Divers to present gunrunning ship’s anchors to towns
The ship, estimated to be carrying 20,000 rifles and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition, was scuttled by its German crew at the entrance to Cork harbour in 1916. It lies in 36m of water outside Roches Point.
The crew was supposed to hand over the weapons to Roger Casement and his volunteer followers in Kerry but, unknown to them, German codes had been broken by the British Navy, which intercepted the vessel in Tralee Bay.
The Aud’s captain, Karl Spindler, allowed himself to be escorted to Cork harbour by HMS Bluebell. But at the entrance to the harbour Capt Spindler ordered his crew to scuttle the ship.
Permission to raise the anchors has been given by the National Museum’s underwater archaeology unit.
Experienced diver Eoin McGarry will lead the operation, which will take place within the next month.
“The wreck itself is in a bad condition as after it was scuttled the British depth-charged it several times because of the number of arms which were still on board. There are still lots of rifles down there, but they are very badly decayed.”
He said that after the anchors are lifted and cleaned they will be presented to Fenit and Cobh.
Mr McGarry said he didn’t know exactly when the recovery operation would take place because it would be very dependent on the weather.
“I hope in future that the wreck of The Aud will have a heritage order put on it so it can only be dived by acquiring a licence,” he said.
