An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 29 rely on speed and zigzagging to avoid attack. By 8.50 a.m. with the last of mail sacks and passengers on board, around 8.54 a.m. RMS Leinster then embarked on the Day sailing to Holyhead. On board were 77 crew including Captain Birch, 22 Post Office sorters, 3 gunners, 489+ military personnel and 180+ civilians. While passengers settled down to reading the morning newspapers, the Ship's Adjutant, Lt L.T. Parker went around advising military personnel which parts of the ship were out of bounds. Near the Kish lighthouse lay the UB-123 but Commander Ramm was unable to mount an attack against the inbound RMS Ulster as she was zigzagging but when he saw the outward bound RMS Leinster which had yet to commence this technique, he manoeu- vred his submarine into an attack position. Around 9.37am the two mail boats passed each other and about eight minutes later when the RMS Leinster was about 5 miles east of the present day Kish lighthouse, Commander Ramm fired his first torpedo, which passed in front of her and although not spotted by the look- outs, was seen by several passengers on deck. Almost immediately another approaching torpedo was seen by the lookouts and Captain Birch immediately initi- ated evasive action but before this manoeuvre could be completed, this torpedo struck the port side, penetrated the mailroom, exploded, and also blew a hole in the star- board side as well. 19 of the postal sorters were killed, 3 survived, but 2 were later lost before rescue. As the RMS Leinster started to go down by the bow and was now facing Kingstown, Captain Birch ordered the lifeboats swung out and to commence their launching. Nearly stopped dead in the water, RMS Leinster was an ideal sitting target and minutes after the first torpedo impact, Commander Ramm fired his third torpedo which struck her boiler room resulting in a massive explosion which accelerated the vessel's demise and blew many of those on deck into the rough sea. Within 18 minutes after the initial torpedo impact, the RMS Leinster lay on the seabed with survivors clinging on to life in the freezing sea with those in lifeboats and on life rafts faring better. Although the RMS Ulster saw the attack on her sister, she did not come to her aid in accordance with 'War Instructions for Brit- ish Merchant Ships' issued by the Admiralty in 1917 and reported the incident on docking in Kingstown. Two hours elapsed before the first of the rescue vessels, HMS Lively, followed by HMS Seal, subsequently joined by HMS Mallard, HMS P56, and a flotilla of other ships, including the HMY Helga, arrived at the sinking site and began the task of pulling survivors and bodies from the freezing sea. This part of the operation went badly wrong due to a combination of the rough sea, poor craft handing and person- nel untrained in the recovery of people from the sea, many of whom were exhausted and unable to respond to directions, with Captain Birch one of those lost during the rescue operation. Survivors were landed in Kingstown with those needing hospi- talisation being sent to a number of hospitals in the area. Initially the official death toll was 501 but over the past decade research by Philip Lecane, Roy Stokes, and others has brought this figure up to over 565+. News of the sinking was tightly controlled in the press and this event, which resulted in great public outrage, impeded German attempts to try and arrange an armistice until they gave an un- dertaking on 20th October that such attacks would cease. Only two inquest were held – at one Mr. Shaw Jones, an audi- tor for the Ministry of Munitions, a verdict of 'death by drowning' was returned, but at the far more lengthy one on Miss Georgina O'Brien, returning to London, a similar verdict was returned but the jury also blamed the responsible authorities for failing to provide the RMS Leinster with an escort. All the other victims had 'death by drowning' recorded as their cause of death. The remains of the deceased victims were buried in local cem- eteries such as Monkstown and Deansgrange while military per- sonnel were interred in Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin. Despite calls for an official inquiry, none was every held. The CoDSPC never recovered from the loss of two of their mail boats. In 1919 the B & I Line acquired control of its Dublin to Liverpool services and in 1920 its great rival, the London & Northern West- ern Railway Company, won the mail contract. On 20th November 1920 RMS Munster made her last crossing of the Irish Sea and joined her sister RMS Ulster in Holyhead where they remained until 1924 when they towed away for scrapping, the same year that the company was wound up. UB-123 was lost in the North Sea anti-submarine mine field on 19th October 1918 during the return journey to her home base. UB-148, a U-boat similar to UB-123 RMS Leinster at sea RMS Leinster rescue operations

• Cover