page_title: Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II
section_title: U-boat encounters
hierarchical_section_title: Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II / U-boat encounters
caption_attribution_description: English: Nazi Personalities- Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz (1891-1984) Head and shoulders portrait of Vice Admiral Karl Doenitz, flag officer in charge of German U-boats (BdU) from 1935 to 1943 and Commander in Chief of the German Navy from 1943 to 1945.
context_page_description: The Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II continued essential overseas trade in the conflict, a period referred to as The Long Watch by Irish mariners.
  Irish merchant shipping saw to it that vital imports continued to arrive and exports, mainly food supplies to Great Britain, were delivered. Irish ships sailed unarmed and usually alone, identifying themselves as neutrals with bright lights and by painting the Irish tricolour and EIRE in large letters on their sides and decks. Nonetheless twenty percent of seamen serving in Irish ships perished, victims of a war not their own: attacked by both sides, though predominantly by the Axis powers. Often, Allied convoys could not stop to pick up survivors, while Irish ships always answered SOS signals and stopped to rescue survivors, irrespective of which side they belonged to. Irish ships rescued 534 seamen.
  At the outbreak of World War II, known as "The Emergency", Ireland declared neutrality and became isolated as never before. Shipping had been neglected since the Irish War of Independence. Foreign ships, on which Ireland's trade had hitherto depended, were less available; neutral American ships would not enter the "war zone".
context_section_description: Vizeadmiral Karl Dönitz issued a standing order to U-boats on 4 September 1940, which defined belligerent, neutral and friendly powers. Neutral included "Ireland in particular". The order concluded: "Ireland forbids the navigation of her territorial waters by warships under threat of internment. That prohibition is to be strictly observed out of consideration for the proper preservation of her neutrality. Signed, Dönitz". However those orders did not always protect Irish ships. Wolf Jeschonnek, commander of U-607 was mildly reprimanded "An understandable mistake by an eager captain" for sinking Irish Oak. When U-46 sank Luimneach on the Lisbon run, her commander recorded in his war diary "flying a British or Irish flag". A supplement to Dönitz's order found after U-260 was scuttled off Cork read: "for political reasons, Irish ships and also at times Irish convoys are not to be attacked within the blockade zone if they are seen to be such. However, there is no special obligation to determine neutrality in the blockade zone.".
  There were many encounters with U-boats, some pleasant, others not so. On 16 March 1942 Irish Willow was stopped by U-753, which signalled "Send master and ship's papers". As Capt Shanks hailed from Belfast and therefore legally a British subject, this was considered unwise. Chief Officer Harry Cullen and four crew rowed to the U-boat. He said that his (39-year-old) captain was too elderly for the boat. He added that it would be Saint Patrick's Day in the morning. They were treated to schnapps in the conning tower and given a bottle of cognac to bring back to Irish Willow. Later, Irish Willow performed a dangerous rescue of 47 British sailors from Empire Breeze.
  On 20 March 1943 U-638, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Oskar Bernbeck stopped Irish Elm. Rough seas prevented Elm's crew from pulling their rowboat alongside the submarine to present their papers, so the interview was conducted by shouting. In the course of the conversation, Elm's Chief Officer Patrick Hennessy gave Dún Laoghaire as his home address. Bernbeck asked if "the strike was still on in Downey's", a pub near Dún Laoghaire harbour. (The Downey's strike started in March 1939 and lasted 14 years.)
caption: Vizeadmiral Karl Dönitz, commander of German U-boats (BdU), 1935-1943; Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, 1943-1945.
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