors were killed in action during the war.

--Cooter

Irish First World War Sailor Descendants Sought-- Part 1

From the Dec. 25, 2015, Belfast telegraph "Descendants of Irish sailors of First World War sought to mark the Battle of Jutland."

A series of events will be held May 31, 2016, marking the centennial of the largest sea battle of World War I.  They will be held on the HMS Caroline which will open as a heritage visitor attraction in Belfast.  It is the only ship at  the Battle of Jutland still afloat.

I was able to see this ship in a cruise around the British Isles when we tied up next to the drydock where the RMS Titanic was built.  At the time it didn't much look like a warship, though.

Thousands of Irish men and women assisted in the war effort including as sailors in the Navy, merchant marine, fishing industry workers and dockworkers.  Others were lighthouse keepers, lifeboat crews and Coast Guard who kept the seas as safe as possible.

--Cooter

Catherine Buckley: Titanic Victim-- Part 2

Her body was recovered on April 28, 1912, 13 days after the Titanic sank.  by the recovery ship Mackay-Bennett and then taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia and forwarded to Boston on May 3rd.

Information from the recovery:  "Body No. 299.  Female. Est. age 18.  False teeth, top.  Hair, dark.  Clothing: long blue overcoat; blue serge jacket & skirt, blue corset; white blouse; grey knickers; 10 s in siler; 1 pound in gold; $5 note in purse; satchel; Third Class Ticket No. 329944.  Name Catherine Buckley."

The wake was held at her cousin Nellie Buckley's house on Baker Street in West Roxbury.  The funeral was at St. Theresa Church.

Catherine Buckley: Titanic Victim-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave site.

On April 28th, I wrote about the author of the article I was using for information had been given the name of Catherine Buckley when she boarded the Titanic Experience.  I did some more research on Catherine Buckley.

Catherine Buckley was born on June 3, 1889 in Ovens, County Cork, Ireland and is buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.  She was the only Irish victim of the sinking to be buried by her relatives.  She died at age 22.

Catherine was originally booked to cross the Atlantic on the White Line ship Cymric, but service on that ship was withdrawn.  She was journeying to America to stay with her sister Margaret at 71 Mount View Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts.  This became a bone in family relations as her parents had wanted her to stay in Ireland to take care of them in their old age.  After her death, her parents never forgave Margaret.

Things to See on the Titanic Trail-- Part 2

COBH-- located 213 miles away and from 1850 to 1920, known as Queenstown, Cobh is a seaport on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland, and the last port-of-call of the Titanic before its fateful Atlantic crossing. Some 120 passengers boarded here where you will find a granite marker for Margaret Rice and her five sons who all perished.

The former White Star office has been converted into the "Titanic Experience," an interactive virtual voyage. You check in, get the name of an actual passenger, cross the gangplank and meet actors portraying the captain and crew. Then you visit an elegant first-class cabin and exit to a lifeboat.

At the end of that, you find out if you survived or not.  The article's writer was Katherine Buckley, a 22-year-old Irish girl in steerage. Her body was recovered by the Mackay-Bennett rescue boat and identified by her blue serge suit and ticket in pocket. Her body was sent to her half-sister's in Boston where she was buried.

Quite An Experience. --DaCoot

A Day Late, But In Case You Were Wondering About All Those Shamrocks

From the March 16, 2014 Parade Magazine Walter Scott's Personality Parade. Michael G. or Reno asked "Why are shamrocks linked to St. Patrick's Day? ANSWER: "Faith and begorrah, 'tis a reflection of the March 17 holiday's religious roots. Legend has it that fifth-century missionary St. Patrick, agent of Christianity in Ireland, used clover leaves to explain the concept of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit." So, it had nothing to do with Shamrock Shakes. Right, McDonald's? -- O-Cooter

Ten Things You Might Not Know About the Irish-- Part 1

From the March 17, 2013, Chicago Tribune by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer, two really great researchers. How do they come up with all this good stuff? According to the paper's date, it was St. Patrick's Day, even though St. Patrick was not Irish and he did not banish snales from Ireland. In fact, some of St. Patrick's exploits actually belong to Palladius, a Christian leader who preceded St. Patrick.

"But let's celebrate anyway by sharing these 10 malarkey-free facts."

1. In 1901, Chicago's top cop was FRANCIS O'NEILL who was arguably the world's pre-eminent expert on Irish folk music, collecting and preserving thousands of pieces of music, many of which would have been lost forever.

2. While the origins of NOTRE DAME's nickname are lost in history, the name Fighting Irish was first used regularly around the turn of the last century. According to one account, university officials finally gave it their blessing in 1927 figuring it was better than other names used for the teams: Ramblers, Rovers and Nomads. The name Nomads came from the school traveling far and wide to find opponents.

Better Than Celebrating St. Palladius Day. --DaCoot

Divers Go Deep for Trinkets and Treasure

From MSNBC Itineraries by Rob Lovitt.

The MANTOLA was a British ship sunk off Ireland in 1917 by a torpedo.  It is believed there might be 20 tons of silver aboard, worth $18 million.  It was found in early October 2011 by Odyssey Marine Exploration based out of Tampa, Florida.

In September, the same company found the GAIRSOPPA, also off Ireland, but sunk in World War II with supposedly 240 tons of silver.  Both ships had been owned by the British India Steam Navigation Company.  (I wrote at length about the sinking of the Gairsoppa in my Tattooed On Your Soul World War II blog.)

The MANTOLA was carrying 18 passengers and 165 crew members.  Its captain was David James Chivas, great nephew of the Chivas brothers, makers of Chivas Regal Scotch.

I'll Drink to That Silver.  --DaCoot

This Being St. Patrick's Day

From Yahoo Today.

This being St. Patrick's Day and all, here's some stuff about the dear old guy that you might not know.

1. WAS HE IRISH?-- No, he was born in Britain, captured by Irish raiders, taken to Ireland, escaped after six years and returned to Britain. He became a priest and returned to Ireland to minister to the Christians there.


2. DID HE RID IRELAND OF SNAKES?-- No. Even though there are no snakes there today, there most likely never were any snakes on the island. The snake thing was probably symbolic of the pagan ways he sought to drive out.


3. DID HE USE A CLOVER WHILE PREACHING?-- Some legends say he did. He used the 3-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. Other sources claim he didn't.


4. WHAT ABOUT THE LUCKY FOUR-LEAF CLOVER?-- Actually, you can generally find one four-leaf clover in every 10,000 three-leaf ones.

So That's the Irish-Down. --Cooter

Rural Pubs Closing in Ireland

Very sad to hear this news. It has been a dream of mine to someday go to Ireland and visit some of the small villages in the country side. A big part of that was to belly up to a quaint pub and have a Guiness with the locals and listen to that great brogue.

After reading this article in the April 27th Chicago Tribune, I'm afraid I might be a day late and Euro short.

HERE'S THE THING

The count by the Vintner's Federation of Ireland shows that the number of pubs outside Dublin have dropped from 6,000 to 5,000 in the last three years. A lot of this has been caused by Ireland's increasing affluence. As recently as the 1980s, young Irish had to leave the country to find work and millionaires were rare. But by 2005, the number of millionaires stood at 30,000 (out of 4 million people). That number increases by 300 in 2006. Ireland's per capita income is among the highest in the world and is even higher than that of the US, Sweden and Japan.

Irish people are finding other things to do instead of a night of "craic", as good times are called, at the local pub. Smoking bans and tougher DUI laws are also a problem. Some Irish even said there were too many pubs anyway.


CONNOLLY, COUNTY CLARE

The village is a small group of buildings around a Catholic church. "For generations, village life revolved around the church, the pub and a small post office that collected mail, cashed checks and dished out news."

All three of these Irish institutions are under pressure. Regular church attendance is down from 90% in the 1970s to 45% today. Ten years ago, there were nearly 1,900 post offices and 1,255 now.

MY PROBLEM

Obviously, I should get myself over to Ireland as soon as possible. The big problem with that is that our money is so worthless these days. For me to get $100 Euros would cost $150 and then the service charges.

My mom took the family for a cruise around the British Isles two years ago, but the only Ireland stop was Dublin and that place has gotten so urbanized, I don't think it really represents that part of Ireland I'd like to get to know.

Well, Here's Hoping a Get to Quaff that Guiness Some Day. --The Old Coot