Anniversary of sinking of steamer off Mayo island in 1915

By Tom Gillespie

TODAY marks the 108th anniversary of the sinking in 1915 of a British steamer, the SS Atlanta, off the coast of Conemara.

The 519-ton steamer had left Galway for Glasgow. It had travelled as far as Killary Harbour where the captain spotted a periscope above the water.

After a short chase, the Atlanta came under fire from revolver and rifles of the crew of a German U-boat near Inishturk - 1,100 miles from the German port of Kiel.

The 16-man crew were forced to escape in rowing boats in what was the first engagement off the west coast with a German U-boat.

As the crew, who were penniless due to having to leave their possessions behind, rowed for the safety of Inishturk they saw their ship on fire.

Initially it was thought the steamer had been torpedoed.

On Inishturk, the crew were given bread, eggs and bacon. Later they were ferried to Tully Coastguard Station.

A correspondent from the Connacht Tribune reported the following day that the smoking wreckage still lay off Cleggan Head.

Two other British ships were also lost on the same day as German submarines sought to enforce the blockade on merchant shipping.

A further two vessels - the Avocet and the Lestris, both from Cork - were reported to have been chased by submarines but had escaped.