The wreck identified as the DUNDALK lies in 57m of water with its keel orientated 250 (bow)/ 075 (stern) degrees. It has a surveyed length of 75.5m, a width of 12.7m, and a maximum height above the seabed of 7m. The wreck is broken in two, just forward of amidships, the stern section is upright, but the bow section is lying on its port side. The wreck was initially identified on the basis of artefact observed by divers in 1999, and the ship's bell was recovered in 2019.
This wreck was originally located by the UKHO in 1945, and examined in detail in 1996, and most recently in 2022. It was subject to a detailed survey by Bangor University in May 2019. Associated research was undertaken by Dr Innes McCartney (2022) for the Echoes from the Deep project, which corroborated the existing identification of the wreck as the DUNDALK.
Event and Historical Information:
The DUNDALK was a steel-hulled screw-steamer built in 1899 at Pointhouse by A & J Inglis (Official No. 107003, Yard No. 254). The vessel was 794 grt, 236ft (72m) length, 32.1ft (9.75m) width, 15.2ft (4.6m) depth; 2 decks, 5 bulkheads, passenger deck 57ft, boat deck 103ft, forecastle 48ft; screw propulsion powered 2 boilers linked to 2 triple expansion engines producing 350hp. At time of loss the vessel was owned by Dundalk & Newry Steamship Packet Co Ltd and was registered at Dundalk.
On 14 October 1918, the DUNDALK was carrying 150 tons of general cargo from Liverpool to Dundalk when it was torpedoed on the port side at 11pm. There is some dispute as to whether the weapon was fired by the German submarine UB-123 or U-90. The vessel was so badly damaged being a relatively small vessel, that it sank immediately, the Mate managing to get away with another man in a lifeboat before picking up five survivors from the water. The remaining 21 who were lost included the Master Hugh O'Neill, and four cattlemen and a passenger all of whom went down with the vessel. The survivors saw the submarine only ten yards away from the boat, but it quickly made off and was not seen again. The survivors in the boat were picked up by the escort vessel STORMCOCK. Two seamen who floated off the sinking ship on a raft also managed to pick up the 2nd Engineer and a fireman. These men were saved by the steamship DOUGLAS, which landed them at Douglas, Isle of Man. The locations for the loss given at the time were 5 miles north-northwest of the Skerries or 15 miles southwest of Chicken Lighthouse.
The crewmen commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial to the merchant marine include Hugh O'Neil, master; William McKeown, Able Seaman; Peter Mathews, Steward; Patrick Melia, Second Mate; Thomas Tuite, Donkeyman; Vincent Morgan, Greaser; John Michael Muckean, Fireman; Francis John Kieran, Able Seaman; James Hernon, Fireman; Patrick Hughes, Trimmer; Edward Johnson, Chief Engineer; John Stack, Fireman; Daniel Stowell, Quartermaster; Edward Bennett, Fireman; Margaret Creegan, Stewardess; Joseph Fox, Cattleman; Joseph Halfpenny, Fireman; Peter Valentine Sloane, Ordinary Seaman.
Commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial is Harold Grey, Ordinary Seaman, Royal Naval Reserve, Service number Wales/Z/4700. The sinking occurred 4 days before his 19th birthday and he is name is also commemorated on the stone tablet on the walls of the building that once housed the Hafod Isha works, Swansea
Sources include:
Appropriation Books, Official Numbers 107001 - 107050 (107003)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, 26 October 1918, p.1
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p.98
Hocking, C, 1994, Dictionary of Disasters at Sea, p.197
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 October - 31 December 1918, p.8 (i)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 854 in D
Lloyds Register Documentation, LRF-PUN-GLS278-0162-F: https://hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/ships/dundalk-1899/
Matthews, Gethin, The Hafod Isha Memorial, Memorials to the Great War, Living Legacies 1914-18
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List, 1900, p.104
Mercantile Navy List, 1910, p.146
Mercantile Navy List, 1915, p.167
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database 2007, RCIM6/2/5
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
UKHO ID 7379: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, December 2024.
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.