| Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle | |
|---|---|
| Part ofthe Troubles | |
 ThecoasterNellie M after the bombing | |
 Interactive map of Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle | |
| Location | Lough Foyle |
| Date | 6 February 1981 23 February 1982 |
| Target | 2 cargo ships 2,000BRT |
Attack type | Ship hijacking, bombing |
| Weapons | 2pilot boats 4 explosive charges |
| Deaths | none |
| Injured | none |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| Assailants | 24 |
| Motive | To hinder British shipping around theport of Derry |
TheProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out two bomb attacks againstBritishcoal ships in February 1981 and February 1982 atLough Foyle, a large inlet betweenCounty Londonderry inNorthern Ireland andCounty Donegal in theRepublic of Ireland. The IRA used hijackedpilot boats to board the ships. Both vessels were sunk, but their crews reached the coastline safely inlifeboats.
There had been a number of attacks on small vessels by the IRA before 1981. In April 1971, aRoyal Navy survey launch was blown up at the port ofBaltimore, in theRepublic of Ireland. The motor boat, the Stork, was towed out to sea and destroyed by an explosive device before dawn, while the crew was ashore.[1] Another British boat, thePuffin, received minor damage in the same action.[2] Both motor launches were attached toHMS Hecate.[3]
Between February and October 1972 theProvisional IRA carried out two bombings against sandbarges atLough Neagh. Two IRA members were killed by the premature explosion of one of the devices, while two of the barges were sunk in a second incident, with a loss of £80,000.[4][5] These barges were probably theLough Neagh and theBallyginniff.[6]
On 16 March 1977 an IRA sniper, hidden in the grounds of a church atOmeath,County Louth, on the Republic, fired two shots at the Royal Navy patrol ship HMSVigilant in Carlingford Lough.Royal Marines onboard fired back. No hits were scored by either side.[7]
The killing ofLord Mountbatten and three others atMullaghmore,County Sligo, took place when they were on board Mountbatten's fishing boat, theShadow V, on 27 August 1979.[8]
The IRA's declared aim was to disrupt the maritime traffic to and fromLondonderry Port, on the east bank of the lough. They also intended to force British and Irish authorities to deploy security guards on board merchant ships.[9] The IRA stated that they regarded the ships as "commercial targets".[10]
On the British side, theBirdclass patrol boats HMSCygnet andHMSKingfisher were already assigned by the Royal Navy to protect the waterways of the province. Their mission was to prevent the smuggling of weapons from the Republic.[11] These warships were often shot at by the IRA, especially fromCarlingford Lough.[11]
Nellie M was acoaster ship of 782BRT, launched in 1972 atYorkshire. She was owned by S. William Coe & Co. Ltd. ofLiverpool at the time of the attack, which took place on 6 February 1981. The vessel was at anchor barely 300 yards (270 m) from the Republic's shore, awaiting for proceeding up the river. The coal ship had departed from Liverpool with a cargo valued at £1 million.[12]
A team of 12 IRA men, meanwhile, had hijacked a pilot boat at a pier onMoville, on the northwest bank of the inlet. Five of the group remained watching on shore, while another seven members of theASU, carrying two high explosive charges, forced the skipper to take them to the British coal ship. Once on board, the cell informed her captain,[13] Ian Eves,[14] about their intentions and ordered him to gather the crew and to get his men into the lifeboat. Four IRA members supervised the evacuation. At the same time, three others planted the charges in the engine room. The hijacked motor launch then took in tow the lifeboat, leaving her adrift close to the eastern shore, and headed back for Moville. As the lifeboat reached the beach, the first explosion shookNellie M. Huge flames, visible from several miles away, engulfed herbridge. A second blast, some hours later, blew up the bulkheads and the ship began to sink. The morning after, her stern was submerged. The hull was raised in 1982.[13]
The next year, the IRA was able to repeat the same operation against another British coal ship,St. Bedan, bound fromGlasgow to Derry. The 1,250 BRTBedan, built inClyde and also launched in 1972, was owned by J & A Gardner & Co. Ltd. of Glasgow.[15] On 23 February 1982, the ship was at anchor fivenautical miles northeast of Derry, awaiting the tide to proceed upstream.[16][17]
Once again, the armed IRA boarding party was composed of 12 volunteers. The attack was again launched from the pilot boat based at Moville,[16] and the IRA seaborne unit took advantage of darkness and fog.[17] Once on deck, the IRA men ordered the second on board, David Hinson, and the captain, Roderick Black, to gather the crew onto the bridge. The IRA volunteers took "some photographs of us for American propaganda", according to Hinson.[18] The coaster's lifeboat with the crewmembers was towed to the shoreline in the same way as in the case ofNellie M.[16] After the explosions, the cargo vessel sank on her starboard side in some 15 metres (49 ft) of water.[19] She was raised and scrapped by November 1982.[15]
One of the unexpected consequences triggered by the bombings was the debate in theOireachtas about the dispute with theUnited Kingdom on the legaljurisdiction over the waterways in Northern Ireland. The salvage ofNellie M was conducted by a company from the Republic, and her wreckage was sold to a ship owner in that state, who refurbished the ship under the name ofEllie. The coal ship was subsequently bought by several companies. She was lengthened by 7 metres (23 ft) and renamedTrimix. During the 2000s she was managed by aColombian company after being rechristenedDove.[12]St. Bedan was instead declared a constructive total loss and scrapped at Liverpool.[15]
The Royal Navy and theRoyal Air Force increased their patrols in Northern Ireland waters following the attacks.[20]
A bigger naval target was hit by the IRA several years later, in 1990, when an unknown number of its members managed to boardRFA Fort Victoria at anchor nearBelfast, shortly after her launching. They planted two large bombs in her engine room. One of the devices exploded, damaging her considerably; the second one was successfully defused.[21]
One of theIRA sniper teams that operated in South Armagh in the final years of the conflict fired two rounds from aBarret .50 calibre rifle atBird-class patrol vessel HMSCygnet atCarlingford Lough in December 1993. No hits were scored.[22][23]
Lough Foyle was once again the scenario of a Provisional IRA waterborne attack on 23 May 1994, when an active service unit stole a motor boat from Foyle Search and Rescue Service to plant an explosive device at the jetty of Fort George British Army base in Derry. Two soldiers were wounded, and one of them was permanently blinded by the blast.[24]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1981 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1982 | |
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55°10′34″N7°3′50″W / 55.17611°N 7.06389°W /55.17611; -7.06389
