Cork Shipwrecks Aud 1916

Ammunition from
the Aud

Display of Aud Artefacts in Cork Public Museum

The Aud German
Ensign in the Imperial War Museum, London

Rifle and bayonets from Aud in Imperial War Museum, London

A copy of the official report on the capture of the Aud, By Vice-Admiral Bayley can be viewed on the links below.

Report Page 1

Report Page 2

The Aud, 1916

The Aud, was the 1062ton220 x 32 x 12 ft, former SS Castro of the Wilson Line of Hull, England. This ship was captured by the German Navy in the Kiel Canal,at the beginning of World War One in August 1914.

The SS Castro of the Wilson Line, Hull


The Castro/Libau/Aud courtesy of Tommy Burke	Karl Spindler

Masquerading as the Aud, an existing Norwegian vessel of similar appearance, she set sail from the Baltic port of Lubeck on April 9th 1916, under theCommand of Karl Spindler,and his crew of twenty two men, all of whom were volunteers.The Aud, laden with an estimated 20,000 rifles, 1000,000 rounds of ammunition, 10 machine guns, and explosives, evaded patrols of both the British 10th Cruiser Squadron, and local Auxillary patrols.

The voyage of the Aud
- from Spindler's 1921 account

After surviving violent storms off Rockall, the Aud arrived in Tralee Bay on April 20th. There they were due to meet with Roger Casement and others, with Casement having been landed nearby by U-19. Due to a combination of factors, the transfer of arms did not take place.


HMS Zinnia, Flower Class Sloop	Diver at boiler of Aud

At this point Roger Casement and his companions who had been landed by the submarine U-19 in Kerry had been captured .
The car-load of Volunteers who were supposed to meet Spindler had crashed near Kenmare so there was no hope of an organised transfer of arms. With Spindler and his crew on a ship with no radio or other means of communicating their plight The poorly organised gun-running plan was nearing an end.

After a number of incidents including a farcical searching of the ship for contraband by the armed trawler HMT Setter II, the Aud, attempting to escape the area, was trapped by a blockade of British ships. She was finally intercepted by the sloops HMS Zinnia and HMS Bluebell. Captain Spindler allowed himself to be escorted towards Cork Harbour, in the company of Acacia class sloop Bluebell .

Admiralty memo detailing ongoing searches for German arms ship

The voyage of the Aud was compromised from the very beginning, with German codes having been broken, and agents reporting the movements of submarines and shipping from both the Baltic and occupied ports.

The British Naval Intelligence Division (NID) knew that there was an arms ship on the way, but did not know precisely when. Therefore from mid-March 1916, extra patrols were in place all around the West and South Coasts of Ireland to intercept any suspicious vessels for searching

	9.23 Daunt Rock Lt Vsl Close 9.28 Closed on s/s Aud who blew ship up Crew surrendered 3 officers and 19 men of German Navy taken prisoners 9.40 Vessel 'Aud' sank 10.45 Landed crew of 'Aud' Proceeded 11.20 returned to harbour 11.50 Returned to Daunt Rock
Portion of the Log of HMS Bluebell (Lieut Hood RNVR) recording the end of the Aud

At the approaches to Cork Harbour, the crew of the Bluebell noticed that the Aud had stopped. The Bluebell then went back about a cables length, and saw a small cloud of white smoke issuing from the after hold. At the same time two German Naval Ensigns were flown from the mast and two boats were launched, one from either side. The Bluebell went round across the bows, and the occupants of the two boats, coming towards her, hoisted a flag of truce, and put up their hands.

They were taken prisoners on the Bluebell and theAud sank almost immediately afterwards. Captain Spindler had scuttled the Aud, using pre-set charges of explosives in the aft hold.

Thus ended the career of the only German naval surface ship to enter Irish waters during World War One. Following this, the wreck was depth charged and wire swept a number of times.

There would have been a number of reasons for this; to make sure that the weapons were scattered and made unrecoverable by the rebel forces, to prevent submarines using the wreck as cover, and to prevent the wreck snagging and damaging post war fishing trawls. During the Second World War, the wreck was again depth charged, this time by the newly formed Irish Navy.

The rifles, and the majority of the ammunition originated in Russia. They were captured as a result of the rout of Russian forces at the battle of Tannenburg in 1914. These rifles were the Mosin-Nagant Model 1891 'any German captured rifles in the year 1916 or prior would be 1891s and 1891/10s.'( Correspondence from D.Jones Feb 05), one of which was identified during the trial of Roger Casement, by Colonel N. Belaeiw.

Local diver views protruding
rifle stock on wreck

"Shown a rifle, much the worse for wear, and asked if it was a Russian weapon, the witness, after examining it carefully, said "Yes". It had been manufactured at the Russian Imperial Toula (sic) Rifle Works in 1905" (Irish Times, May 18, 1916). Examples of rifles, foodstuffs, and other items taken from the Aud, can be viewed at the Cork Public Museum, Fitzgerald Park, Cork, Irish Defence Forces Museum,Collins Barracks , Cork, and at the Imperial War Museum, London. For more information on the rifles click Here

The remains of the Aud

A three-dimensional image of the wreck of the Aud, with the 'peak'in the middle representing the boiler.

Image kindly supplied by local Angling boat skipper Joseph Lynch
His website can be viewed HERE

3ft scale model of Aud, courtesy of Tommy Burke.

Recent press reports have indicated that local divers intend removing the two bow anchors from this wreck sometime in the Summer 2011.

In 1966, during the 50th Anniversary commemorations of the
1916 Rising, this card was produced, showing the landing at Banna.