An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | by CQMS MICK DUFFy, 7 INF BN T he state's 1916 commemorations this year were co- ordinated by the Ireland 2016 team in the Department of Arts, heritage and the Gaeltacht, where Comdt Stephen MacEoin and Sgt Andrew Lawlor had responsibility for co-ordi- nating the Defence Forces' input. Most of the events have been high profile but there have been a number of smaller, less publicised events; one such was run by the Defence Forces Diving Group. During a conversation in the DFTC Transport Yard duty room in January, the subject of Sir Roger Casement's gun running ship, the Aud, came up. The duty fitter, Tpr Thomas 'Dock' O'Doherty, told the others how the DFDG had been to the wreck site on numerous occasions. One of the lads asked if Dock knew what had happened to the Helga, the gunboat that had shelled Dublin from the Liffey. He didn't, so they turned to Google. Moments later they had learned that she had sank off Kilmore Quay in County Wexford. This set Dock wondering why the group hadn't dived this wreck before. Target aquired! At the group's next AGM Dock suggested commemorative dives on the two wrecks. Everyone agreed the dives should take place close to the Rising's anniversary, but with everyone pre- dicting they would be living in their SD #1s we couldn't see how we could manage it. Coy Sgt Kenneth Murphy wasn't going to give up easily and started researching. The next time we met he had co-ordinates, tides, depths and, most importantly, two dates that didn't seem to clash with anything: 20th April for the Aud (the annivarsary of her arrival into Tralee Bay) and 27th April for the Helga, (the an- niversary of her shelling Dublin). The 1916 Team were informed of our plans and it was made official. We applied to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gael- teacht for a license to dive on what are in effect national monu- ments, and with the license granted we continued our research. The Aud began life as the SS Castro, a cargo ship built in 1907 for the Wilson Line of Hull, England. Captured by the German Navy in the Kiel Canal in 1914 and renamed SMS Libau, she remained virtu- ally unused until 1916 when Sir Roger Casement went to Germany to try to secure aid for the planned rebellion. The Germans offered a shipment of 20,000 captured Russian rifles, 10 machine guns, explosives, and a million rounds of ammunition. The Libau was chosen to smuggle the arms as she was similar to a Norwegian freighter named the Aud, which carried lumber from Norway to various European ports. Camouflaged as the Aud and with the weapons hidden under a cargo of lumber, she set sail from Lubeck on 9th April under the command of Capt Karl Spindler, taking a circuitous route to avoid the Royal Navy's 10th Cruiser Squadron in the North Sea and inshore auxillaries in Ireland, both of which were expecting some sort of arms smuggling operation. The Aud, with no radio, was unaware that plans had changed after she left and arrived at Tralee Bay on 20th April, whereas the Irish Volunteers weren't expecting her until the 23rd. When the Aud attracted the attention of HMT Setter, an armed trawler, Capt Spindler allowed his vessel to be boarded for a routine search but nothing was found. Later, trying to run to sea the Aud was intercepted by HMS Zinnia and HMS Bluebell and escorted towards Cork harbour for a detailed search. Approximately 3kms off the coast at Crosshaven the Aud stopped. HMS Bluebell observed a plume of white smoke com- ing from her stern hold and two German naval ensigns and a flag of surrender being hoisted. Capt Spindler and his crew, now wearing German naval uniforms, climbed into two lifeboats and rowed away. Explosives in the Aud's hull detonated, sending her to the bottom within minutes. Later depth charged to destroy its cargo and wire swept to ensure it wouldn't become a hazard for fishing trawlers, her flat- tened remains lie in 33m of water. The Helga II was built in the Liffey Dockyard in 1908 as a fish- ery protection cruiser for the Department of Agriculture. Taken The Aud-Norge The Aud

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