The wreck site of the ISIDORO has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 156) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the ISIDORO is positionally, dimensionally, and archivally consistent with UKHO 9876 (NPRN 518420). The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The ISIDORO was built in 1897 by Craig, Taylor &Co Ltd, Stockton-on-Tees. Technical specifications are given as 2045 grt, 82.6 length x 12.4 breath, Triple expansion engine, single shaft, 1 screw propeller. The former owners include W M Holby, Oslo, 1899-1906 (when named ADMIRAL IHLEN); C L Lopez, Bilboa, 1906 -1915 (when named MENDITARRA) ; and lastly Echevarrieta & Larrinaga - Cia. Naviera La Blanca, Bilbao, (with the name changed to ISIDORE).
On 17 August 1915, the steamship was carrying iron ore from Bilbao to Glasgow when it was sunk by U-38, 17 miles east-southeast of the Tuskar Rock, St George's Channel. The ISIDORO was one of 10 vessels attacked by U-38 on the same day and the first Spanish merchant vessel of the war to be sunk. Contemporary newspapers note that the Spanish Government protested to the German Government and that the loss, and that of another ship the PENA CASTILLO, roused a very definite backlash of opinion against Germany.
The U-boat had begun its patrol in April 1915 in the North Sea, passing north around Scotland to then come south to cruise between southern Ireland and Ushant, France. This patrol accounted for 57 vessels - 5 trawlers, 3 sailing vessels and 22 merchant ships in August along. Max Valentiner and U-38 would go on to be amongst the five most successful commanders and German submarines of the Great War.
Sources include:
The Cambria Daily Leader, 3 September 1915, p.3
The Cambria Daily Leader, 29 December 1916, p.1
Craig, Taylor & Co. Ltd., Wreck Site EU
Dundee Courier, Wednesday 1 September 1915
Koerver, H J, (ed), 2012, German Submarine Warfare 1914-18 in the eyes of British Intelligence, p.175
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1915, p.10 (i)
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
UKHO ID 9876: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
Western Daily Press, 19 August 1915, p.8
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023.
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.