ST Leukos

The ST Leukos was Irish Steam Trawler that operated off the coast of Ireland. She was lost with all hands on March 9, 1940 while fishing off Tory Island when the German U-boat "U-38" surfaced and opened fire with its deck gun. The Leukos and her crew of 11 were lost. As a neutral country, Irish ships, including the Leukos, were unarmed and clearly marked.

The "Leukos" was fishing in the company of British trawlers and she may have positioned herself between these fleeing trawlers and the U-boat in the vain belief that her status as a neutral would be respected. Alternatively the "Leukos" might have attempted to ram the "U-38".

The Irish Seamen's Relatives Association holds that the Leukos did attempt to ram the U-38 as it threatened the British trawlers. They maintain that this selfless bravery should be acknowledged by the British government. [ [http://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.org/leukos_crew.htm] Postscript. 26th September 2003: Irrespective of the many unanswered questions that surround the sinking of the Leukos and despite some of the simplistic analysis presented by various British sources which lack credible causation for her loss, the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association [1939-46] now believe from research, information received from former fishery protection personnel, family history and on the balance of probabilities that, on Saturday night the 9th of March 1940, James Potter Thomason from Fleetwood, Lancashire, the British born skipper of the Irish Steam Trawler Leukos, while in a position off Tory Island, directed the Leukos to intercept the German Submarine U38 which he had detected as posing a clear and imminent threat to other British trawlers in the area. We believe his actions were prompted by the danger to his British shipmates posed by the presence of U38. It is our belief that such action and courage should attract the beneficial interest of his own Government.]

This loss remained a mystery for many years. Death certificates for the lost crew were not issued until 1986.

History

ST "Leukos" was built in Aberdeen in 1914 by the John Duthie Torry Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for the National Steam Fishing Company of Aberdeen. She was powered by a coal-fired steam engine. During World War I she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty and used as a “boom defence vessel”; that is: she maintained the buoys, hawsers and netting of a boom defence.

Initially she fished from Aberdeen. In 1920 she was sold to Tucker, Tippet and Company and fished out of Aberdeen. On 27 February 1927 she was in a collision with ST "Thomas Bartlett". Later that year she was sold to the Dublin Trawlers, Ice and Cold Storage Company with offices at 8 Cardiff Lane, Dublin. She was transferred to the Irish registry. She was based at Hanover Quay, Ringsend, Dublin

Original Account

On 9 February 1940 the "Leukos" sailed from Hanover Quay under Captain James Potter Thomasson, from Fleetwood, Lancashire. She called to Troon, Scotland for coaling and then headed for ‘the bank’, a fishing ground, north-west of Tory Island. She was scheduled to return to Dublin on 12 March 1940, but failed to return. On 21 March her empty lifeboat was found off Scarinish on the Island of Tiree in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. On 26 March, Lloyd's of London declared the "Leukos" and her crew were presumed lost.

This loss remained a mystery until 1986. There were theories: was she on a target list because of her previous role as a boom defence vessel; or was there a structural weakness caused by her collision with ST "Thomas Bartlett"? The general assumption was that she struck a mine. Officially she was listed as ‘missing’.Further details were uncovered by Peter Mulvany. They were published in the Spring 1987 edition of the Journal of the Maritime Institute of Ireland. His sources were former U-boat personnel and recently declassified intelligence resulting from decryption of encrypted German radio communications, known as ‘Ultra’.

U-boat U-38

"Inverliffey"

On 11 September 1939 the U-38, on its first patrol, shelled and sunk the Irish-flagged oil tanker "Inverliffey" ["the Inverliffey was flying the Irish flag and that the master of the Inverliffey protested to the commander of the submarine that his ship was flying the Irish flag" [http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0077/D.0077.193909270020.html] ] carrying 13,000 tons of gasolene. The blazing oil threatened to engulf the Inverliffey’s lifeboats. At some risk to the U-38, it towed the lifeboats away from the flames. ["at considerable risk to U-38, saved the crew by towing the lifeboats from the blazing inferno" ] They were later rescued by the American oil-tanker R.G. Stewart, which transferred them to the American freighter SS City of Joliet and landed at Antwerp, Belgium. [At 13.50 hours on 11 Sep, 1939, the unescorted Inverliffey (Master William Trowsdale) was torpedoed and sunk by gunfire by U-38 southwest of the Scilly Isles. The master and 48 crew members were picked up by the American tanker R.G. Stewart, transferred to the American steam merchant City of Joliet and landed at Milford Haven. [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/16.html] [http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11319] ] William Trowsdale, master of the Inverliffey, had protested to the Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe of the U-38 that he had attacked a neutral Irish ship. ["The master of the Inverliffey brought the ship's papers to the submarine, protesting that she was flying a neutral flag and was bound for Land's End to receive orders. The commander of the U-boat replied that although the Inverliffey was registered in Dublin, he knew she was owned in London and believed her cargo destined for an English port and therefore contraband. He confiscated the vessel's papers and said he was very sorry but he would have to sink her" [http://www.aukevisser.nl/inter/id522.htm] ] However Inver Tankers, the owners of the Inverliffey had transferred their seven tankers to the British registry at the outbreak of the war, therefore their continued flying of the Irish tricolour was questionable. ["at the time it was sunk, it was not an Irish ship, that it had no right to fly the Irish flag" [http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0077/D.0077.193909280003.html] ]

"Leukos"

The account of the sinking of the Leukos, as recorded in the U-38 war diary, [ [http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.connectfree.co.uk/leukos.html ] The Bosun's Watch - The Trawler Leukos, a victim of U-38] is curious. At 20:00 he surfaced

“After surfacing 6 steamers with lights on were sighted which apparently formed a guard line with north-south course. I decided to give one of them a lesson with our gun.”

He remained, surfaced, for over an hour. At 21:13

“fired one shot on one trawler at 200m distance. Hit engine room, steamer disappeared in smoke and dust.”

He wrote that the Leukos had not sunk!

“Later it was recognised that the steamer had not sunk as presumed before. Decided not to attack again”.

He also wrote that some other trawlers were unaware of the incident

“others seemed not to have noticed the gunfire.”

It is not known why the U-38 sank a neutral Irish trawler, leaving the five British trawlers unmolested. Nor is it known why he waited an hour. In 1988 an effort was made to ask Kapitän Liebe. He declined to speak. He died in July 1997. [ Sources in West Germany advised at the time that he did not wish to speak about the incident relating to the Leukos. Further contact was attempted in 1998 through the Irish Embassy in Bonn. They advised that Kapitan Heinrich Liebe of U38 had died in July 1997 and is buried in Eisenach, Germany [http://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.org/leukos_crew.htm] ]

Walter Simon

On its fifth patrol the "U-38" landed Walter Simon, alias “Karl Anderson”, a Nazi agent, at Dingle Bay in Ireland on the night of 12 June. Simon was an experienced spy. He had several successful trips to England. Not noticing grass overgrown on the rusting rail-tracks of the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway which had closed 14 years earlier, he asked “when is the next train?” He was later arrested. [Enno, Stephan, “Spies in Ireland” (1965) Four Square]

Trawlers

The other trawlers were:
* "John Morris" of Aberdeen,
* "Alvis" of Fleetwood
* "Pelagos" of Fleetwood
* "Flying Admiral" of Fleetwood
* "Seddock" of Grimbsy. "Alvis" and "Pelagos" were armed Trawlers each having a 3-pounder gun mounted aft. "Seddock" might have also been armed.

Crew

* Cullen, Michael, of Ringsend, Dublin
* Donnelly, William, of Fleetwood & Blackpool, England
* Gill, Antony, of Dublin & Fleetwood, England
* Hawkins, James, of Ringsend, Dublin
* McCarthy, Patricio, of Marino, Dublin & Argentina
* McLeod, T., Fleetwood, of England & Stornoway, Scotland
* Mulligan, Thomas, of Dublin & Fleetwood
* O'Scanlon, P.J., of Cleethorpes, England
* Smith, Bernard, of Marino, Dublin
* Sumher, Robert, of Dublin & Fleetwood
* Thomasson, James Potter, of Mount St. Dublin & Fleetwood.

References

* Irish Seamens' Relatives Association [http://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.org/leukos_crew.htm]
* Wilson, Ian. "Donegal Shipwrecks" Impact Printing 1998 - ISBN: 094815456X