Cobh

<h3>How beautiful is The Garden of Remembrance? It really is taking shape.&nbsp;</h3>
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<p>Thank you to Cobh Tidy Towns for their efforts with this project. We look forward to its completion and to sitting, reflecting and praying in this garden.&nbsp;</p>
<p>📷 Parish Pastoral Council</p>
<h3>Cobh's forgotten war remembered....The seaside town of Cobh in Co Cork, known as Queenstown under British rule, is well known for its Titanic connections and its links to the sinking of the Lusitania, which indirectly led to America joining the First World War in 1917.</h3>
<p>Less well known are the full details of the role the town played during most of the First World War and the fact that large United States naval forces, along with the Royal Navy, were stationed there to combat the carnage caused by a new and deadly weapon of war, the German U-boat.</p>
<p>Between 1915 and the entry of the US into the war in 1917, merchant shipping was under constant attack by the German submarines. In 1915, losses were exceeding the replacement rate of ships, and Britain's supply lines were seriously threatened.</p>
<p>Attacks by submarines were so successful, particularly in the Irish Sea, which was known as U-boat alley, that by 1917 when America entered the war the British were losing nearly a million tons of shipping a month. The senior British naval figure, the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, confided to the Americans that Germany would win the war unless losses could be stopped.</p>
<p>Britain was reliant on merchant shipping for the country's basic needs as well as munitions from America. It could not build ships fast enough to replace those sunk. In Winston Churchill's view, the south west coast of Ireland was a "veritable cemetery of British shipping".</p>
<p>This is the life or death struggle masterfully portrayed in the new book, Secret Victory, by former RTE broadcaster Liam Nolan and his brother John. It is not simply a tale of evolving technology and tactics and the bravery, and brutality of sailors. It shows how often in warfare it is a case of having the right man at the right time.</p>
<p>Enter the Royal Navy Rear Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, who not only showed himself an outstanding and brave commander of British and American naval forces in Cobh, but also believed in mucking in by preparing meals and washing dishes when survivors of sub attacks were brought in. A gruff but compassionate man, he never wasted words. When an American destroyer commander sent him two messages saying his ship had been missed twice by torpedoes, Bayly replied: "Congratulations."</p>
<p>It was his leadership qualities that forged the naval forces that successfully confronted the U-boats -- overall he had 92 American ships under his command in Cobh -- and by implementing the convoy system, eventually defeated them.</p>
<p>From 1914 to 1918, Cobh played a crucial and largely forgotten role in the battle for the Atlantic. It was from its secure harbour that British and American naval forces battled the German empire's submarines and navy. At first the force consisted of a miscellaneous fleet of British armed trawlers, drifters, Q-ships, submarines, motorboats and armed yachts, but later the large force of American destroyers was added.</p>
<p>From May 1917 until the end of the war, these American destroyers operated out of and were controlled from Cobh. The brilliant but sometimes cantankerous Bayly had overall operational command of the combined Anglo-American naval forces from July 1915 until the end of the war, which was unusual to say the least.</p>
<p>In this new and comprehensive study of the role Cobh played, the Nolan brothers look at the huge operation on land and at sea and at the great characters who commanded the navies and crewed the ships. This is a hidden human history unearthed by Liam and John Nolan, a largely forgotten but crucial episode of the Great War -- and it is well told.</p>
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<p>USS O'Brien (Destroyer #51) engaged U-16 while escorting SS Elysia 12 miles off Queenstown, Ireland, on June 16, 1917.   Sighting a periscope, she launched an attack.  A lookout on the foretop saw the submerged U-Boat pass close along the starboard side. A depth charge was dropped but no immediate evidence of damage was found.</p>
<h3>Present  Navy</h3>
<p>Despite the promise of increased funding for the beleaguered navy there is still huge concern in many quarters on its future</p>
<p>Three Naval Service ships have been decommissioned at the same time, with speculation mounting about what is next for the vessels.</p>
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<p>It is an unprecedented move and questions remain as to whether they will be gifted to foreign governments, sold privately, or even converted into public amenities.</p>
<p>The decommissioning on Friday of LÉ Eithne and the two inshore patrol vessels LÉ Orla and LÉ Ciara will free up some of the skeleton crews who have been maintaining them to work on other ships.</p>
<h3>Welcome back Kate after your International&nbsp;</h3>
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<p>Great to have Kate Gardiner back out on court   and also great to see Rob Leahy while on a short visit home&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Tidy towns</h3>
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<p>Update on Lambie!!! So today Lambie arrived  back home to Kilkenny after his extended holiday in Cobh. We heard he even helped out the Cobh Tidy Towns crew before he left!</p>
<p>We received this lovely message today so Thanks to all who helped to get Lambie back home 👏 #communityspirit&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lambie has arrived home I can’t believe it I’ve one very happy little girl here today I can’t thank you enough I believe a girl called Jackie was so good to post him home with treats and a beautiful post card thank you thank you thank you and to my friend Audrey O'Dowd thank you for your quick thinking without it Lally would never have been found ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. I love cobh and now I love it even more best town best people.</p>
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Cobh and Great Island news July 15th

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