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Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981-1982)
Encyclopedia
The Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) carried out two bomb attacks against British
coal
ships in February 1981 and February 1982 at Lough Foyle
, a large inlet between Northern Ireland
and County Donegal
, in the Republic of Ireland
. Both vessels were sunk, but their crews reached the coastline safely in lifeboats
.
survey launch was blown up at the port of Baltimore, in the Irish Republic. The boat, the Stork, was towed out to sea and destroyed by an explosive device before dawn, while the crew was ashore. Another British boat, the Puffin, received minor damaged in the same action. Both launches were attached to HMS Hecate
.
Between February and October 1972 the Provisional IRA North Antrim Brigade carried out two bombings against sand barges at Lough Neagh
. Two IRA members were killed by the premature explosion of one of the devices, while two of the barges were sunk in a second incident, with a loss of £80,000. These barges were probably the Lough Neagh and the Ballyginniff.
The killing of Lord Mountbatten
and three other persons at Mullaghmore, County Sligo, took place when they were on board Mountbatten's fishing boat, the Shadow V, on August 27 1979.
, on the east bank of the Lough. They also intended to force British and Irish authorities to deploy security guards on board the merchant ships. The IRA claimed that they regarded the ships as "commercial targets".
On the British side, the Bird class patrol boats HMS Cygnet and HMS Kingfisher
were already assigned by the Royal Navy to protect the waterways of the province. Their mission was to prevent the smuggling of weapons from the Republic. These warships were often shot at by the IRA, especially from Carlingford Lough
. The Cygnet narrowly avoided two .50 rounds fired by a sniper in South Armagh
.
The Nellie M was a coaster
ship of 782 BRT
, launched in 1972 at Yorkshire
. She was owned by S. William Coe & Co. Ltd. of Liverpool
at the time of the attack, which took place on 6 February 1981. The vessel was at anchor barely 300 yards (274.3 m) from the Republic’s shore, awaiting for proceeding up the river. The coal ship had departed from Liverpool with a cargo valued at £ 1 million.
A team of 12 IRA men, meanwhile, had hijacked a pilot boat
at a pier on Moville
, on the northwest bank of the inlet. Five of the group remained watching on shore, while another seven members of the ASU
, carrying two high explosive charges, forced the skipper to take them to the British coal ship. Once on board, the cell informed her captain about their intentions and ordered him to gather the crew and to get his men into the lifeboat. Four IRA members supervised the evacuation. At the same time, three others planted the charges in the engine room. The hijacked motor launch then took in tow the lifeboat, leaving her adrift close to the eastern shore, and headed back for Moville. As the lifeboat reached the beach, the first explosion shook the Nellie M. Huge flames, visible from several miles away, engulfed her bridge. A second blast, some hours later, blew up the bulkheads and the ship began to sink. The morning after, her stern was submerged. The hull was raised in 1982.
to Derry. The 1,250 BRT Bedan, built in Clyde
and also launched in 1972, was owned by J & A Gardner & Co. Ltd. of Glasgow. On February 23 1982, the ship was at anchor off Derry, awaiting the tide to proceed upstream.
This time the IRA boarding party was composed of 12 members. The attack was again launched from the pilot boat based at Moville, and after the explosions, the cargo vessel sank on her starboard side in some 15 meters of water. She was raised and scrapped by November 1982.
The lifeboat with the crewmembers was towed in the same way that in the case of Nellie M.
One of the unexpected consequences triggered by the bombings was the debate in the
Oireachtas
about the dispute with the United Kingdom
on the legal jurisdiction
over the waterways in Northern Ireland. Indeed, the salvage of the Nellie M was conducted by an Irish company, and her wreckage was sold to an Irish ship owner, who refurbished the ship under the name of Ellie. The coal ship was subsequently bought by several companies. She was lengthened by seven meters and renamed Trimix . Since 2000 she is managed by a Colombian
company after being rechristened Dove.
The St. Bedan was instead declared a constructive total loss and scrapped at Liverpool.
The IRA discontinued these attacks; this fact strongly suggests that the authorities redoubled their vigilance on the Republic side of the Lough, from where the seaborne assaults were launched. These measures apparently prevented further activity.
A bigger naval target was hit by the IRA several years later (1990), when a number of attackers managed to board the RFA Fort Victoria
at anchor near Belfast
, shortly after her launching. They planted two large bombs in her engine room. One of the devices exploded, damaging her considerably; the second one was successfully defused.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) carried out two bomb attacks against British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
ships in February 1981 and February 1982 at Lough Foyle
Lough Foyle
Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle , is the estuary of the River Foyle in Ulster. It starts where the Foyle leaves Derry. It separates the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland from County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.-Transport:...
, a large inlet between Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. Both vessels were sunk, but their crews reached the coastline safely in lifeboats
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
.
Early attacks on shipping
There had been a number of attacks on small vessels by the IRA before 1981. On April 1971, a Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
survey launch was blown up at the port of Baltimore, in the Irish Republic. The boat, the Stork, was towed out to sea and destroyed by an explosive device before dawn, while the crew was ashore. Another British boat, the Puffin, received minor damaged in the same action. Both launches were attached to HMS Hecate
HMS Hecate (A137)
HMS Hecate was a Royal Navy deep ocean survey vessel of the Hecla-class. She was present at the "presentation of fleet colours" review in Torbay on 29 July 1969. The ship was decommissioned in 1990....
.
Between February and October 1972 the Provisional IRA North Antrim Brigade carried out two bombings against sand barges at Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...
. Two IRA members were killed by the premature explosion of one of the devices, while two of the barges were sunk in a second incident, with a loss of £80,000. These barges were probably the Lough Neagh and the Ballyginniff.
The killing of Lord Mountbatten
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
and three other persons at Mullaghmore, County Sligo, took place when they were on board Mountbatten's fishing boat, the Shadow V, on August 27 1979.
The background
The declared IRA's aim was to disrupt the maritime traffic out and from the Londonderry PortLondonderry Port
Londonderry Port at Lisahally is a port near Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the United Kingdom’s most westerly port, has capacity for 30,000 ton vessels and accepts cruise ships. The current port is on the east bank of the River Foyle at the southern end of Lough Foyle, by the small village of...
, on the east bank of the Lough. They also intended to force British and Irish authorities to deploy security guards on board the merchant ships. The IRA claimed that they regarded the ships as "commercial targets".
On the British side, the Bird class patrol boats HMS Cygnet and HMS Kingfisher
HMS Kingfisher (P260)
HMS Kingfisher was a of the British Royal Navy.-References:...
were already assigned by the Royal Navy to protect the waterways of the province. Their mission was to prevent the smuggling of weapons from the Republic. These warships were often shot at by the IRA, especially from Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet that forms part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore is County Down and on its southern shore is County Louth...
. The Cygnet narrowly avoided two .50 rounds fired by a sniper in South Armagh
South Armagh Sniper (1990-1997)
The South Armagh Sniper is the generic name given to the members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's South Armagh Brigade who conducted a sniping campaign against British security forces from 1990 to 1997....
.
Sinking of the Nellie M
Coastal trading vessel
Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled sea-going ships usually cannot....
ship of 782 BRT
Tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...
, launched in 1972 at Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. She was owned by S. William Coe & Co. Ltd. of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
at the time of the attack, which took place on 6 February 1981. The vessel was at anchor barely 300 yards (274.3 m) from the Republic’s shore, awaiting for proceeding up the river. The coal ship had departed from Liverpool with a cargo valued at £ 1 million.
A team of 12 IRA men, meanwhile, had hijacked a pilot boat
Pilot boat
A Pilot Boat is a type of boat used to transport pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.-History:The origins of the word pilot probably disseminates from the Latin word pilota, a variation of pedota, the plural of pēdón which translates as oar...
at a pier on Moville
Moville
Moville is a town and coastal resort on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, close to the northern tip of Ireland.-Location:...
, on the northwest bank of the inlet. Five of the group remained watching on shore, while another seven members of the ASU
Active Service Unit
An active service unit was a Provisional Irish Republican Army cell of five to eight members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002 the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units....
, carrying two high explosive charges, forced the skipper to take them to the British coal ship. Once on board, the cell informed her captain about their intentions and ordered him to gather the crew and to get his men into the lifeboat. Four IRA members supervised the evacuation. At the same time, three others planted the charges in the engine room. The hijacked motor launch then took in tow the lifeboat, leaving her adrift close to the eastern shore, and headed back for Moville. As the lifeboat reached the beach, the first explosion shook the Nellie M. Huge flames, visible from several miles away, engulfed her bridge. A second blast, some hours later, blew up the bulkheads and the ship began to sink. The morning after, her stern was submerged. The hull was raised in 1982.
Sinking of the St. Bedan
The next year, the IRA was able to repeat the same operation against another British coal ship, the St. Bedan, bound from GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to Derry. The 1,250 BRT Bedan, built in Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
and also launched in 1972, was owned by J & A Gardner & Co. Ltd. of Glasgow. On February 23 1982, the ship was at anchor off Derry, awaiting the tide to proceed upstream.
This time the IRA boarding party was composed of 12 members. The attack was again launched from the pilot boat based at Moville, and after the explosions, the cargo vessel sank on her starboard side in some 15 meters of water. She was raised and scrapped by November 1982.
The lifeboat with the crewmembers was towed in the same way that in the case of Nellie M.
Aftermath
Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
about the dispute with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on the legal jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
over the waterways in Northern Ireland. Indeed, the salvage of the Nellie M was conducted by an Irish company, and her wreckage was sold to an Irish ship owner, who refurbished the ship under the name of Ellie. The coal ship was subsequently bought by several companies. She was lengthened by seven meters and renamed Trimix . Since 2000 she is managed by a Colombian
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
company after being rechristened Dove.
The St. Bedan was instead declared a constructive total loss and scrapped at Liverpool.
The IRA discontinued these attacks; this fact strongly suggests that the authorities redoubled their vigilance on the Republic side of the Lough, from where the seaborne assaults were launched. These measures apparently prevented further activity.
A bigger naval target was hit by the IRA several years later (1990), when a number of attackers managed to board the RFA Fort Victoria
RFA Fort Victoria (A387)
RFA Fort Victoria is a Fort Class combined fleet stores ship and tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom tasked with providing ammunition, fuel, food and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world....
at anchor near Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, shortly after her launching. They planted two large bombs in her engine room. One of the devices exploded, damaging her considerably; the second one was successfully defused.
Further reading
- Ripley, Tim and Chappel, Mike: Security forces in Northern Ireland (1969-92). Osprey, 1993. ISBN 0340717378
- Harnden, Toby: Bandit Country:The IRA and South Armagh. Coronet Books, 1999. ISBN 1855322781
- Nellie M history and profile
- St Bedan history and profile
- Oireachtas debate, March 31 1981