Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981–82)

Last updated

Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle
Part of the Troubles
Nellie M sunk.jpg
The coaster Nellie M after the bombing
Location Lough Foyle
Date6 February 1981
23 February 1982
Target2 cargo ships
2,000 BRT
Attack type
Ship hijacking, bombing
Weapons2 pilot boats
4 explosive charges
Deathsnone
Injurednone
Perpetrator Provisional Irish Republican Army
Assailants24
MotiveTo hinder British shipping around the port of Derry

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out two bomb attacks against British coal ships in February 1981 and February 1982 at Lough Foyle, a large inlet between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. The IRA used hijacked pilot boats to board the ships. Both vessels were sunk, but their crews reached the coastline safely in lifeboats.

Contents

Early attacks on shipping

There had been a number of attacks on small vessels by the IRA before 1981. In April 1971, a Royal Navy survey launch was blown up at the port of Baltimore, in the Republic of Ireland. The motor boat, the Stork, was towed out to sea and destroyed by an explosive device before dawn, while the crew was ashore. [1] Another British boat, the Puffin, received minor damage in the same action. [2] Both motor launches were attached to HMS Hecate. [3]

Between February and October 1972 the Provisional IRA carried out two bombings against sand barges at Lough Neagh. Two IRA members were killed by the premature explosion of one of the devices, while two of the barges were sunk in a second incident, with a loss of £80,000. [4] [5] These barges were probably the Lough Neagh and the Ballyginniff. [6]

On 16 March 1977 an IRA sniper, hidden in the grounds of a church at Omeath, County Louth, on the Republic, fired two shots at the Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Vigilant in Carlingford Lough. Royal Marines onboard fired back. No hits were scored by either side. [7]

The killing of Lord Mountbatten and three others at Mullaghmore, County Sligo, took place when they were on board Mountbatten's fishing boat, the Shadow V, on 27 August 1979. [8]

Background

The IRA's declared aim was to disrupt the maritime traffic to and from Londonderry Port, on the east bank of the lough. They also intended to force British and Irish authorities to deploy security guards on board merchant ships. [9] The IRA stated that they regarded the ships as "commercial targets". [10]

On the British side, the Bird class patrol boats HMS Cygnet and HMS Kingfisher were already assigned by the Royal Navy to protect the waterways of the province. Their mission was to prevent the smuggling of weapons from the Republic. [11] These warships were often shot at by the IRA, especially from Carlingford Lough. [11]

Sinking of Nellie M

The coaster Nellie M in 1974 Nellie m.jpg
The coaster Nellie M in 1974

Nellie M was a coaster ship of 782 BRT, launched in 1972 at Yorkshire. She was owned by S. William Coe & Co. Ltd. of Liverpool at the time of the attack, which took place on 6 February 1981. The vessel was at anchor barely 300 yards (270 m) from the Republic's shore, awaiting for proceeding up the river. The coal ship had departed from Liverpool with a cargo valued at £1 million. [12]

A team of 12 IRA men, meanwhile, had hijacked a pilot boat at a pier on Moville, on the northwest bank of the inlet. Five of the group remained watching on shore, while another seven members of the ASU, carrying two high explosive charges, forced the skipper to take them to the British coal ship. Once on board, the cell informed her captain, [13] Ian Eves, [14] about their intentions and ordered him to gather the crew and to get his men into the lifeboat. Four IRA members supervised the evacuation. At the same time, three others planted the charges in the engine room. The hijacked motor launch then took in tow the lifeboat, leaving her adrift close to the eastern shore, and headed back for Moville. As the lifeboat reached the beach, the first explosion shook Nellie M. Huge flames, visible from several miles away, engulfed her bridge. A second blast, some hours later, blew up the bulkheads and the ship began to sink. The morning after, her stern was submerged. The hull was raised in 1982. [13]

Sinking of St. Bedan

The next year, the IRA was able to repeat the same operation against another British coal ship, St. Bedan, bound from Glasgow to Derry. The 1,250 BRT Bedan, built in Clyde and also launched in 1972, was owned by J & A Gardner & Co. Ltd. of Glasgow. [15] On 23 February 1982, the ship was at anchor five nautical miles northeast of Derry, awaiting the tide to proceed upstream. [16] [17]

Once again, the armed IRA boarding party was composed of 12 volunteers. The attack was again launched from the pilot boat based at Moville, [16] and the IRA seaborne unit took advantage of darkness and fog. [17] Once on deck, the IRA men ordered the second on board, David Hinson, and the captain, Roderick Black, to gather the crew onto the bridge. The IRA volunteers took "some photographs of us for American propaganda", according to Hinson. [18] The coaster's lifeboat with the crewmembers was towed to the shoreline in the same way as in the case of Nellie M. [16] After the explosions, the cargo vessel sank on her starboard side in some 15 metres (49 ft) of water. [19] She was raised and scrapped by November 1982. [15]

Aftermath and later incidents

RFA Fort Victoria, which was crippled by the IRA shortly after her launching in 1990 near Belfast. FTVMalaga.jpg
RFA Fort Victoria, which was crippled by the IRA shortly after her launching in 1990 near Belfast.

One of the unexpected consequences triggered by the bombings was the debate in the Oireachtas about the dispute with the United Kingdom on the legal jurisdiction over the waterways in Northern Ireland. The salvage of Nellie M was conducted by a company from the Republic, and her wreckage was sold to a ship owner in that state, who refurbished the ship under the name of Ellie. The coal ship was subsequently bought by several companies. She was lengthened by 7 metres (23 ft) and renamed Trimix. During the 2000s she was managed by a Colombian company after being rechristened Dove. [12] St. Bedan was instead declared a constructive total loss and scrapped at Liverpool. [15]

The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force increased their patrols in Northern Ireland waters following the attacks. [20]

A bigger naval target was hit by the IRA several years later, in 1990, when an unknown number of its members managed to board RFA Fort Victoria at anchor near Belfast, shortly after her launching. They planted two large bombs in her engine room. One of the devices exploded, damaging her considerably; the second one was successfully defused. [21]

HMS Cygnet HMS Cygnet at Portsmouth.jpg
HMS Cygnet

One of the IRA sniper teams that operated in South Armagh in the final years of the conflict fired two rounds from a Barret .50 calibre rifle at Bird-class patrol vessel HMS Cygnet at Carlingford Lough in December 1993. No hits were scored. [22] [23]

Lough Foyle was once again the scenario of a Provisional IRA waterborne attack on 23 May 1994, when an active service unit stole a motor boat from Foyle Search and Rescue Service to plant an explosive device at the jetty of Fort George British Army base in Derry. Two soldiers were wounded, and one of them was permanently blinded by the blast. [24]

Related Research Articles

SM <i>U-19</i> (Germany)

SM U-19 was a German Type U-19 U-boat built for the Imperial German Navy. Her construction was ordered on 25 November 1910, and her keel was laid down on 20 October 1911, at the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig. She was launched on 10 October 1912, and commissioned into the Imperial German Navy on 6 July 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inishowen</span> Large peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland

Inishowen is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Foyle</span> River in the northwest of the island of Ireland

The River Foyle is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. From here it flows to the city of Derry, where it discharges into Lough Foyle and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean. The total length of the River Foyle is 32 km (20 mi). The river separates part of County Donegal from parts of both County Londonderry and County Tyrone. The district of County Donegal that borders the western bank of the River Foyle is traditionally known as the Laggan. This district includes the villages of St Johnston and Carrigans, both of which are nestled on the banks of the River.

HMS Hecate (A137) was a Royal Navy deep ocean survey vessel of the Hecla class. She was present at the "presentation of fleet colours" review in Torbay on 29 July 1969. The ship was decommissioned in 1990.

MV Princess Victoria was one of the earliest roll-on/roll-off ferries. Completed in 1947, she operated from Stranraer, Scotland, to Larne, Northern Ireland, initially by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) until 1 January 1948 and thereafter by LMS's successor British Railways. During a severe European windstorm on 31 January 1953, she sank in the North Channel with the loss of 135 lives. This was then the deadliest maritime disaster in United Kingdom waters since World War II. For many years it was believed that 133 people had lost their lives in the disaster. However, research by a local historian, Liam Kelly, identified two other victims—Gordon Wright and Thomas Saunders—who had not been identified as there had been no passenger list at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moville</span> Port town in County Donegal, Ireland

Moville is a coastal town located on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, Ireland, close to the northern tip of the island of Ireland. It is the first coastal town of the Wild Atlantic Way when starting on the northern end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greencastle, County Donegal</span> Fishing port in County Donegal, Ireland

Greencastle is a commercial fishing port located in the north-east of the Inishowen Peninsula on the north coast of County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland. The port is on the western shores of Lough Foyle. Nowadays, given the decline in the fishing industry, it resembles more closely a 'typical' Donegal holiday village. It is located a few miles from Moville and is about 20 miles from Derry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border</span> International border

The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, sometimes referred to as the Irish border or British–Irish border, runs for 499 km (310 mi) from Lough Foyle in the north-west of Ireland to Carlingford Lough in the north-east, separating the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newry Canal</span> Canal in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

The Newry Canal is an abandoned canal in Northern Ireland. Opened in 1742, it was built to link the Tyrone coalfields to the Irish Sea. The navigable route ran from Lough Neagh via the Upper Bann river to Portadown, then approximately 20 miles from Portadown via the canal proper to Newry, terminating in the Albert Basin.

HMS <i>Dartmouth</i> (1655) Royal Navy warship

HMS Dartmouth was a small frigate or fifth-rate ship, one of six ordered by the English Council of State on 28 December 1654, and built in 1655.

HMS <i>Saldanha</i> (1809) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Saldanha was a 36-gun fifth-rate Apollo-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was commissioned in April 1810 and spent her entire career serving on the Irish Station, including capturing a fast-sailing French privateer on 11 October 1811. In the evening of 4 December that year Saldanha was serving off Lough Swilly when she was caught in a storm. Last seen sailing off Fanad Head, the ship was wrecked in a nearby bay with every person on board being killed and the only survivors being a parrot and a dog. The wreck was memorialised by Thomas Sheridan in his poem The Loss of the Saldanha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Londonderry Port</span> Dock and shipyards in Northern Ireland

Londonderry Port, now operating as Foyle Port, is a port located on Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland. It is the United Kingdom’s most westerly port and an important northerly port on the island of Ireland. The current port is at Lisahally, County Londonderry, though historically the port was upriver in the city of Derry itself. It is operated by the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners, whose former offices, just north of the city's walls, are now a museum.

HMS <i>Sabre</i> (P285)

HMS Sabre was a Scimitar-class fast patrol boat of the British Royal Navy. She was commissioned into the Gibraltar Squadron on 31 January 2003 along with her sister Scimitar, and used for police, customs and rescue purposes. The two boats allowed the two Archer-class patrol vessel of the squadron, Trumpeter and Ranger, to be reassigned to the Cyprus Squadron in April 2003 and April 2004 respectively.

Events during the year 1982 in Northern Ireland.

SS <i>Laurentic</i> (1908) British ocean liner sunk by mines in 1917

SS Laurentic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Belfast, Ireland, and launched in 1908. She is an early example of a ship whose propulsion combined reciprocating steam engines with a low-pressure steam turbine. Laurentic was one of a pair of sister ships that were ordered in 1907 by the Dominion Line but completed for the White Star Line. Her regular route was between Liverpool and Quebec City.

HMS <i>Universal</i> Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Universal (P57) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Newcastle upon Tyne. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Universal.

Three vessels of the Royal Navy have been called HMS Sabre after the weapon:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ship's boat</span> Utility vessel

A ship's boat is a utility boat carried by a larger vessel. Ship's boats have always provided transport between the shore and other ships. Other work done by such boats has varied over time, as technology has changed. In the age of sail, especially for warships, an important role was the collection of drinking water. The use of radio, followed by telex, e-mail, etc. has reduced and then replaced the need for written communications to be delivered. A large enough boat may be needed to carry an anchor to some distance away from the ship, so as to kedge out of a harbour or away from a hazard – and also to recover such an anchor afterwards. Warships have always used their boats as an extension to their military role. This includes the provision of a means of escape for the crews of fireships, the landing of troops, or the "cutting out" raids that were used by the Royal Navy, especially during the Napoleonic Wars. All these requirements competed with the need to be able to stow the boats on board in a way that did not interfere with the normal operation of the ship.

RFA <i>Fort Victoria</i> bombing IRA bomb attack on RFA Fort Victoria

The bombing of RFA Fort Victoria took place on 6 September 1990, when a unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) planted two bombs aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment ship at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the vessel had been launched four months before. One of them exploded in the engine room, causing flooding and serious damage. The second device didn't explode and was defused several days later. The attack resulted in a two-year delay before Fort Victoria became fully operational.

References

  1. The Sydney Morning Herald - 22 Abr 1971
  2. "Royal Navy (Hydrographic Survey Launches) (Hansard, 28 April 1971)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. "Republic of Ireland (R.N. Port Survey) (Hansard, 26 April 1971)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  4. Ardoyne Commemoration Project: Ardoyne: the untold truth. Beyond the Pale, 2002, page 104. ISBN   1-900960-17-6
  5. Deutsch, Richard and Magowan, Vivian: Northern Ireland, 1968-73: 1968-74, a Chronology of Events. Blackstaff Press, 1973, page 231
  6. Heritage Boat Association: Lough Neagh - Sand Barges - Various
  7. Wharton, Ken (19 July 2013). Wasted Years, Wasted Lives Volume 1: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1975-77. Helion and Company. p. 323. ISBN   978-1-909384-55-2.
  8. IRA bombs kill Mountbatten and 17 soldiers The Guardian, 28 August 1979
  9. Random Ramblings from a Republican
  10. IRA warns British ships Associated Press, 9 February 1981
  11. 1 2 Ripley and Chappel, pg. 30
  12. 1 2 Nellie M history and profile
  13. 1 2 Saiorse 32, 06/02/2006 From the Derry Journal, 3 February 2011
  14. "IRA Sink Ship". ulib.iupuidigital.org. The Irish People. 14 February 1981. Retrieved 28 March 2021.[ permanent dead link ]
  15. 1 2 3 St. Bedan history and profile
  16. 1 2 3 The Montreal Gazette, 24 February 1982 From Associated Press
  17. 1 2 "IRA sinks British coal freighter". UPI. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  18. "War at Sea - IRA Sink British Ship". ulib.iupuidigital.org. The Irish People. 6 March 1982. Retrieved 28 March 2021.[ permanent dead link ]
  19. I.R.A. Guerrillas Destroy A British Cargo Ship, New York times, 24 February 1982
  20. Navy To Step Up Patrols After IRA Sinks Coaster by David Steele. The Glasgow Herald, 24 February 1982
  21. Interview to shipbuilder Sir John Parker published by Sunday Times , 13 March 2006
  22. Harnden, pp. 400.
  23. Jones, Craig (2020). Fighting with Pride: LGBTQ in the Armed Forces. Pen and Sword. ISBN   9781526765260.
  24. "Derry man handed 10-year jail sentence for IRA terrorist offences - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2017.

Further reading

55°10′34″N7°3′50″W / 55.17611°N 7.06389°W / 55.17611; -7.06389