Daily Event for October 2

October 2, 1917 off Northern Ireland convoy HH-24 was making its way from the U.S. to England. As was customary, several Royal Navy ships were sent to escort the convoy through the U-boat infested waters, this time one U-boat would be very lucky.

U-79 located the cruiser HMS Drake early in the morning and fired one torpedo at her. The explosion ripped through the ship killing 19 of her crew but, Drake stayed afloat. Listing badly, but still able to make steam her captain S. H. Radcliffe headed for nearby Rathlin Island in an attempt to beach the cruiser however, after entering Church Bay the list became worse and the ship finally capsized and sank. Fortunately the remaining crewmen managed to get off the ship alive.

The next ship to go was the SS Lugano of the Gulf Line. It's not clear if she was torpedoed or hit a mine, but nevertheless an explosion sent her to the bottom. All of her crew were rescued. Following the loss of these two ships the HMS Brisk was making a sweep of the waters near Church Bay when she too exploded. Again the mystery is mine or torpedo? If Capt. Rohrbeck of the U-79 had torpedoed all three one would expect him to shout from the highest mountain, but this does not seem to be the case. Several sources indicate that both Lugano and Brisk were mined and not torpedoed. The mines however did come from the U-79 so he in effect did sink all three ships, albeit without his immediate knowledge.

HMS Brisk did not sink completely, but rather broke in two, her bow sinking and the stern section being towed to port. However 31 sailors were killed in the explosion. As for the U-79 she never sank another ship during her career however, a mine of hers did sink a 226 ton ship on Oct. 23, 1917. She was surrendered to France after the war and renamed Victor Reveille. The former U-79 was scrapped in 1935.
© 2006 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com


HMS Drake

2005 Daily Event