Mention the Titanic or the Lusitania and most people will make the connection with great maritime tragedies. A little research will lead to further instances where thousands have died in single instances at sea. The toll down the years is horrific. Yet I learnt today of an incident close to home which claimed the greatest loss of life in Irish waters.
RMS Leinster, making the short hop from Dun Laoghaire (then Kingstown) just to the south of Dublin to Holyhead in Wales had barely left port to enter the choppy Irish Sea. She carried 771 passengers and crew.
RMS Leinster, from the official site
A couple of weeks earlier Germany had asked President Wilson for peace terms, but its submarines still lurked in coastal waters. One of them launched three torpedoes, two of which hit, the second sending the ship quickly to the bottom. It is estimated that more than 500 were killed. Many were civilians as well as military personnel from Ireland, Britain, Canada, The US, Australia and Canada.
The sinking, from the official site
There is an excellent account of the sinking here whilst the official RMS Leinster website is at http://www.rmsleinster.com
Back On The Rock 
Thanks for enlightening me on this historic tragedy, Roy. So many lives lost on this day…
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Hello Jill. Reading this just by chance today took me aback. First I’d ever heard of it. And Dun Laoghaire – Holyhead has been a well-worn route for many a long year. I did it a few times myself in my younger days.
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I had never heard of this tragedy before. It’s incredible that so many lives were lost.
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We soon forget Letizia, don’t we? Half an hour ago I was talking to an Irishman brought up near Dun Laoghaire and he’d never heard of this incident either. Thank goodness for historians.
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Kudos to you, Roy, for helping out the historians by keeping the story alive!
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Very sad that so many lives have been lost at sea and that’s a lot for one shipwreck.
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Hello Sheila. Although the death count pales against some others, 500 still represents huge suffering and will have affected 500 families across the world. I’m pleased that recently the deaths have been properly recognised and commemorated.
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Had known of this tragedy and each time I read of it I shudder as I too plied that route many a time and oft in the 1960s and 1970s (pre stabilized vessels, I might add – not much fun in a gale!) It is good to remember this
tragedy and the lives lost. Thanks for posting.
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Hello SV, ah yes the good old Inisfallen. We might have bumped into one another even. What an horrendous incident and seemingly airbrushed out of most people’s knowledge banks, including mine.
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Never heard of it either…wowza! So many losses.
We become so blindsighted by the superstar tragedies of history like the Titanic and the Lusitania, don’t we? Hence the reason I seriously will not step foot on a cruise (in addition to the overall tourist circus of it, which chaps my ass.)
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Hello Britt! It’s not as if ships need a torpedo to sink them either 😦 I hate sailing, and flying – remind me why I live on an island. Have a good weekend.
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Seriously! I feel you there. Have an awesome weekend, Roy!
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Thank you Roy – I’ve just had an interesting browse on the official website and learned all about the RMS Leinster. You’re right – unlike the other two you mention at the top of your post, I’d never heard of the Leinster – but now I know!
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Hi Jenny, it is even more poignant as the war was just about done and everybody would have been looking forward to seeing their families again and getting back to normal. It was a cruel tragedy, and uncomfortably close to home.
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Every time I hear about historical shipwrecks, it makes me glad that via ship is not longer the dominant mode of long-distance transportation (at least in the developed world). Drowning is a horrible way to die.
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Too right Janna. And those tragedies closer to home hit hardest hit hardest don’t they?
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So sad. I always think that dying on a sunken ship would be especially horrible. Maybe because you’re so isolated and helpless. Maybe because the chance of rescue is slim. Maybe just the idea of a water death in general. I try not to dwell on it because I love being out on the water. What a tragedy for those people.
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Thanks Julie – and these mass deaths are particularly awful. To an extent we can airbrush those tragedies far away but this one was particularly close to home.
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Roy, my son is a sea scout and every year his troop provide the colour for an annual memorial mass for Irish seafarers lost at sea. The Irish merchant marine suffered heavily during the Second World War and the memorial mass was originally held in their honour. It has since expanded to honour all dead seafarers, including the crew and passengers of the MV Leinster. After the mass, a wreath is laid at the seaman’s memorial and prayers are recited. I’ve always found the occasion incredibly moving and thought you might like to know about it.
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Hello Aileen – thankfully there are people who make it their business that these poor souls are not forgotten. It’s easy – and we all do it – to conveniently forget.
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