Mined and sunk in the Irish Sea – 2nd February 1940
five wounded, one died later
The first Irish ship to be sunk in World War Two was the passenger ship Munster, which fell victim to a mine in Liverpool Bay on 7th February 1940. Built at Belfast in 1938 for the British and Irish Steam Packet Company she ran on a nightly service between Dublin and Liverpool until the out -break of war when the service was suspended. She was trading between Belfast and Liverpool, on charter to the Belfast Steam Ship Company and commanded by Captain J. Paisley when sunk. Captain Paisley and four of his crew were wounded, one of whom died later. Over 200 passengers and the crew of fifty escaped in lifeboats and were rescued a few hours later by the collier Ringwall.
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