did german u boats refuel in ireland

Our reader's dad, however, believed that the Tamara was on no wild goose chase. By chance, I arrived in Dublin this week on the day that the Saville report on Bloody Sunday was published. Anton Otto Fischer, USCGR. An ancillary worry was Irelands military weakness. Now scram.. The U-boats' crews were near exhaustion and low on . Germany declares war zone around British Isles. The Roper sunk the submarine and then dropped depth charges for good measure. by kamehouse 07 May 2007, 11:20, Post The army was more concerned about our ability to defend our weapons against raids by fellow Irishmen, he wrote. Only if the enemy knew of sinkings, or if they were witnessed by people along the coast would the Navy disclose successful U-boat attacks. But the U-boat story was a lie. Researching material for a history-inspired novel I am writing about the Battle of the Atlantic, I came across the fascinating story of the Type XIV Milchkuh (milk cow) submarine tanker. We were the first to be here, and for the first time in this war a German soldier looked out on the coast of the USA.. German Immigration to America. by FAlmeida 03 May 2007, 23:41, Post While thousands of New Englanders looked to the sky for enemy airplanes, few had any idea about the carnage wreaked in the waters nearby. Robert Fisk concluded the futile patrols 'were not only steering illegally steering through the neutral waters of ire but were also navigating the wider oceans of Churchill's own vivid imagination'. Ireland offered no practical aid to Germany during the war. Donitz thought the U.S. military was ill-prepared and unequipped to fight the well-trained U-boat fleet. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Of course, America joining the war intensifies this because A) David Gray was a bit of a prick and B) The British felt that whatever "excuse" we'd had for not wanting to fight alongside the British had surely been countered by America's entry. Despite being frequently encountered as rumours, no U-boats ever used Ireland as a refuelling base. A plausible story turns into a true story, even if it's a lie. For before this glorious secret history takes hold of your imagination, there are one or two snags. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. It does not store any personal data. When the United States entered World War II, both sides understood the key to Allied victory would be the restoration of Americas industrial might. Ireland interned the pilots of Luftwaffe aircraft that crashed in Eire, whereas the RAF pilots who did the same were escorted to border and handed back. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? British intelligence on Jan. 12 warned U.S. Navy headquarters that a group of U-boats was headed to Newfoundland and another to the American coast between Portland, Maine, and New York. Fisk took the word of wartime minister for defence Frank Aiken who in 1979 told him: "No German U-boat landed on the Irish coast; if it had done, I think I would have heard about it." And the British government never produced evidence of refuelling, Fisk noted. This was all done very clandestine at night from interned German merchant vessels there. Did Ireland refuel German U-boats? Yet looking back on those terrible years, I am horrified at not just the gullibility of us reporters but at our sheer ignorance. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The new Irish Sea Border: What does it mean? I eventually tracked down villagers from Sherkin who remembered the wartime pauper his name was Louis Nolan and he was the harbourmaster's brother but they said it was Nolan's shirt that was patched with newspaper, not his trousers. Painting of a burning tanker after in the North Atlantic by Lt. Cmdr. One of eight U-boats that arrived in Londonderry after the German surrender in 1945. . But then? He sneaked a look and discovered these were U-boat officers, whose craft were laying up in remote inlets on the coast, come ashore for unofficial R and R, and wearing their uniforms because Ireland was neutral.". Last Update: May 30, 2022. . by Carl Schwamberger 13 May 2007, 23:58, Post Nine years in the making, Hitler's U-boat War is destined to become the definitive account of the German submarine war against the Allies, or "The Battle of the Atlantic."It is an epic sea story, the most arduous . He was right. On April 17, a Coast Guard cutter sank U-175 with depth charges while escorting a convoy south of Iceland. If you just remember that their entire sense of national identity is scarred by the audacity of us declaring independence, you'll learn to laugh, and maybe even pity them. I used to work in the National Maritime Museum in Dn Laoghaire and my favourite part of the job was people telling their own and their relatives stories. did german u boats refuel in ireland. did german u boats refuel in ireland. But because a reader has sent me a fascinating account of his dad's war service as an SOE recruit. Surely not. 44 Did german u boats refuel in ireland? Is is based on any actual facts? (3 Jan 1946) Scenes from "Operation Deadlight" show the sinking of German U-boats by RAF Coastal Command off Northern Ireland. Where did you hear it? "the term 'base' was being 'used loosely' because there was 'no evidence proving the existence of refueling bases". Although his conclusion was that it never happened, he revisited the subject in the London Independent in 2011, on foot of a letter from a man whose father had been a Royal Navy officer during the war, based in Derry. Blaming us nasty Paddies for giving succour to the enemy? In three months the H33, H43 and the Tamura failed to detect any German submarine in Irish Waters. Germany believed it could win the war by preventing the U.S. from supplying Britain with war materiel and fuel. It is in no way sponsored or endorsed by the Irish Defence Forces or the Irish Government. On average, a Type VIIC boat had to refuel twice in order to be effective. He didnt have good charts, but that didnt matter. A protracted campaign that lasted for most of the war, German vessels tried to sink Allied supply ships. By far the most effective tools were the U-boats, the German submarines. Written By Posted; uboat refueling in Ireland? Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Primary Menu. According to Liddell, Archer said that a U-boat called in three times a week at a base at the mouth of the Doonbeg river, County Clare. They know their country is bloodmad and has committed awful, heinous crimes in the Middle East and beyond. . Admiral Karl Donitz, the capable commander of Hitlers U-boat fleet, began planning the U-boat attacks as soon as Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941. Was Prussia the most powerful German state? However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Ireland was not some empty unguarded wilderness the coast of which the Germans could roam at will. by ChristopherPerrien 03 May 2007, 21:24, Post Were republicans who advocated an alliance with Germany motivated solely by tactical considerations - my enemy's enemy - or did ideological considerations also play a part? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A U Boat pulled in to Ventry Harbour to send ashore dinghies full of Greek sailors that it had sunk. Shortly after midnight on Jan. 14, Hardegans lookout spotted the Norness silhouetted against the brightly lit coast. Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor He was an expert in bomb disposal, demolition and sabotage, trained at Brickendonbury Manor, near Hertford, with the rank of lieutenant and later attached to the Royal Navy in Derry or Londonderry, as all good Protestants and Brits would at the time have called the last of our Irish Treaty Ports. What 3 things do you do when you recognize an emergency situation? No airplane, no Coast Guard cutter, nothing. . Favourite haunts were Molly's Bar, Arnolds Hotel and McGilloway's. The Journalist Robert Fisk has largely debunked the urban myth about German U boats sheltering in Ireland. The U-boats killed 5,000 . Many British ships were repaired in Irish shipyards. that would allow others to check and see if these items match German records. By Denis Martin FTU. Refueled at cost, and either put back to sea within 72hrs or interned until the cessation of hostilities. He also noted it was 'a base of U-boats', though the memorandum acknowledged that the term 'base' was being 'used loosely' because there was 'no evidence proving the existence of refueling base'. Clay Blair's best-selling naval classic Silent Victory: The U.S. People in the Hamptons called to report the fire 27 miles away. At the onset of World War II, the German high command wasted no time in sending U-boats to harass shipping along the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. While it's not impossible that a uboat could have rendezvoused with a supply ship in an Irish inlet or bay it would have been a difficult and hazardous undertaking to acheive without being detected and there's zero record of it ever happening. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Never a man to neglect a good tale, I return to that old saw about German U-boats refuelling in neutral Ireland. He and his wife, Doris Bradlee Sleeper, had two [], [] graduated from Harvard, where he wrestled and boxed, and served in the Marines during World War II. Two more Nazi U-boats arrived the next day: At 2 pm, U-873 was towed into the harbor, followed by U-1228. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. And there were no U-boats. They repeatedly scoured Irish coastal waters, from Cork to Donegal. He served as a lieutenant in the Army during World War II, then played for the Kansas City Monarchs after his honorable [], [] MAINE U-Boat Attacks Of World War II: 6 Months of Secret Terror in the Atlantic New Englan [], [] MAINE U-Boat Attacks Of World War II: 6 Months of Secret Terror in the Atlantic – [], [] According to the New England Historical Society, [], [] Beijing has inflicted more damage to the world trading system than U-boats did to the North Atlantic merchant marines. Archer would not let the Brits interview the three German prisoners. Was George VI King of Ireland? [], [] two men belonged to the crew of a B-18 assigned to patrol the coast of New England. Only a few years ago, The Independent's letters page was filled with readers discussing the refuelling of U-boats by Irishmen. George VI/Full name. And I fear that many of us despite our liberal upbringing and our acknowledgement of Stormont's injustice to the Catholics were under the subconscious influence of darker images; the old Punch cartoon, for example, of the drunken Irishman holding a cudgel with which he would without any reason murder the refined young Englishmen who kept invading his country. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. And if the senior officers at Lisburn were so innocent, how come they created and they had to be the ones to do it the cocktail of lies that were fed to the press? It wasnt until the night of April 13-14 that the first U-boat was sunk. The Brazilian Navy claims to have an air reconnaissance photo of the Argentine tanker "Santa Cruz" refuelling a U-boat off Brazil in 1942. The Civil Air Patrol, one-fifth of which were women, began sorties. U boats refuelling/purchasing supplies in Ireland, Canada, United States, Australia, etc. This is absolutely true of the opening days of the war. So with Saville. The U-boats were the Allies' greatest fear during the . It was a persistent rumour of the war years, popular with the Irish governments critics in Britain, that German U-boats refuelled regularly along Irelands south and west coasts. It was commanded by Lieutenant Commander W R "Tiny" Fell who went on to design midget submarines and who had spent according to my own research a fruitless few weeks searching for German U-boats off the west coast of Ireland, or Eire as it was then known. More specifically, Archer was quoted by the British as saying that a U-boat called in "three times a week at a base at the mouth of the Doonbeg river, Co Clare". The Hooligan Navy didnt sink any U-boats. I cannot describe the feeling in words, he said but it was unbelievable and beautiful and great. Operation Drumbeat was over. Do you want to get hurt? Robert Fisk. That said, if a U-Boat did dock in Ireland, it would be treated in line with international law. One time there was this aul fella who told the story of going down to DL harbour to see three U-boats which had docked in the harbour to shelter from a storm. But then? These passages come from T. Ryle Dwyer's book Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland's Phoney Neutrality During World War II and in that passage he references Robert Fisk's excellent book In Time of War: Ireland, Ulster and the Price of Neutrality 1939-45. Mine fields were laid in the harbors and mobile artillery was positioned to protect the harbors. I've gained a sudden interest in U-Boats recently and haven't found a ton of information on them. And our reader himself admits that "many of the suppositions about German forces in the Irish Republic may be down to the very German-looking uniforms used by the Irish at the time but which were changed in the 1940s". They were easy prey as the U-boats could spot them easily against the lighted cars, buildings, streetlights and billboards along the coast. Ireland was indeed neutral and de Valera did his make his notorious condolence visit. Claims that Ireland refueled U-Boats are laughable, it never happened. A phantom hangs over Ireland's relations with Hitler's Germany. There were several fuel dumps for U-boats along the coast of Argentina, the main one being at Villa Gesell. All would commit any crime for a shilling". Had she not survived, World War II might have ended [], [] was scarce, as the United States had entered World War II six months earlier, and tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders joined the war effort. by kamehouse 04 May 2007, 17:51, Post U-Boats sunk 23 vessels in the St. Lawrence and, in 1942, in a mission to drop off a spy, a U-Boat skulked so close to shore that it was briefly caught in the headlights of a passing car, although . Trending; Popular; Contact us; . The first Type XIV was U-459 (Georg von Wilamovitz-Moellendorff), commissioned in November 1941 and made her first patrol in April 1942. . These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. In February, the killing continued. The huge tanker carried 12,200 tons of crude oil from New Jersey to Liverpool. Prince Albert was crowned on May 12, 1937, and took on the name George VI to emphasize continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. did german u boats refuel in irelandandrew e biological father. by kamehouse 03 May 2007, 20:39, Post New London, Conn., native Ralph Sturgis was one of the few who knew about the U-boat attacks. It was something, at least. Those were the days when U-boat crews tried to be honourable to their victims, who in this case were duly taken by the police to Michael Long, the Lloyd's agent in Dingle. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. The territory that became Northern Ireland, within the Irish province of Ulster, had a Protestant and Unionist majority who wanted to maintain ties to Britain. And he had never heard of Michael Long. . Even though Ireland was a neutral country during World War II, there were still restrictions on everyday items such as clothing, food, fuel and tea. Fisk also mentioned a claim by Britain's war-time director of counter-espionage that he had once asked his Irish counterpart, Col Liam Archer, about U-boat landings in Ireland, to be told: "They are here in force, we can't do anything." The other three had been cheerfully handed over to de Valera by Malcolm MacDonald in 1938, earning Churchill's most poisonous hatred. Americans used their ration cards and stamps to take their meager share of household staples including meat, dairy, coffee, dried fruits, jams, jellies, lard, shortening, and oils. A full two years before Germanys aggressive naval policy would draw the United States into the war against them, Kaiser Wilhelm announces an important step in the development of that policy, proclaiming the North Sea a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries,. There's about 15 different versions of the story without any great proof at all. Open the mobiGlas and select the maintenance (wrench) icon to buy fuel and repairs. The OPA rationed automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, firewood, nylon, silk, and shoes. But now I wouldnt, Race to get last children out of Bakhmut as city becomes hell on earth, Why AIB didnt treat ordinary borrowers the way it treated DJ Carey, Paul Mescals visit to alma mater wasnt just a homecoming it was a return to where his career began, Russian attack on Bakhmut intensifies as civilians flee on foot, Antarctica cruise: We have seen whales their spouts and breaches, their mournful wails in abundance, TV guide: 12 of the best shows to watch this week, beginning tonight, My best friend is in love with me and I dont know what to do, Trench coat, white shirt, biker jacket: spring essentials for 2023 (that you probably already own). Now this was after the cessation of WWII and they were going back to Germany. U-123 sunk the Norness with three torpedoes. At least the Name of the submarine officer, the submarines identification, and the dates of this incident. Never a man to neglect a good tale, I return to that old saw about German U-boats refuelling in neutral Ireland. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. On February 1, 1917, the lethal threat of the German U-boat submarine raises its head again, as Germany returns to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare 31 . In 21 November he presented Cabinet colleagues with a memorandum from Admiral Godfrey, depicting ire as 'a center for enemy espionage' that was 'much affected by enemy penetration' due to the German diplomatic presence. But by then, the U.S. military began to take some defensive measures against the U-boat attacks. Incidentally the M&CWS observers recorded the 1940 Irish assistance to the torpedoed British Merchantman Eros, which was deliberately beached on the Donegal coast and guarded by two royal navy battleships at sea and Irish troops and aircraft on land and in the air until it could be refloated and continue its journey to Britain. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. (formerly the Public Record Office) show that a German agent was sent to Ireland to co-ordinate an operation which would see thousands of Nazi troops land at Larne . As for the rumoured U-boat incursions elsewhere: While this was going on, it was difficult to be patient with stories about German submarines openly refuelling at bases along the south and west coast., Fisk took the word of wartime minister for defence Frank Aiken who in 1979 told him: "No German U-boat landed on the Irish coast; if it had done, I think I would have heard about it.". From March 5, 1942 to August 31, 1943, the Coastal Patrol flew 86,865 missions, sighted 173 U-boats, reported 91 ships in distress and 17 floating mines and rescued 363 survivors of U-boat attacks. After a German U-boat sank the British passenger ship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, killing over 1,000 people, including 128 Americans, pressure from the U.S. prompted the German government to greatly constrain the operation of submarines; U-boat warfare was completely suspended that September. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. cheese factory st johns, mi jobs Plstico Elstico. Just to add to this we had a Marine and Coast Watching Service in WW2. He became king in 1993, though not as you might expect by inheritance. Adm. Karl Donitz, mastermind of the U-boat attacks. Ho ho, cried Inspector Fisk when he caught sight of these words in our reader's letter. Did German U boats refuel in Spain. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Robert Fisk: German captains, U-boats and other lies about Ireland, 5% off all bookings with this Travelodge discount code, Save 200 on 2023 holidays with this TUI discount code, Extra 10% off hotel bookings with this Barcelo discount code, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands.

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