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The Irish Willow was one of the few ships which maintained Irish trade during World War II.

At the outbreak of World War II, known as "The Emergency". Ireland declared neutrality and became isolated as never before. Although Ireland had a substantial food surplus, there were shortages of specific foods such as fruits, wheat and tea. There were very few Irish ships as shipping had been neglected since independence. Foreign ships which had transported Irish cargoes, before the war, were soon unavailable.

The Irish Willow went to Saint John, New Brunswick 18 times, returning with wheat. She also exported food to Britain and imported coal. Initially Irish ships sailed in British convoys. In the light of experience they chose to sail alone, relying on their neutral markings. German respect for that neutrality varied from friendly to tragic.

Background
The government had pursued a policy of autarky or self-sufficiency, so international trade was discouraged and the mercantile marine ignored. In 1923 there were 127 Irish ships, in September 1939 there were only 56, including 7 which did not carry cargo. Irish cargoes such as wheat, maize, timber and fertilizer were carried on foreign, mainly British, ships. With the outbreak of hostilities, they were unavailable;. Churchill explained "we need this tonnage for our own supply". In November 1939, American ships were excluded from Irish waters by the neutrality act. By the end of 1940, nine Irish ships were lost and ten neutral foreign ships carrying Irish cargoes some chartered by Irish companies, were sunk by U-boats, the Luftwaffe or mines.

Against this background, the government founded Irish Shipping and sought ships which it could charter or purchase. The Irish Willow was one of those ships.

Construction
The Irish Willow was built for the United States Shipping Board in Toledo, Ohio (Yard Number:143) by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company. She was laid down as War Flag, but named Lake Sunapee. She was launched in April 1918, while World War I was still in progress. She served as an U.S. Army transport, based in Cardiff, bringing coal to France.

She was a single deck vessel with a grain capacity of 130000 cuft and bunker capacity of. She was 252 ft long, 43 ft wide and 18 ft deep. As a Laker she was designed to navigate the canal locks bypassing Niagra Falls.

After the first war, she was laid up until 1923 when she was sold to W. J. Gray Jnr. of San Francisco and renamed Frank Lynch. In 1937, she was sold to the Greek company George D. Gratsos' Sons, who renamed her Nestor. In 1939 she was sold to K Jurnas of Estonia and renamed Otto.

She was built as a coal-fired Steamship with a Triple-expansion steam engine. In 1923 this was replaced with a Werkspoor Diesel engine. In 1938 she suffered a total engine failure and was towed to Rotterdam, where she was converted back to a steamer.

Soviet claim
In June 1940 the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic states and on 6 August 1940 Estonia was annexed as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. Industry was nationalised and Estonian ships were instructed to go a Soviet port. There were several ships from the Baltic states in, or heading to, Irish ports. All ignored that instruction. Peter Kolts, a crewman of the Pirer, another Estonian ship at Dublin south quays, hoisted the Hammer and sickle and prevented captain Joseph Juriska from removing it. The Garda Síochána were called. Following a court appearance before Justice Michael Lennon the sailor spent a week in jail.

Ivan Maisky, the Ambassador of Russia to the United Kingdom, applied to the Irish High court for possession of the ships. The owners of the ships could not be contacted. The Soviet case was enhanced by a letter from John Whelan Dulanty, the Irish High Commissioner in London. When the ships were instructed to go immediately to the USSR, three were carrying cargoes destined for Ireland. Dulanty asked Maisky, if they could first deliver their Irish cargo. Maisky agreed, provided that the Irish government guaranteed that after discharging their cargo, they would be given bunkers and food sufficient for the journey to a Soviet port. A. K. Overend K.C., acting for Maisky, said that this established that his client was recognised by Ireland as "the proper person to give instruction to the ships". Furthermore, his client was the only claimant.

John McEvoy was the honourary consul of the Republic of Estonia in Dublin. He opposed the Soviet claim, along with Estonian representatives in Switzerland. Even though they lacked diplomatic status, the court recognised the right of Herbert Martinson, described as "an Estonian national, resident in Switzerland" to vindicate the rights of the absent owners. John McEvoy and Herbert Martinson were recognised as trustees for the owners. The high court considered five ships: three from Estonia: Otto, Piret, and Mall; and two from Latvia: Ramava and Everoja. McEvoy acted for the various owners of the Estonian ships. On 16 May 1941 the High Court rejected the Soviet claim. The Soviets appealed the decision to the five-judge supreme court. On 3 July 1941 it was unanimously dismissed with costs. . The Soviet Union made a 'most emphatic' protest. .

Martinson leased the Otto to Irish Shipping, renamed Irish Willow for the duration of the war, plus three months. Mall was similarly leased and renamed Irish Rose as was the Piret, renamed Irish Alder. While the three Estonian ships sailed under the Tricolour, the two Latvian ships transferred to the British registry and sailed under the Red Ensign. Ramava moved to Britain. Everoja remained in Ireland. She was torpedoed and sunk on 3 November 1941 by GS U-203 while in convoy SC-52, on passage from Canada to Dublin with 6,400 tons of wheat.

John McEvoy was operating at his own expense. The court directed that he was to be reimbursed from the income earned by the Otto (Irish Willow). John McEvoy's role was acknowledged by Estonia following its independence (the Singing Revolution). The President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves said: "... ... we are thankful that Ireland never recognised the illegal annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union after the Second World War. We will never forget John McEvoy, Estonia’s honorary consul in Dublin from 1938 to 1960. Among other things, one of his good deeds was helping to protect the interests of the Estonian shipowners ... ..."

Irish Willow
In October 1941, in Cobh, the Otto was chartered by Irish Shipping. She was brought to Dublin for extensive repairs. On 5 December 1941, she made her first voyage as the Irish Willow: She went from Cobh to Dublin under Captain G.R. Bryan, from Rathfarnam, previously captain of the City of Dublin. H. Cullen, previously of the Irish Elm, was first officer. H. Jurgenson was chief engineer; he was an Estonian national, and had been the chief engineer when she was the Otto. . As engine components could not be located, the repairs had to be completed in Canada. On 5 December she went on her first commercial voyage, under Captain R Shanks of Belfast, as the Irish Willow. She went to Troon for fuel and then joined convoy ON-47. The convoy departed on 15 December 1941. Around this time, Irish crews were refusing to travel in convoy. The Irish Willow "lost" her convoy. She arrived in St John on 12 January 1942 and on 22 January loaded her cargo of wheat. Repairs delayed her a further two weeks. She was scheduled to return in convoy SC-68. Returning alone, a submarine was spotted on 3 February. There was no contact. She unloaded her cargo of wheat in Waterford on 2 March and then went again for a further wheat cargo from St John for Waterford. During the war, she completed 18 such voyages.

U-753
On the morning of 16 March 1942, GS U-753 sighted a lone ship, south-west of the Rockall Bank, it was the Irish Willow and prepared to sink her, until they saw her neutral markings (the Irish tricolour and the word "EIRE"). At 2 pm U-753 surfaced and signaled "send master and ship's papers". As Captain Shanks was born in Belfast, and could be regarded as British, this was considered unwise. Chief Officer Henry Cullen, with four crew as oarsmen went instead. In the conning tower, he explained that his captain was too elderly for the small boat. He spoke about Ireland's neutrality. He reminded them that the next day would be Saint Patrick's Day. He sensed that he was making progress when four tumblers of Schnapps were produced to celebrate Saint Patrick. But then, the Germans - who seemed apologetic - said that they were awaiting instructions whether or not to sink their ship; they would fire a red flare five minutes before they would sink the Irish Willow. Cullen and the oarsmen returned to their ship. They were given a bottle of cognac, to take back "for the crew". There was an anxious wait until the U-boat fired a green flare.

Empire Breeze
Convoy ON 122 left Liverpool on 15 August 1942. Ten days later, on 25 August 1942, when they were in mid-Atlantic, the convoy was attacked by Wolfpack Lohs. Four ships were torpedoed and sunk. The convoy retreated into a fogbank, with visibility less than 300 meters, probably saving further loss. The fog continued to thicken.

GS U-176 had hit the 7,457 ton Empire Breeze with two torpedoes. The crew abandoned ship and took to their lifeboats. There were four lifeboats, but one was destroyed during launch The Empire Breeze remained afloat. An SOS was transmitted and acknowledged before they abandoned ship. One crewman died and the 47 survivors took to the three remaining lifeboats. The rescue ship Stockport was detailed to rescue them. The Irish Willow was 45 miles to the west, too far away to help; the Stockport was much nearer. 24 hours after the attack the crew of the Empire Breeze were still in their lifeboats, the Stockport failed to locate them in the fog, so it left to rejoin the convoy. There were three radio officers. They had a portable radio transmitter in a lifeboat. Repeated SOS messages were not acknowledged. The Empire Breeze was still afloat. Captain Thomson and some of the crew re-boarded. The cook prepared hot meals. Joseph Brown, a radio officer, connected the portable radio with the ship's aerial and rebroadcast an SOS. This was heard and acknowledged by Belle Isle radio station in Canada. The rescue tug HMS Frisky (W 11) and the corvette HMCS Rosthern (K 169) were sent to rescue and, if possible, to salvage the Empire Breeze. They failed to locate her or the survivors. A serious problem was that there had been fog for the previous few days, astronomical observations had not been taken, so no ship in the area knew their exact location. They reckoned it was 58.94167°N, -25.29167°W.

36 hours after the attack they sent another SOS. The Irish Willow heard the SOS, she responded and headed towards the scene. The Irish Willow replied to the message, asking how long they could hold out. Captain Thomson of the Empire Breeze estimated six hours. Captain Shanks of the Irish Willow replied “Coming to you – with you in about five hours”. The fog became denser and visibility reduced to zero. Rather than plotting locations, the Irish Willow was using direction finding equipment; she was travelling towards the SOS signal: It was dangerous for the Irish Willow. They knew the direction to take, but did not know the distance. Travelling in fog, they could collide with the Empire Breeze, or endanger survivors in the water. Extra look-outs were posted along her bow and whistles were sounded every two minutes. The repeating SOS messages could attract U-boats, seeking to “finish the job”, and if such a U-boat found the Irish Willow at the scene, it's attitude could be quite different to that encountered on March 16.

The survivors were located in their three lifeboats and were rescued. The Irish Willow continued to Waterford. As they rounded Hook Lighthouse they were met by the RNLI lifeboat Annie-Blanche-Smith from Dunmore East with an advance party of doctors and Red Cross volunteers. The Dunmore East Parish Hall had been converted into a reception center. A full team of Red Cross volunteers had arrived from Waterford. Hot meals and medical facilities were awaiting the survivors. It was decided to land the survivors at Dunmore East, while the Irish Willow continued to Waterford. Two were taken by ambulance to Waterford Infirmary with fever.

On 4 September, the Munster Express published an interview with Captain Thomson "We are very pleased to land in Eire, and we certainly could not have found a better landing".

Epilogue
In May 1946 the Irish Willow was returned to Egon Jurgenson. She was sold to Cia. de Vapores Veraguas and renamed Veraguas with a Panamanian registry. She continued to trade for a further 14 years. At the end of her 42 year career she was scrapped at Tamise, Belgium in July 1960.

Before the war, Irish Shipping Ltd did not exist. Its 15 ships were not under the Irish Flag. During the war, they imported more than a million tons of essential supplies: 712,000 tons of wheat; 178,000 tons of coal; 63,000 tons of phosphate (fertilizer); 24,000 tons of tobacco; 19,000 tons of newsprint; 10,000 tons of lumber; and over 100,000 tons of more than 500 types of other goods. (This is in addition to the imports carried by other Irish ships)

On 16 May 1945, a week after VE Day Éamon de Valera addressed the nation:

In June 1946 a contract was signed with John Redhead and Sons, shipbuilders of South Shields to construct a new Irish Willow.

Journal

 * Newsletter Magazine of Irish Shipping Ltd