Irish Willow was one of the few ships which maintained Irish trade during World War II.
At the outbreak of World War II, sometimes referred to in Ireland as "The Emergency",Share (preface p.ix) Ireland declared neutrality and became isolated as never before.Ferriter, What If?, p. 100: (Quoting Garvin) "Irish isolationism was a very powerful cultural sentiment at that time". Although Ireland had a substantial food surplus, there were shortages of specific foods such as fruits, wheat and tea. There were very few Irish ships as shipping had been neglectedSweeney p. 204 since independence. Foreign ships which had transported Irish cargoes, before the war, were soon unavailable.
Otto, an Estonian ship, was in Cobh when the Republic of Estonia was annexed by the USSR. In October 1941 trustees for the absent owners leased her to Irish Shipping. She was renamed Irish Willow,Cleare p. 62 She made 18 voyages to Saint John, New Brunswick, returning with wheat. She also exported food to Britain and imported coal. Initially Irish ships sailed in British convoys. In the light of experience they chose to sail alone, relying on their neutral markings. German respect for that neutrality varied from friendly to tragic.
Construction The ship, yard number 143, was one of seven vessels under construction for the British Shipping Controller at the Toledo Shipbuilding Company, Toledo, Ohio, United States when requisitioned before completion by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) and assigned U.S. official number 216260 with signal LKQG. A Standard World War I cargo ship, she was laid down as War Flag, but named Lake Sunapee after the lake in New Hampshire. She was launched on 28 December 1917, while World War I was still in progress. The ship was a single deck vessel with a grain capacity of and bunker capacity of . She was long, wide and deep. Her triple expansion steam engine had cylinders of , and diameter by in stroke. Working at a pressure of , it developed 260nhp. The engine was built by Toledo Shipbuilding.
Early history As a Laker she was designed to navigate the canal locks bypassing Niagara Falls. Lake Sunapee served as a U.S. Army transport, based in Cardiff, Wales, bringing coal to France. On 19 November 1918 the ship was acquired and commissioned by the Navy at Cardiff and assigned to the Naval Overseas Transport Service (NOTS) operating between British and French ports as a coal transport. The ship departed Cardiff 7 June 1919 arriving at Hoboken, New Jersey 25 June for decommissioning and return to the USSB upon arrivaal.
There is a record that she arrived at New York from the Pará on 29 May 1920. The ship does not appear in the 1921 U.S. register but reappears in the 1923 register as Frank Lynch with home port of San Francisco. Legal notices appeared in October 1922 to the effect an application to the U.S. Customs Service from W. J. Gray to change the name of the vessel from Lake Sunapee to Frank Lynch, In November 1922 a note states that the USSB sold the ship to W. J. Gray and conversion to diesel is planned. The Navy history mentions a short name was given; however registers do not show a registered Sunapee.
Frank Lynch was built as a coal-fired steamship with a triple-expansion steam engine. In 1923 the engine was replaced with a Werkspoor diesel engine.Spong p. 29 which had 8 cylinders of diameter by stroke. The engine was rated at 253nhp. It was built by the Pacific Diesel Engine Company, Oakland, California. The conversion was done by the Union Construction Company of Oakland with work and trials completed on 27 February 1923.
On 29 August 1929, the passenger ship collided with the tanker S.C.T. Dodd and sank with the loss of many lives. Frank Lynch, Munami and S.C.T. Dodd rescued the survivors.
In 1937, she was sold to the Greek company George D. Gratsos' Sons, who renamed her Nestor.Spong p.29 In 1938 she suffered a total engine failure and was towed to Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands,Cleare p. 62 where she was converted back to a steamship. A replacement triple expansion steam engine was fitted. It was made by John Lewis & Son, Aberdeen, United Kingdom. It had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke and was rated at 153nhp. In 1939 she was sold to K. Jurnas of Estonia and renamed Otto.
World War II
Background The Irish government had pursued a policy of autarky or self-sufficiency, so international trade was discouraged and the mercantile marine ignored. At independence in 1923 there were 127 Irish ships, but by September 1939 there were only 56, including 7 which did not carry cargo.Forde p. 1 Irish imports such as wheat, maize, timber and fertilizer were carried on foreign, mainly British, ships. With the outbreak of hostilities, they were unavailable. Churchill explained "we need this tonnage for our own supply".Sweeney, p. 216 In November 1939, American ships were excluded from Irish waters by the neutrality act.Burne, p. 537 By the end of 1940, nine Irish ships as well as ten neutral foreign ships carrying Irish cargoes, some of which had been chartered by Irish companies, had been sunk by U-boats, the Luftwaffe or mines.Sweeney p. 217
Against this background, the government founded Irish Shipping and sought ships which it could charter or purchase. Irish Willow was one of those ships.
Soviet claim In June 1940 the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic states and on 6 August 1940 Estonia was annexed as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. Industry was nationalised and Estonian ships were instructed to go to a Soviet port. There were several ships from the Baltic states in, or heading to, Irish ports. All ignored that instruction. Peter Kolts, a crewman of Pirer, another Estonian ship at Dublin south quays, hoisted the hammer and sickle and prevented Captain Joseph Juriska from removing it. The Garda Síochána were called. Following a court appearance before Justice Michael Lennon the sailor spent a week in jail.Forde p. 42
The twenty Estonian ships in British ports also received this telegram. August Torma, the last Estonian envoy in London, presented their case to the Foreign Office and said that they needed reassurances if they were to stay in Britain. He failed to obtain reassurance. The majority went to the Soviet Union. Following the verdict of Justice Michael Lennon, the ships in Irish ports choose to remain.
Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom, applied to the High Court in Dublin for possession of the ships. Their owners could not be contacted. The Soviet case was supported by a letter from John Whelan Dulanty, the Irish High Commissioner in London. This letter, written when the ships had been instructed to go immediately to the USSR, asked if the three ships carrying cargoes destined for Ireland, could first deliver their Irish cargo. Maisky had agreed on behalf of the Soviet Union, provided that the Irish government guaranteed that after discharging their cargo they would be given food sufficient for the journey to a Soviet port. A. K. Overend, KC, acting for Maisky, said that this established that his client was recognised by Ireland as "the proper person to give instruction to the ships",Sweeney, p. 225 and that his client was the only claimant.
John McEvoy was the honorary consul of the Republic of Estonia in Dublin. He opposed the Soviet claim along with Estonian representatives in Switzerland. Though he lacked diplomatic status, the Court recognised the right of Herbert Martinson, described as "an Estonian national, resident in Switzerland", to vindicate the rights of the absent owners; McEvoy and Martinson were recognised as trustees for the owners. The High Court considered five ships: three from Estonia, Otto, Piret and Mall, and two from Latvia, Rāmava and Everoja. McEvoy acted for the various owners of the Estonian ships. On 16 May 1941 the High Court rejected the Soviet claim. The Soviet authorities appealed against the decision to the five-judge Supreme Court. On 3 July 1941 the appeal was unanimously dismissed with costs. The Soviet Union made a 'most emphatic' protest.The Irish Times 9 August 1941
Martinson leased the three Estonian vessels to Irish Shipping for the duration of the war plus three months. The two Latvian ships transferred to the British registry and sailed under the Red Ensign. Rāmava moved to Britain. Everoja remained in Ireland.Sweeney p. 226 Everoja was torpedoed and sunk on 3 November 1941 by while in convoy SC 52 on passage from Canada to Dublin with 6,400 tons of wheat.Walter Kennedy p. 45
John McEvoy was acting at his own expense, but the court directed that he was to be reimbursed from the income earned by Otto (Irish Willow). McEvoy's role was acknowledged by Estonia following its independence (the 'Singing Revolution'), when the President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves said: "... ... we are thankful that Ireland never recognised the illegal annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union after the Second World War. We will never forget John McEvoy, Estonia's honorary consul in Dublin from 1938 to 1960. Among other things, one of his good deeds was helping to protect the interests of the Estonian shipowners ..."
Irish Willow In October 1941, in Cobh, Otto was chartered by Irish Shipping. She was brought to Dublin for extensive repairs. On 5 December 1941, she made her first voyage as Irish Willow: She went from Cobh to Dublin under Captain G.R. Bryan, from Rathfarnam, previously captain of City of Dublin. H. Cullen, previously of Irish Elm, was first officer. H. Jurgenson was chief engineer; he was an Estonian national, and had been the chief engineer when she was Otto.Cleare, p. 62 As engine components could not be located, the repairs had to be completed in Canada. On 5 December she went on her first commercial voyage, under Captain R Shanks of Belfast, as Irish Willow. She went to Troon for fuel and then joined convoy ON 47. The convoy departed on 15 December 1941. Around this time, Irish crews were refusing to travel in convoy. Irish Willow "lost" her convoy. She arrived in Saint John on 12 January 1942 and on 22 January loaded her cargo of wheat. Repairs delayed her a further two weeks. She was scheduled to return in convoy SC 68. Returning alone, a submarine was spotted on 3 February.Cleare p. 63 There was no contact. She unloaded her cargo of wheat in Waterford on 2 March and then went again for a further wheat cargo from Saint John for Waterford. During the war, she completed 18 such voyages.
Encounter with U-753 On the morning of 16 March 1942, sighted a lone ship, south-west of the Rockall Bank (Irish Willow), and prepared to sink her until they saw her neutral markings (the Irish tricolour and the word EIRE) At 2 pm U-753 surfaced and signalled "send master and ship's papers". As Captain Shanks was born in Belfast and could be regarded as British, this was considered unwise. Chief Officer Henry Cullen, with four crew as oarsmen went instead. In the conning tower he explained that his captain was too elderly for the small boat. He spoke about Ireland's neutrality. He reminded them that the next day would be Saint Patrick's Day. He sensed that he was making progress when tumblers of schnapps were produced in honour of Saint Patrick.Forde p. 43,44 But then the Germans – who seemed apologetic – said that they were awaiting instructions whether or not to sink the ship; they would, however, fire a red flare five minutes beforehand if they were to sink Irish Willow. Cullen and the oarsmen returned to their ship. They were given a bottle of cognac, to take back "for the crew". There was an anxious wait until eventually the U-boat fired a green flare.
Rescuing the crew of Empire Breeze
Convoy ON 122 left Liverpool on 15 August 1942. Ten days later, on 25 August 1942, when they were in the mid-Atlantic, the convoy was attacked by Wolfpack Lohs.McShane p. 256 Four ships were torpedoed and sunk.