Wreck Diving in Irish Sea

SS Cork

Two torpedoes, five minutes, twelve dead. SM U-103 struck the SS Cork on 26 February 1917 while she crossed the Irish Sea from Dublin to Liverpool carrying sheep, horses, and cattle. The first torpedo hit the engine room; the second struck near the foremast, destroying a lifeboat and eliminating any margin for escape. Built for the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company for the cross-channel trade, the Cork disappeared beneath the waves barely five minutes after impact, nine nautical miles northeast of Point Lynas, Anglesey. Seven passengers and five crew were lost. The wreck now lies upright and largely intact at 48 metres depth in the Irish Sea -- a well-preserved snapshot of early 20th-century cross-channel commerce.