S.S. LUIMNEACH
Sunk by U-Boat U-46 gunfire in North Atlantic, 4th September 1940
Able Seaman M Carrol died later of pneumonia
On 4 Sep, 1940, the unescorted and neutral Luimneach (Master Eric Septimus Jones) was stopped by U-46 with two shots across her bow west-southwest of the Scilly Isles and was sunk at 20.00 hours by gunfire. There are differences in the accounts given by the captains. Endrass claimed that Capt Eric Jones and his crew “lost their heads completely” with one man jumping into the water, at the shot across the bows by his U-boat. But Jones was an experienced captain. The Luimneach had survived twelve aerial attacks during the Spanish Civil War. He took the ship’s papers with him and they are now in the Dublin Public Records Office. Following an inquiry, on 4 March 1941, Dönitz concluded that the U-boat acted correctly in sinking an “abandoned ship”. Endrass did not converse with the Luimneach, who were of the opinion that he was Italian. Endrass said that the flag was “British or Irish”. There were two lifeboats, One was picked up by a Spanish trawler and brought to Spain. The other was picked up by a French trawler.
Those landed in France were detained by the Nazis. Two of the crew were British and were imprisoned. The Chief Officer, from Belfast, also had British papers, but because of his advanced age was allowed to live in Paris. The Second Engineer was Dutch and was allowed to go to Antwerp. The remainder returned to Ireland via Portugal.
| Captain | E. Jones, | Wales | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Chief Officer | J McKelvey | Belfast | Mate’s Boat | Paris |
| Second Officer | C. Meriditt, | Dublin; | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Chief Engineer | R. Spence, | Dublin; | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Second Engineer | H. Madsen | Antwerp | Mate’s Boat | Antwerp |
| Cook | S. Tice, | London; | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Steward | R. Wilkes, | London; | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Able Seaman | A. Robertson, | Limerick; | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Able Seaman | B. Quirk, | Kilmore Quay, | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Able Seaman | M. Carrol, | Dungarvan | Captain’s Boat | died |
| Able Seaman | J Moran | Tarbet, Kerry | Mate’s Boat | Returned |
| Able Seaman | M Curran | Tarbet, Kerry | Mate’s Boat | Returned |
| Fireman | M McCarthy | Tarbet, Kerry | Mate’s Boat | Returned |
| Fireman | L O’Neill, | Glasgow; | Captain’s Boat | Returned |
| Fireman | E. Richards | Bristol | Mate’s Boat | imprisoned |
| Fireman | N. Bartello | Malta | Mate’s Boat | imprisoned |
| Fireman | T. Conway | Dublin | Mate’s Boat | Returned |
| Fireman | John. Confrey | Dun Laoghaire | Mate’s Boat | Returned |
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