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Leukos Crew |
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Leukos Crew
The Irish Registered Steam Trawler Leukos [No 137154] owned by the Dublin Steam Trawling Company was attacked without warning by the German Submarine U38 Commanded by Kapitan Heinrich Liebe approx 12½ Miles North West, off Tory Island, County Donegal, on the 9/3/1940 with the loss of 11 crewmembers.
Crew Lost
James Hawkins, 69 Park Road, Cottages, Ringsend, Apprentice, aged 17.
Bernard Smith, 10 Boyne Street, Dublin 2, 2nd Engineer, aged 23.
Patricio McCarthy 40 Carlton Road, Marino, Dublin, Cook, aged 42.
James Potter Thomasson, 63 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, Skipper, aged 28.
Alexander McLeod 53 Kenneth Street, Stornoway, Scotland, Chief Engineer.
William Donnelly, 26 Thorben Grove, Blackpool, Mate.
P J Scanlon, 5 Douglas Road, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, Bosun.
Thomas Mulligan, Catholic Seamens Institute, Dublin and Fleetwood, Deckhand.
Anthony Pill, Catholic Seamens Institute, Dublin and Fleetwood, Deckhand.
Michael Cullen, 29 Boyne Street, Dublin, Fireman, aged 17.
Robert Sumler, 63 Lower Mount Street, Dublin and Fleetwood, Apprentice, aged 16.
The Leukos was a 216 gross tons Steam Trawler and was built in 1914 by Messrs Torry S.B. & Co for Tucker Tippett & Co., also of Aberdeen and fished out of that port in Icelandic waters and in the North Sea for that Company.In 1927 ownership was transferred to the Dublin Steam Trawling Ice and Cold Storage Co. Ltd in Hanover Quay,Ringsend Dublin.From 1927 to August 1939 her main fishing grounds were in the North Sea, Irish Sea, North West Coast of Scotland and an area known as the bank off Tory Island, Co Donegal.On the 3rd of September 1939 the Dublin Trawling Company restricted their fishing fleet to the Irish Sea and the North West Coast of Ireland, barring their vessels from operating in the North Sea because of the outbreak of the War and the inevitable danger posed by Submarines.
On the Morning of the 9th of February 1940 the Leukos set sail from Hanover Quay with her crew of 11. Her destination was Troon on the west coast of Scotland for coaling and then she headed for the fishing grounds west of Ireland.On the Morning of Saturday March 9th 1940, Captain Thomason, Skipper of the Leukos had been in radio contact with other Trawlers to advise that he had a good catch. The Leukos was expected back in Dublin on Tuesday the 12th of March 1940.On Saturday March 16th 1940 fears were expressed for the safety of the crew of the Leukos [ Irish Press, March 16, 1940]. It was now feared that she may have hit a stray mine.On the 21st March 1940 a lifeboat bearing the logo of the Leukos was washed ashore on Scarinish Tiree off the west coast of Scotland.On the 26th of March 1940 the Leukos was presumed lost and her crew of 11 missing and entered as such with Lloyds of London.Two months later a remembrance mass was celebrated in the pro-cathederal, Dublin.
The loss of the Leukos remained a mystery in Ireland until November 1986 when it was discovered through research in London, Germany and Washington, that the Leukos had in fact been sunk by a German Submarine approximately 12 miles North West off Tory Island, County Donegal. This information had been released from intelligence files in London and published in the Germany and the United States. On the 11th of January 1987, the Irish Sunday World published an article by Sean Boyne on sinking of the Leukos which was republished in the Journal of the Maritime Institute of Ireland Spring 1987 edition and subsequently mentioned in Donegal Shipwrecks a book by Ian Wilson first published in 1998.
The German Submarine involved was U38 commanded by Kapitan Leutnant Heinrich Liebe. He began his War Patrol from his base at Wilhelmshaven and between the 6th of March 1940 and the 11th of March 1940 his patrol area was West of Scotland and West Southwest Ireland. His destination on the 7th of March 1940,off the Fastnet looking for "convoy targets". He reached the Fastnet on the afternoon of the 7th of March 1940 and was awaiting other Submarines to join him when he received instructions from his base to cruise Northwards. At 20.03 hours on Saturday the 9th of March 1940 U38 surfaced to the North of Tory Island. [ The weather state from Irish Records indicate that in the sea area from Malin Head to Tory Island for Saturday 9th of March 1940 after 18.00 Hours = Pressure: 1013.5; Winds: east Force 3; Weather: Continous slight rain; Temperature: 45 Degrees Fahrenheit 92% Humidity; Visibility: Moderate; Cloud: Overcast; Seastate: Slight ]. Kapitan Liebe then spotted six Trawlers all with their lights on, on a North South course and reasoned that these Trawlers were forming a patrol line and he decided to give one of them a warning. At 21.13 Hours on the 9/3/40 approximately 12 miles off Tory Island from a distance of 200 metres U38 fired a single shot from her deck gun and hit the unarmed neutral Irish Steam Trawler Leukos in the engine room. Liebe records the Trawler dissappearing in a cloud of steam and smoke but she does not sink as he had first assumed. Liebe then stood off. He also noticed that some of the other Trawlers had switched their lights off, while others did not appear to notice his shot. About one hour later he began his cruise across the North Channel in pursuit of Convoy traffic [extracts from the War Diary U38 dated 6/3/40 to 11/3/40, courtesy Bundes Archive, Freiburg]. 11 crewmembers were lost. The Leukos was painted with the Neutral Tricolour on her port and starboard side and on the night she was sunk had her lights switched on to indicate she was a neutral vessel.
New research in November 1999 may indicate another reason as to why the Leukos was sunk by U38:
The skipper of the Leukos, Captain Thomason was the son of Fleetwood Alderman James Potter Thomason and was well known as an experienced and hardy seaman.Other members of the crew came from Fleetwood, Scotland, England, Dublin and Argentina. The Leukos was painted with the Neutral Irish Tricolour on her port and starboard side and while fishing at night would have had her lights switched on to indicate she was a neutral. Trawler Skippers from Fleetwood had previously experienced attacks while they were fishing and had agreed from February 1940 a new strategy, to box fish and in any future attack from the enemy, would dowse their lights but carry on fishing, steaming at 5 knots to reduce the risk of showing to much wash and without altering course.
On the night of the 9th of March 1940 the Leukos was in company with the Steam Trawlers John Morris of Aberdeen, Alvis, Pelogos, Flying Admiral of Fleetwood and Seddock of Grimbsy. Alvis and Pelogos were armed Trawlers and each had a gun mounted aft. With the exception of the Leukos which was Irish and neutral all the others were British Trawlers and would be regarded by the Germans as belligerent. All were fishing in company approximately 10-12 miles off Tory Island on the 9/3/1940 and were steaming widely separated on a circular course in the vicinity of a centrally located Dan Float [Buoy]. They heard an explosion in the distance but did not know what it was and were not aware that the Leukos had been attacked. According to the War Dairy of the Captain of U38, when he opened fire he noticed some of the trawlers switching off their lights. With their lights on British Trawlers would have been in breach of the blackout. Were the British Trawlers taking advantage of the situation hiding behind the neutral status of the Irish Trawler Leukos as she was steaming with her lights on in compliance with Ireland's declaration of Neutrality while they engaged in fishing ?...... Were the British Trawlers...........using the Leukos as a shield.......... ?...... Did the Leukos with her lights on have her gear hauled when she was sighted by U38 about a cables lenght [200 yards] on her starboard bow, and having seen the submarines wash altered course towards her to investigate ?...... Did her skipper James Thomason from Fleetwood see the U38 as presenting a clear and present threat to himself and his other shipmates and decided to attempt a ramming of the submarine ?..... Did the manoeuvre of the Leukos alarm the U-Boat Captain who presumably would have seen this action as a potential threat and opened fire with his deck gun at point blank range sinking the Leukos with the loss of 11 lives, which included 4 Fishermen from Fleetwood, 1 from Blackpool, 1 from Cleethorpes in England, 1 from Stornoway in Scotland, 1 from Argentina and 4 from the Dublin area in Ireland ?. Other questions arise from this research which need to be addressed. Was the Leukos conveniently in the wrong place at the wrong time as some British sources have suggested ?.... During this research it was indicated that the British Trawlers had claimed they were unaware at the time of the attack on the Leukos. If this was the case, Why did the British Trawlers immidiately put out their lights when the Irish Trawler Leukos was attacked and sinking, and then apparently deserted the Leukos and her crew leaving them to their fate ?.....The War Dairy of U38 records the other trawlers as being in close proximity to the Leukos at the time of the attack, Is it not therefore reasonable to suggest that the British Trawlers must have witnessed and heard the explosion ?.....Why did the British Trawlers not search for any of the Leukos survivors ?.... Was it not the custom and practice for British Trawlers returning to their home ports to report incidents to a designated port naval authority ?..... Other than a weak daily casualty report devoid of essential information subsequently issued by Lloyds several weeks later and recorded verbatim in Irish Army [G2] Intelligence daily reports about a lifeboat from the Leukos being discovered off Scarinish Tiree on the west coast of Scotland, Why was there no official report given to the Irish Government by British Naval Intelligence at the time so that our families could have had at the very least a dignified closure ?....
In 1988 an effort was made to contact Kapitan Liebe who was resident in what was then East Germany to ascertain inter alia from him directly as to why he sank the Leukos a neutral unarmed Irish Trawler who in accordance with the Hague Convention on neutrality had the designated neutral insignia...an Irish Flag flying from her stern....a large Irish Flag painted along her starboard and port sides and with her lights on ?....... What immidiate threat if any did he see emanating from the Leukos and the five other British Trawlers as they went about their business with all their lights on.... and his U Boat in total darkness ?..... During his War Patrol the position of other steam trawlers would have presented him with a greater threat yet he avoided contact,..why ?...... He surfaced at 20.03 hours and then having at a distance spotted six trawlers which included the unarmed neutral Irish Trawler Leukos and the other British Trawlers.... [ two of whom were armed with guns located on their after decks ]...in company.... all with their lights on.... in his opinion apparently forming a patrol line.... decides to give one of them a warning.... approaches this group of Trawlers on the surface to within a distance of 200 metres.... Point Blank Range.... then at 21.13 hours over 1 hour and 10 minutes later.... fires his deck gun ?.... If he immidiatly felt threatened when he surfaced at 20.03 hours why did he not fire his deck gun when he was then at a safe distance ?....When did he actually record the incident in his War Dairy ?......... Did he not embellish his War Dairy ?....... Sources in West Germany advised at the time that he did not wish to speak about the incident relating to the Leukos. Further contact was attempted in 1998 through the Irish Embassy in Bonn.They advised that Kapitan Heinrich Liebe of U38 had died in July 1997 and is buried in Eisenach, Germany
28th March 2000: Remembrance service and laying of poppy wreaths arranged by the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association [1939-46] aboard the Irish Registered Trawler Argo K at the Leukos wrecksite off Tory Island County Donegal. Skipper Tommy McDaid and Crew.
Postscript
26th September 2003: Irrespective of the many unanswered questions that surround the sinking of the Leukos and despite some of the simplistic analysis presented by various British sources which lack credible causation for her loss, the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association [1939-46] now believe from research, information received from former fishery protection personnel, family history and on the balance of probabilities that, on Saturday night the 9th of March 1940, James Potter Thomason from Fleetwood, Lancashire, the British born skipper of the Irish Steam Trawler Leukos, while in a position off Tory Island, directed the Leukos to intercept the German Submarine U38 which he had detected as posing a clear and imminent threat to other British trawlers in the area. We believe his actions were prompted by the danger to his British shipmates posed by the presence of U38. It is our belief that such action and courage should attract the beneficial interest of his own Government.
