Free lecture – Diving to the Lusitania, Aud and submarine UC-42

A port hole recovered from the wreck of the Lusitania – Photo courtesy of Eoin McGarry

The fascinating details of diving expeditions to three shipwrecks that lie in close proximity to Cork Harbour will be recounted in Cobh on Sunday 12th May at 3.30 pm. Cobh Tourism Ltd. is delighted that scuba divers Eoin McGarry and Timmy Carey will present a free audio-visual lecture in the Commodore Hotel that will show footage of dives to the Lusitania, Aud and German submarine UC-42.

Eoin McGarry led the team that recovered the anchors of the gun running ship Aud in June 2012. In 1916 after it was captured by a British Naval flotilla, the Aud was scuttled by her crew at the entrance to Cork Harbour, not far from the Daunt Rock. The Aud anchors recovery expedition was licensed by the State and once the anchors have been conserved, one of them will be displayed in Cobh and the other in Fenit. The conservation process will take approximately two years and the anchors will be ready to be shown to the public in time for the centenary of the 1916 Rising.

The wreck of the mine laying submarine UC-42 that sank in 1917 was rediscovered in 2010 just outside Roches Point by a team of five divers. The dive team subsequently laid a plaque of remembrance near the propeller as a memorial to the 27 German submariners who died when the vessel sank as a result of one of its own mines exploding. In August 2011 items were recovered under licence from the wreck of the Lusitania that lies in 93 meters/300ft of water eleven and a half miles off the Old Head of Kinsale. The items recovered were the bridge telemotor, a bridge tell tale indicator, 2 large square window type portholes with detailed filigris and 2 round type portholes. The footage and photographs will provide a rare insight into the complexities of diving to the wreck and the condition of the once magnificent vessel. One of the recovered portholes will be on display in Cobh as a part of the lecture and is sure to be the star attraction of what promises to be a fascinating and educational afternoon.