Recalling the tragedy of the SS Ardmore – 86 years on
Cork ship the SS Ardmore, which was lost with all hands off the coast of Co Wexford in November 11, 1940
At 2pm on Wednesday, November 11, a group will gather on the Penrose Quay side of Cork’s Michael Collins Bridge to mark the anniversary of a great maritime tragedy.
The SS Ardmore sailed out of the Port of Cork 86 years ago, on Monday night, November 11 1940, bound for Fishguard. The ship never arrived, and the mystery of its disappearance would endure for more than half a century.
“Feared loss of Cork ship and crew – Vain search for missing ship – Ardmore disappears” read the headline on the of Thursday, November 14, 1940.
“It is feared that the British and Irish steamer, the Ardmore, with 25 on board, has been lost,” began the story beneath.
“The vessel left Cork for Fishguard with cargo, cattle and pigs on Monday night, and nothing has since been heard of it.
“Those on board consisted of twenty crew and five cattle men. The majority are from Cork and district.
“A search by air and sea has been made without discovering even a trace of wreckage that might give a clue to the fate of the vessel.”
According to the late Cork historian Ronnie Herlihy, whose uncles John and James Power were among those lost, the ship was built in 1921 and was the third to bear the name Ardmore belonging to the City of Cork Steam Packet Company.
The company’s office building can still be seen on Penrose Quay, with its distinctive columns and St George and the Dragon.
The Ardmore’s last reported sightings were off Ballycotton at 10.20pm, and just over 30 minutes later she passed Knockadoon Head.
In the weeks after, some wreckage and livestock washed ashore on the Welsh coast and on the Saltee Islands off Co Wexford.
In December the bodies of Captain Thomas Ford, Able Seaman Frank O’Shea and Cattleman Michael Raymond were found on the Pembrokeshire coast.
No other bodies were ever recovered, and it would be almost six decades before the mystery was finally solved.
In 1998 the wreck of the SS Ardmore was officially identified, lying in around 83ft of water with her mid-ship blown out, just under six miles from the harbour at Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford. She had struck a mine.
App?
