The sinking of the RMS Leinster and the war at sea
Oct 11, 2018, 07:59 AM
Recorded at the National Maritime Museum, Haigh Terrace, Dún Laoghaire
7 October 2018
Just before 10am on 10 October 1918, east of the Kish Bank, two torpedoes fired by the German submarine UB-123 struck the 2,640-ton packet steamship RMS Leinster, en route to Holyhead, causing her to sink rapidly; over 500 lost their lives, out of a total of over 800. It was sadly ironic that only a few days previously the Germans had sent out peace feelers to US President Woodrow Wilson, and the war itself would be over within a month.
To discuss these and related matters, History Ireland Editor Tommy Graham was joined for a lively discussion by Philip Lecane (Torpedoed! The RMS Leinster disaster [2005]), Michael Kennedy (RIA’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy), Jeff Kildea (Uni. of New South Wales) and Bernadette Whelan.
The Hedge School series of podcasts is produced by History Ireland and the Wordwell Group. For more information or to subscribe, visit historyireland.com
Supported by the Commemorations Unit of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 Initiative.