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Kinsale and courtmacsherry lifeboat:
KINSALE AND COURTMACSHERRY LIFEBOAT:
I know many from both Kinsale and Courtmac including the lifeboat men and women and have been prior to Health and Safety out on the Courtmac Lifeboat on a few occasions. Few realise that the Lusitania was lost only 3 - 4 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale but such a rescue even today would be difficult.
At the time lifeboats were largely rowed and much help came from as far afield as Cork and near every town and village were involved. Kinsale dealt with much of the aftermath including the initial inquiry. The sea going community deal with tragedy since - still and often.
Attachment 13247
Lusitania Remembered: Old Head of Kinsale.
K.
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"sos, sos, sos. Come at once. Big list:
"SOS, SOS, SOS. COME AT ONCE. BIG LIST 10 MILES SOUTH OLD KINSALE. MFA."
The last three letters were the Lusitania's call sign.
When Vice Admiral Coke in Queenstown received his copy of that distress signal, it must have seemed as though his worst nightmare had come true:
Along the coast and inland flew the message. Queenstown the Admiralty port, thirteen miles from Kinsale heard the news and Admiral Cocks, the naval ofiicer in charge ordered all available vessels to the scene of the disaster. Half a dozen tugs steamed forth, followed by torpedo boats and a fleet of trawlers, to render assistance and pick up struggling humanity from the water.
"Later, when the smoke cleared away he saw the liner's boats on the scene laden with passengers, but the ship had dis-
appeared. A fishing boat was the first to reach the scene and took some boats in tow. An eastbound cargo boat next arrived.
This boat saved a great many. Later other vessels arrived to assist in the rescue work, and when darkness closed over the
scene a number of destroyers were in the vicinity. One destroyer, which arrived early, lowered boats and picked up a num-
ber from a raft.
1916 On the 7-May: the famous liner Lusitania is sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale with the loss of 1,198 souls - torpedoed by German submarine U-20. She sank in just 17 minutes. Courtmacsherry lifeboat Keria Gwilt was the first rowed boat to the scene.
"We were out here one year with the Merchant Navy Association from Barry Dock in Wales, all strong men who had seen and experienced a lot at sea themselves and lost companions and relations during the Second World War and they all had tears in their eyes, imagining what it must have been like for those aboard the Lusitania". Courtmacsherry Lifeboat.
Attachment 13263
Courtmac LB Echo Sound.
K.
