Cork Shipwrecks Celtic 1928 deaths

John Findlay

Crowds at the door of Cobh Cathedral

View of the funeral Cortege

The graves of
Jeremiah Burke, John Findlay,
and John Wilmott.

Death on the Celtic

A tale of heroism and tragedy

The White Star liner, Celtic,stranded in December 1928, was purchased for scrapping where she lay on the rocks at Roches Point, outside Cork Harbour. The buyers were Messrs Petersen and Allbeck of Copenhagen, in association with A.O.Hill of Dover. The initial plan was to break up the ship where she lay, however this was changed due to the success of E.F. Cox in Scapa Flow in Orkney.

The firm of Cox and Danks had been salvaging ships of the German WW1 fleet in Scapa Flow since 1925, and were having remarkable success using compressed air to raise ships such as the battle-cruisers Moltke and Seydlitz. It was decided that this method might work to lift the stricken Celtic off the rocks on high tide. Petersen and Allbeck sub-contacted Cox and Danks , and a team and supervisor were dispatched from Orkney to Cork.

Divers were employed on the submerged
sections of wreck

Work began in June 1929, the salvor in charge was Malcom Carmichael, an Orkney native who was instrumental in the salvage at Scapa Flow and considered an expert. His first priority was to seal all large hold openings in the ship to make them airtight. This was done by riveting large iron beams across each opening, then securing large planks covered in tallow under these, forming a gas tight seal. While this was being done, the funnels were being cut down and removed also. Down below lay the onerous task of removing all coals and the remains of the cargo from the holds. This would not only lighten the ship but create extra air-spaces for buoyancy.

John Findlay and Jeremiah Burke, two local employees remove a bedstead from the wreck

The danger of toxic gases from rotting cargo was realised and two gas masks were supplied as well as some unnamed chemicals. A large team of 40 to 50 local men was employed to clear the holds. This was a boon to the depressed harbour area, as since Ireland's independence, the naval dockyard at Haulbowline had closed. This yard had provided over 1500 local jobs during World War One.

As the work progressed, the ship was a hive of activity with November being planned as the month for refloating. Cork Harbour Commissioners were apprehensive as to what would happen if the 700 ft ship was refloated. The salvors plan was to raise the ship and then beach it in Cuskinny in the east of the harbour.

The wreck would then be scrapped on the spot using local labour. This is similar to the way ships are scrapped to this day in parts of Asia. The Commissioners were uneasy about having this large hull adrift in the harbour, and feared that if it sank or grounded it could block the channel. This would be disastrous to the commerce of Cork. Matters came to a head in a meeting of Cork Harbour Commissioners on Wed 20th of November where the Commissioners refused permission for the Celtic to enter the harbour.

At this news there was uproar in the Cobh area,as it was well known that there would be employment for many local men. A war of words began in the press between Richard Wallace, Chairman of the Harbour board, and A.O. Hill of the salvors. Hill brought matters to a head when he stated that he had firm offers from ports across the Irish Sea who would be glad of the work estimated at £30,000 for the local community.

With Cobh Urban District Council threatening protest marches, the harbour Board relented and on November 27th granted permission for the Celtic to enter Cork harbour.

In the meantime work continued aboard the Celtic. In the number two hold, seawater had mixed with the rotting cargo of grain forming a slurry. The easiest way to remove this was by pumping, so a suction pump was set up on deck under the supervision of Frank Rysdyk. This was above the partially sealed hold with an intake in the hold and pumping the contents into the sea outside. The pumping went well for a time, however the flow stopped and Rysdyk went to check the pump motor.

One of the labourers, Michael Brophy, peered into the hold and saw that the suction pipe had fractured and that the contents were simply spraying all over the hold, He ran and told Frank Rysdyk. At this point accounts differ, as Brophy testified that Rysdyk ordered two workers, Jeremiah Burke and John Findlay into the hold to set the pump right. Rysdyk however testified that Findlay and Burke went of their own accord. Moments after leaving the deck Burke was heard to shout "The discharge Pipe is burst!" seconds later he dropped like a stone into the hold. Findlay following him descended to rescue him. He got as far as the bottom of the ladder 40 ft below,before he was overcome and fell to land beside Burke and was still.

Rysdyk shouted "Man gone! Get a heaving line - quick" Brophy grabbed a line and went to the edge of the hold where he could see the two men unmoving in the gloom. Brophy was about to enter the hold when Malcom Carmichael appeared. He immediately ordered Brophy back and descended into the hold. Carmichael, with the help of a local man John Willmott, managed to rescue John Findlay who was recovered in a semi-concious state. They immediately returned to the hold, but this time were themselves overcome by the gas. In an incredible show of bravery ,as more men showed up at the scene, each, one after another, went to the rescue of those below. Some men descended with nothing more than handkerchiefs around their faces, some slid down the rope and were overcome, some went down using ropes as harnesses and were dragged back unconscious. Even those wearing the gas masks supplied, were affected by the gas in the hold.

William (Billy) the brother of Jeremiah Burke saw his body in the hold and using nothing more than a handkerchief for protection managed to tie a rope around his brother and got him hauled out. News of the tragedy had reached Cobh, and first on board was Mr Forfar, the Petersen and Allbeck manager. The scene on board was like a battlefield casualty station with unconscious and semi-conscious men laid along the deck. One local worker who provided invaluable first aid was Patrick O'Donoghue, of Albert St, Cobh. He had been with the Munster Fusiliers in France, and the Royal Medical Corps and had experience of treating gas victims. HMS Seawolf, the guardship at Cobh sent men on board to help including a doctor. Dr Murphy of Cloyne and Fr Keating Parish Priest of Aghada got on board, with great difficulty from a small boat.

At this stage sixteen men were suffering from the effects of the gas and all were transferred to the tender alongside and taken to hospital. The bodies of Malcom Carmichael and John Wilmott, were not recovered until the following day by fully kitted hard-hat divers, in eight feet of water. All of those taken to hospital recovered, apart from John Findlay who never recovered consciousness and died at 6.35am on Saturday 30th of November.

On Sunday the 1st of December funerals were held for the three Cobh residents, John Findlay, Jeremiah Burke, and John Wilmott. It was said that virtually every resident of Cobh attended the service.

The funeral procession travelled from Cobh Cathedral to Templerobin Graveyard in Ballymore, a small village about two miles east of Cobh town. Their graves survive to this day, in the north corner of this picturesque graveyard.

There was a service held for the Orkney man, Malcom Carmichael at 10.30am Monday 2nd of December. There was a large attendance at this service also, and as the cortege made its way towards the railway station, all shops closed and all the private houses had their blinds drawn. At the station the coffin was loaded for Dublin and then on to Scotland. All his colleagues stood silently heads bowed as the train pulled out.

An inquest into the deaths of the men was held in Cobh, and reached the conclusion that the men had been poisoned by hydrogen sulphide gas in the hold of the Celtic. This was caused by the rotting cargo of grain. The great heroism of both the dead and injured was praised in the press, and a public subscription was taken up to alleviate some of the sufferings of their families.