SS Fingal (CTA)

SS Fingal was a British ocean liner operated by the Azure Transatlantic Company. She was put into service in 1887. Built by the O'Neill shipyards in Dublin, she was the final class of Cork ships. Compared to her sister ships, Fingal had a slightly higher bridge in an effort for more vision and space. Fingal worked the Transatlantic Route from Liverpool and Dublin to New York.

After launch, the three ships worked the route together, known for their frequent trips and reliability over speed and luxury, taking part in Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Fingal stayed working the Transatlantic route, a role it served faithfully in alongside Navan and later Dundalk and Athy.

Originally planned to be decommissioned alongside her sisters, Fingal was saved by being Daniel O'Reilly's favourite ship. With his fathers death, Sean O'Reilly refitted the ship with modern furniture and a new, improved engine in 1907. Fingal was sunk during World War I after being torpedoed twice by SM U-16 with the loss of 74 passengers and 124 crewmembers, most being rescued by their sinker and taken to Germany, where they remained as prisoners of war in relative comfort.

History
Fingal was built to be a more extravagant ship then her sisters, based on passenger feedback collected by Daniel O'Reilly. She had a more pronounced bridge, a larger bow dining room for steerage passengers and new engines allowing her to outpace her sister ships. She made her maiden voyage from Dublin to Southend on 18 June 1887 alongside her two sister ships, arriving in time for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Fingal acted as the main advertised ship of the line leading into the 1890s, and even with Dundalk and Athy being introduced into service remained Daniel's favourite ship. In 1902, with the announcement of White Star joining the International Mercantile Marine Co, the British Government provided Cunard and Azure with substantial loans and a subsidy to build three superliners needed to retain Britain's competitive position. The original plan was to scrap Fingal in 1907, ready for Sinann's launch the year after, but after Daniel died, his son decided to preserve his father's favourite ship, outfitting it with a newer engine and redoing the worn paint and décor.

Sinking
The British established a naval blockade of Germany on the outbreak of war in August 1914, issuing a comprehensive list of contraband that included even foodstuffs, and in early November 1914 Britain declared the North Sea to be a war zone, with any ships entering the North Sea doing so at their own risk.

By early 1915, a new threat to British shipping began to materialise: U-boats (submarines). At first, the Germans used them only to attack naval vessels, and they achieved only occasional—but sometimes spectacular—successes. U-boats then began to attack merchant vessels at times, although almost always in accordance with the old cruiser rules. Desperate to gain an advantage on the Atlantic, the German government decided to step up its submarine campaign. On 4 February 1915, Germany declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone: from 18 February, Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning.

Fingal, along with other CTA ships, continued to work the passenger route, the admiralty having decided it wasn't worth the effort of procuring them. After having her identifying flags removed, the ship continued to serve, albeit without her green funnels. Captain Everton, known as "Evergreen Everton" due to his love of plants, was put in charge of Fingal's final voyage. One of the oldest Captains, Everton had served on all CTA ships bar the Sinann up to that point.

On October 4th 1915, Fingal left Galway for Southampton in order to transport conscripted men to the British training camps, along with passengers wanting to return home. Low fog meant that the ship was behind schedule, and passed Cape Clear Island early in the morning of the 5th. As the ship came closer to Ireland, ordered depth soundings to be made and at 03:10 for speed to be reduced to fourteen knots, well below the ships average of 21 knots. As the fog only worsened, U-16 surfaced nearby, similarly concerned about the fog. In the shadows, they saw the shape of the Fingal at around 04:33 AM, and, presuming the gray funnels were a British Warship, launched two torpedoes. The Fingal's lookout only saw it seconds before it hit the ship. The first hit the third forward compartment, whilst the second hit the third boiler room seconds later, sending a large wave of water and debris up into the air. Stokers inside Boiler Room 3 were killed almost instantly, and the ship began to go down by the bow quickly. One passenger, who'd been sitting in his room, described the sound as "A dreadful roar, like a monster amongst the fog".

Captain Everton immediately ordered the ship to signal for help with its Morse lamp. Whilst its watertight doors were shut due to the regions danger, the damage was causing water to quickly spill over the tops of each bulkhead. Intercepting the signals, U-16 realised the case of mistaken identity and surfaced. Captain Kühn immediately ordered the submarine to help passengers. Standing atop the deck, he used a megaphone to announce his presence to the Fingal.

Hearing this, Fingal's lifeboats, which were struggling to be lowered due to the flood of water coming, began to head for the U-Boat. Some, however, decided to take their chances at sailing towards the Irish Mainland, which was within view, with the hope of British ships rescuing them. Control on the ship quickly broke down as people dove into the water for the U-boat to escape. As the bow went under around 4:37 AM, Captain Everton gave the general order to abandon ship. The speed of the sinking caused problems, and only three of the ships sixteen regular lifeboats launched, albeit only 11 launched properly, whilst 15 and 7 were cut free. Lifeboat 7 rowed to mainland Ireland, whilst 11 and 15 were picked up by U-16. The remaining lifeboats were largely still in the process of being launched when the deck was swamped with water, and the emergency collapsible lifeboat on the stern rolled off the ship and capsized, but remained floating. Captain Everton was last seen near the bridge co-ordinating the attempted launch of Lifeboat 15 when a wave roared up over the bridge's railings, sweeping him into the sea. Some later claimed to see him near the funnel, and it is presumed he was pulled under by the sudden vacuum.

As the stern raised up, more passengers seemed willing to brave the cold, 7°C waters, swimming the short distance to U-16 or using a makeshift floatation device of chairs and tables to keep themselves above water. As the stokers and engineers abandoned their position, the ship was plunged into darkness, making rescue amongst the fog harder, people stumbling over each other and railings. As the ship rose higher, the first funnel, partially submerged, ripped itself free of the decking, floating up briefly, before submerging. Moments later, the angle of the ship caused the supports of the second funnel to fall forwards, causing damage to the decking as it slammed down and rolled into the sea. As the stern rose highly into the air, the bow struck the seabed, only 117 meters deep. The stern quickly began to sink down, and, at 4:43, the ship had sunk. U-16 picked up as many passengers as it could in the fog, before returning to Wilhelmshaven with them as Prisoners of War. The red cross flag was raised, and the U-boat successfully returned home. The POWs were treated in relative comfort by the Germans due to the nature of the sinking, and Captain Kühn received a commendation for his efforts.

With Lifeboat 7 reaching the mainland, the British reaction was one of outrage, and used for further propaganda. Despite the ship sinking fast and early in the morning, the majority of passengers escaped, whilst many in the crew perished, largely due to the lack of order. The few passengers who didn't make it were largely in the forward end of the ship, killed either by the impact or by how quickly it flooded, whilst the lack of crew organisation resulted in many of the ships attendants, stokers and engineers being killed by the quick sinking. Most of the deck officers, who did their best to keep order, survived and helped people escape. Almost all of them were captured, with Third Officer McKinley being the only one to not be, having been aboard Lifeboat 7 and suggesting the risky row to Ireland. In British Propaganda, McKinley was portrayed as a hero, though historian and contemporary reports suggested the move was to save himself.

Fingal was the first CTA ship to not be scrapped, and was joined later in the war by Athy. Official German communications at the time largely attempted to cover up the event, claiming that as the ship was carrying conscripted men it was a viable target. U-16 had been returning from the North Sea after being pursued, and claimed they thought the Fingal was the pursuing ship in the fog. The pursuit ship was actually the Tribal-Class destroyer Amazon, which had a very different appearance, and had lost the U-16 in the fog.

Last Survivor
The last survivor of the sinking was Jennifer Baker, whos parents were both killed in the sinking. At four years old, Jennifer was on her way to a new life in England, and was asleep when the ship was struck. Her parents ushered her up to the top deck, where the three of them were pulled underwater by the force of the sea flooding into the ship. Jennifer resurfaced near Lifeboat 7, and was taken back to the mainland. Jennifer stayed with her Grandmother in Ireland, and hoped her mother and father made it. Bodies matching their description were sadly found days later by Fishermen.

Jennifer recalled seeing the ship in the fog, the stern piercing up in the air "like a final goodbye wave". Jennifer died in 2004 at the age of 93.

Wreck
The heavy fog meant the last accurate location of the ship was hard to pinpoint, but deep divers in 1984 discovered small remnants of the ship. Following the trail of pieces, they came across the ships wreck. The ship is upright, though the stern has almost detached completely from the ship. The severe damage done to the stern, compared to the bow, is believed to be due to just how fast the stern was pulled under, coupled with largly being filled with air. The funnels and masts are presumed to have been destroyed by time. The forward bow compartment has almost entirely been shredded by the impact into the sea bed, and the two torpedo impacts are visible. Ireland declared the site a war grave in 1985, prohibiting further exploration. Damage to the seabed around the wreck shows depth charges were dropped at some point, likely during the Second World War, which miraculously missed the wreck. The wreck has a lot of fauna and flora growing around it, and is considered a microsystem of nature.