SS Connemara

The SS "Connemara" was a twin screw steamer, 272 feet long, 35 broad and 14 deep with a gross tonnage of 1106. She sank on the night of 3 November 1916 at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, Louth, Ireland after being hit amidships by the coalship "Retriever". 97 lives were lost that night and the only survivor was James Boyle – a fireman on the "Retriever" and former caretaker of Warrenpoint Town Hall and a non-swimmer.
The captain on the "Connemara" was Captain G. H. Doeg. The captain on the "Retriever" was Patrick O'Neill. Both men were experienced seamen and the accident was attributed to the atrocious weather conditions on the night.
Previous accidents.
Both the "Connemara" and the "Retriever" had been in separate collisions with other ships before the fatal accident:
The accident itself.
The outbound "Connemara" met the inbound "Retriever" approximately a half-mile beyond the Carlingford bar. The bar in Carlingford is marked by Haulbowline lighthouse. Beyond the bar is the "cut" or channel, which in Carlingford's case is very narrow, being only about 300 yards wide. This lack of space allows for very little manoeuvrability for passing vessels.
Both vessels were showing dimmed lights, for fear of U-boats. Their masters were on their respective bridges, and there was no evidence to indicate they were not alert.
The watch at the Haulbowline lighthouse, seeing the ships too close for comfort, fired off rockets in warning.
However, the atrocious conditions had caused the "Retriever"'s cargo to list. She was fighting both wind, tide and cargo inertia. She hit the "Connemara" on the port side, penetrating her hull to the funnel. Immediately Master O' Neill reversed engines and the "Retriever" swung wide. The "Connemara" however was terribly ripped below the waterline on the port side, from bow to amidships. She sank within minutes, her boilers exploding on contact with the cold water.
The "Retriever", with her bow stove in, took about 20 minutes to sink about 200 yards from the "Connemara". Her boilers also exploded on contact with the water.
Passengers' stories.
There are 97 stories from that night. A very small selection are here: