Propeller found on seabed of Cork Harbour to be restored to confirm if it belonged to German U-boat
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A propeller discovered at the bottom of Cork Harbour will be painstakingly restored as researchers strive to understand what happened on a tragic day in the First World War when a German U-boat sank to the bottom of the sea.
It is believed the marine artefact belonged to a German U-boat that sunk in 1917 at the entrance to the harbour, but this will only be confirmed after painstaking work to clean it is completed.
One of Europe's top conservation specialists has been drafted in to unravel the secrets it may hold as to the fate of 27 men who met the grisliest of ends while laying landmines in the midst of the terrible conflict.
The propeller was discovered by members of the Blackwater Sub Aqua Club and was lifted to the surface on June 17 last, following an operation which involved the National Monuments Service, the National Museum of Ireland, and the Germany embassy.
Experts from Mizen Archaeology took the propeller to the museum in Kinsale where they started desalination work, which means removing engrained salt. However, the propeller has a calcium build-up under the salt, after more than a century on the seabed.
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Mizen Archaeology company director Guilianna O’Donoghue said they had engaged one of Europe’s foremost conservation specialists, Ian Porter from York, who will be coming to Ireland in three weeks to view the object.
Mr Porter has worked with Mizen Archaeology before on a number of conservation projects, including cleaning artefacts from the Lusitania and the German gun-running ship The Aud.
“The calcium build-up is concealing any clues there might be in identifying what the propeller belonged to. It could take up to a year to do this work,” she said.
“It is not certain that it is the propeller from the submarine [UC-42], but it did come from the site and it is similar to the type on U-boats."
The U-boat sank at Roches Point at the mouth of harbour. Its crew had been laying mines when one of them exploded, which sank the vessel, killing all 27 submariners onboard.
An oil slick alerted the Royal Navy to the sinking and it sent divers down to the wreck. They ascertained a mine had detonated prematurely, blowing off its stern.
The divers also found the submarine’s hatches were open, which indicated that the crew had unsuccessfully tried to escape.
The wreck was located 14 years ago and subsequently declared a war grave.
The British had a major fleet headquartered in Cork Harbour during the First World War to protect shipping supplies coming from the US. The Americans sent a number of ships to be based in the harbour when they entered the war in 1917.
U-boats sank a lot of commercial shipping off the Irish coast and regularly laid mines in an effort to sink British and American warships.
When the cleaning and identification process is completed, it has been agreed to put the propeller on display at Spike Island Museum.