'Beware the South Roc (sic), on which many brave ships have perished; for it is overflowed every tide and no crew can save their lives, if the wind blows high'
-Co Down Harris 1744


LV Skua on South Rock station, 23 March 1978 (photo:Jim Blaney)

THE SOUTH ROCK is the largest of an extensive group of rocks 1þ miles north-east of Kearney Point which includes the Privateer, Crooked Pladdy and the Ridge. The first Irish wave-washed lighthouse was established here on 25 March 1797 by Thomas Rogers.

Unfortunately the Kilwarlin Light, for all its excellence, was unable to achieve full potential as an aid to shipping, not having been built far enough out to sea to act as an effective warning to passing vessels. Disasters continued to occur at an alarming rate at the South Rock.

At the beginning of 1874 the Glasgow Shipowners Association suggested that the lighthouse should be repositioned three-quarters of a mile outside its present position. Trinity House recommended that a lightvessel would be preferable.

On 1 April 1877 a lightvessel was placed on station by the lighthouse tender Alert, and exhibited its light for the first time. Earlier in the day the lighthouse was discontinued and was re-classified as an unlighted beacon. The light character of the lightship was the same as that of the discontinued lighthouse but the lighthouse fog signal bell was replaced on the lightship by a gun fired every 15 minutes during fog.

Two local men, Robert Parks and a Mr McKelvey, tendered for the job of boat contractor to the lightship. The relief was to be carried out from the New Quay at Newcastle townland, as in the days of the lighthouse. Robert Parks was the successful candidate. Initially he was paid £5 6s (£5.30) per trip, but this was reduced after two years to £4 10s (£4.50). He cleaned out the channel of the harbour so that the boat could leave at all times.

In April 1878 it was reported that seaman Patrick Gallagher had remained ashore without permission after his leave had expired. A letter to the Commissioners from the Master, Alexander Smith, stated that this was not Gallagher's first offence. As a result Gallagher was ordered to be dismissed and the Master was called on to explain why the earlier absences were not reported. Captain Smith replied that Gallagher told him his mother was ill in hospital and that he waited on two occasions to see if she would improve. The Master was censured and informed that if there was any repeat of this neglect of duty the Board would deal summarily with him.

In November 1880 Captain Alexander Smith suffered a stroke and Doctor Filson of Portaferry recommended that he be given 6 weeks leave for the benefit of his health. Leave was granted, but Smith died on 11 March 1881 at the South Rock dwellings. He was buried in Ballygalget graveyard where a headstone is erected to his memory.

Shipwrecks

In spite of the improved position of the light, ship-wrecks continued to occur regularly, many of them in fog. The following came to grief on the South Rock itself-

24. 12. 1877	Friends of Belfast
22. 2. 1885	Leonard Halles of Portmadoc
5. 1. 1887	Wembdon of Cardiff
5. 1. 1888	Kate of Norway
22. 5. 1901	Ravinila of Cowes
21. 12. 1906	Rex of London
1. 3. 1907	Rippling Wave of Fowey
9. 3. 1907	Turquoise of Glasgow
30. 9. 1908	Glassford of Glasgow
13. 11. 1908	Croisset of Rouen
6. 11. 1916	Frieda of Russia
18. 12. 1916	Benshaw of Liverpool

One of the most dramatic incidents was the wreck of the emigrant ship Wild Deer, under the command of Capt. John Kerr, which ran aground on the nearby North Rock on the night of 12 January 1883. On board were 209 passengers and 40 crew members bound from Glasgow to Otago, New Zealand. Two rockets were fired immediately from the stricken vessel and the signals were answered from the South Rock Lightvessel. Soon after, the Coastguards burned blue lights on the shore at Cloughey, some 3 miles from the wreck. The Coastguards launched their boat against the wind but it was quickly driven back and damaged.

It was 07.00 the next morning before they reached the Wild Deer. As daylight approached the Cloughey fishermen also came to the rescue, and all on board were eventually taken ashore safely. Ever since then a current which runs midway between Portavogie and the South Rock was known as Kerr's Tide by the old Lightshipmen.

A more amusing incident took place on the night of 10 November 1884. On that day a wedding had taken place in Ballywalter village and in accordance with local custom a bonfire was lit in the evening. It so happened however that the fire was in line with the Long Rock, the scene of many shipwrecks, and the South Rock Lightvessel, some 5 miles distant. The Lightshipmen on seeing the fire concluded that the Long Rock had claimed another victim and immediately began to shoot rockets in the air and fire the gun to attract the attention of the Coastguards. This roused the inhabitants of the village and surrounding district causing great excitement. The rockets continued until the fire died out, when the error was discovered and the firing stopped.

On 5 January 1887 during a snow storm the steamship Wembdon was wrecked on the South Rock. The crew of 16 took to the boats in a heavy sea and rowed to the lightvessel where they were taken aboard. They later spoke in very complimentary terms of the treatment they got from the Master and crew-'they received us in the most cordial manner and did all in their power to render our position as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.' Early next morning signals were made from the lightship, and the boat contractor came and took the men ashore. Their Captain, James George of Porthcall, recalled that 'from half past three in the afternoon of Tuesday (4th) when off the Codling Lightship until 5 minutes before the casualty about midnight, no light was seen by any one of those on board.'

On 22 May 1901 the ketch Ravinila went aground near the South Rock Lighthouse, and the shore officer of the lightship reported to the Commissioners by telegram. He then received instructions to 'try to remove the wreckage with the attending boat, and if this fails, tie a flag to it.' The crew of four were taken off by the Cloughey Coastguards.

Three Italian steamers were wrecked in quick succession in the area: 22 December 1905, Costanza on McCammon Rocks; 6th February 1906, Febo on the Cannon Rock; and 24th February 1906, Themis on the North Rock. During a slight haze the Febo got between the lightship and the rocks. Warning signals were discharged from the lightship which seemed to go unheeded.

According to the 1901 census the following men were aboard the South Rock Lightship on the 31 March-John Kearon, Master (Wicklow); John Tomelty (Down); Richard Roddy (Louth); David Baird (Manchester); George Conway (Down); Patrick McGrath (Wexford); John Smith (Wexford). Of these George Conway and John Tomelty were natives of Portaferry and John Kearon, Richard Roddy, David Baird, and John Smith had settled in the Portaferry area.

On 1 December 1906 the character of the South Rock light was changed from a white revolving light every 90 seconds to a group flashing white light of two flashes every 45 seconds. The fog signal gun was replaced by a cotton powder explosive charge timed to explode with two reports every three minutes.

Unfortunately Robert Begg, the Captain of the Hazeldene steamer of Newcastle-on-Tyne, was unaware of these changes. He mistook the South Rock light for the Mull of Galloway light and went aground on the Cannon Rock on 25 December 1906.

Collision
On 5 August 1910 the South Rock Lightvessel moved to centre stage when in a dense fog the sailing ship Rigel of Bremen, while on tow, collided with the stationary South Rock Lightvessel Petrel, striking her starboard bow and causing damage. The Rigel proceed without stopping but was traced to Swansea, where a writ was served on behalf of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, and the owners ultimately admitted liability. The lighthouse tender Alexandra placed the Cormorant (built 1876-78) on station and towed the damaged Petrel (built 1853-54) to Workman Clark & Co in Belfast for repairs; it was returned to station by 1 September. The Master, John Kearon, was on shore leave at the time of the accident, and Richard O'Neill, the Mate, was in charge. James Keating who came on board on 1 August was employed as a temporary seaman, being paid at 3s 6d per day plus gunnery money. He was engaged in firing the fog signal when he saw the Rigel bearing down on the lightship. Although he made no immediate complaint to his superiors he afterwards claimed to be suffering from insomnia and neurasthenia as a result of the shock of seeing the Rigel running into his ship. Under the Workmen's Compensation Act Keating was awarded compensation at Newtownards by County Court Judge Orr. The Commissioners were unsuccessful in claiming this back from the owners of the Rigel who had paid for the damage to the Petrel.

War
The outbreak of hostilities during World War I increased the hazards of life on a lightship which could not run for cover in the event of an attack, or move away from a floating mine. When the war began the Allied fleet began a blockade which kept the German Navy bottled up at Kiel. Germany then embarked on a large programme of submarine construction and, at the beginning of February 1915, began a blockade sinking British and French merchant ships without warning. This gave crews and passengers little chance of escape and antagonised neutrals. After the sinking of the Lusitania on 7 May 1915 international opinion turned against Germany and the campaign was called off the following September.

However a new unrestricted campaign began on 1 February 1917, and by April Germany looked set for victory, having in that month sunk 458 merchant ships with 87 U-boats, only two of which were lost. With the belated introduction by the Allies of the convoy system, and the entry of the United States into the war, the tide finally turned against Germany.

Many of the naval engagements of the war took place in the Irish sea. Lightship crews were constantly aware of the menace to shipping and witnessed many incidents at first hand. From the beginning of November 1914 there were reports of sightings of U-boats off the Co Down coast. Early in 1915 the Admiralty issued posters offering substantial rewards to masters of ships, fishermen, and others who reported the presence of submarines and mines along the coast.

On 16 March 1915 the Master of the South Rock lightship, J.J. Duff, observed a German submarine bearing east about a half mile outside of the ship at 12.55 pm. There was a torpedo boat about eight miles north of the ship at the time. He spoke to the ship at 1.05 pm and gave them the bearing and distance of the submarine. The torpedo boat Paragon went after it and fired one shot at 1.20 pm. The Paragon spoke to the lightship again at 4.20 pm and said he got the submarine. The Master reported to Irish Lights Office and asked the authorities to claim for his crew the substantial money reward offered by the Admiralty. Not hearing anything to his advantage for several months he wrote directly to the Admiralty which sent £100, of which £50 was for the Master and the remainder to be divided among the crew in shares proportionate to their wages. No information about this payment was allowed to be published by Master or crew.

The crew of the South Rock Lightvessel on 16 March 1915, and their share of the reward, was-

£	s	d
J. J. Duff, Master	50	0	0
J. Smith, Senior Lamp Lighter	5	11	7
J. Smith, Junior Lamp Lighter	5	11	7
W. J. Mahood, Carpenter	5	9	5
R. J. Darcy, Able Seaman	5	9	5
J. J. Mullan, Able Seaman	5	0	5
J. J. Berringer, Able Seaman	5	0	5
J. McGeean, Mate on shore	7	0	8
J. Doyle, Lamp Lighter on shore	5	11	7
J. M. Trant, Able Seaman on shore	5	4	11

Lightship crews were dismayed to learn the fate of the South Arklow Lightvessel Guillemot which was bombed on 28 March 1917. The Master, James Rossiter, had signalled to shipping that a U-boat was in the area. After sinking a number of ships the U-boat commander ordered the Lightship's crew to the boats and placed bombs on board.

John McGeean, Mate of the South Rock Lightvessel Petrel, reported to Irish Lights Office-

'At 3.00 am on morning of 2 May 1917 heard 3 shots from east of ship. At 3.30 explosion from east and after saw submarine on top of water going to another s/s. Submarine fired again s/s. Blown up. Submarine going again blown another s/s, and another. Total number sunk by submarine 5 s/s, morning of 2-5-1917. Ships boats full of people pulling from South Rock Lightship at 5.0 am and took all on board and towed the three small boats after Patrol boat and going after submarine dived and disappeared. Submarine visible from 3.30 to 5.30 am 2-5-1917.'

The vessels captured and sunk by bombs in Ballyhalbert Bay were the Saint Mungo, Derrymore, Amber, and Morion. The Earnest met the same fate six miles south-east of the Skulmartin Lightship. All this was the work of Kptlt. Otto Steinbrinck of the uc 65 who was the most successful commander of the small submarines.

Although this happened during the unrestricted campaign each of the vessel's crews were allowed to row to safety in their small boats. Steinbrinck is still remembered in local folklore, for it is said that as one small boat pulled away from a doomed vessel he shouted from his conning tower, 'If you hurry you will be in time to catch O'Brien's bus from Ballywalter for Belfast.'

The late John Bailie of Newcastle townland was the boat contractor attending the South Rock Lightship for 42 years before retiring in 1955. Part of his contract was that if the crew were short-handed he would remain on board. He described the loss of the steamer Daybreak on 24 December 1917, one mile east of the lightship-

'I remember being on the South Rock as a temporary, 2s/6d a day and feed yourself. On Christmas Eve 1917 about midday the Daybreak loaded with maize was torpedoed and 21 were lost. Her nose was cut clean off. It happened so quick her propeller was going round in the air as she sank. You talk about explosions, boilers bursting one after another.'

Henry Higginbotham, Master of the South Rock Lightvessel Petrel, made this report on 3 May 1918-

'At 8.50 pm I observed a drifting mine about 4 yards from our starboard quarter, drifting southwest on flood tide. There was no mistake about it not being a mine as we actually seen the horns on it. It has not been seen since as the tide set in towards Strangford Bar. I also beg to state that the submarines are very busy here since 20 May. Nearly every morning and evening before sunrise and sunset we hear 6 or 7 submerged explosions. This seems to be their time for attacking. We have not actually sighted one, also there are a lot of wreckage floating about such as boats, liferafts, barrels, cases of onions, apples and oranges.'

Henry Higginbotham, who was a Wexford man, died on the lv Shamrock at the South Rock station on 4 March 1921 and was buried in Portaferry.

Off Station
At 10.30 pm on Monday 30 January 1950 the lv Shearwater at the South Rock station broke her moorings in a strong south-easterly gale and heavy seas. She was held by her spare anchor one mile off her chartered position 15 minutes later. At 11.30 pm the acting Master, William McGrath, fired distress signals. The Cloughey Lifeboat answered and stood by. The Irish Lights tenders Alexandra and Granuaile arrived at the station about 6.30 am on Wednesday 1 February. They were unable to approach the vessel and at 10.00 am went to shelter in Belfast Lough leaving the lifeboat standing by.

At 3.00 am on Friday 3 February the crew of the lightship were forced to abandon ship in severe south-easterly gales. They were taken off one by one with great difficulty by the lifeboat which was dashed against the ship's side several times, carrying away part of her rails. The men were taken ashore, and brought to the home of Mrs Bell of The Shieling, Cloughey, where they were treated with great hospitality. Mrs Bell's husband, William, was mechanic on the Cloughey Lifeboat which carried out the rescue.

The Alexandra was instructed to proceed to the Shearwater and replace her on station without delay. This was not accomplished successfully until Monday 6 February at 12.45 pm.

The Commissioners conveyed their thanks to the Secretary of the Lifeboat Institution. George Young, the Coxswain, received the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum. The Lifeboat at one stage had been standing by for 38 hours, a record then for Northern Ireland. The Lightshipmen who survived the ordeal were William McGrath, Phil Dolan, Michael Loughery, Tom McMullan, Patrick McMullan, William Watterson, and Joey Smith.

It would be fair to say that the Shearwater was not the most popular vessel in the Irish lightship fleet. It was often said that 'she would roll on wet grass'. The late Bobby Mullan gave his verdict-

'I joined the service in 1948. I was on the Shearwater-she was a boy! Wouldn't sit straight on her feet at all. She was very narrow and you always needed oilskins, there was that much water flying about her. You had to hold onto the rail all the time. She was safe enough but very watery, the more she was dry below. At dinner time you had to put your dinner between your knees to keep it steady. It was often like that and in winter it was all that. She came off about 1950. We were going to join her one morning but there was a gale of wind and we didn't get away. The next day she broke away-the cable broke.'

New Vessels
In the 1950s a new type of lightship made its appearance on the Irish coast. Five new lightships were ordered by the Commissioners from Messrs Philip and Sons Ltd of Dartmouth. The first one, named Gannet, was launched on Monday 3 May 1954. These ships were to replace composite steel and wooden ones some of which had been in use for over 50 years. The lanterns were now lit by electricity produced by large generators. The lanterns were placed amidships at a height of 40 feet above the water line on trelliswork towers, the optics being fitted with filament electric lamps of many hundreds of thousands candle power.

The new vessels had a length of 136 feet 5 inches, beam of 25 feet, and depth moulded of 15 feet. They had deep bilge keels to counteract rolling in heavy weather. Accommodation included separate cabins for the Master and crew, each man having his own bunk instead of using hammocks. There was central heating and recreation rooms, baths and showers, and constant hot water. There were well equipped galleys with bottled gas for cooking, and refrigerators which were a great advantage for men with restricted shopping opportunities. The Master could speak to all parts of the ship by telephone and communicate ashore by Radio Telephone.

The Osprey was the second of the five sisters to be launched. Three crew members from the South Rock Lightship, Master Edward McGee, Tom Smyth of Portaferry, and John Fitzsimmons of Strangford, made the trip over to help bring the new lightship to the South Rock station. The Osprey was placed in position on 5 July 1955 by ilt Granuaile.

These new vessels coincided with a change in colour of Irish lightvessels from black with a white stripe to red from July 1955, and the establishment of Radiobeacons on lightships. In November 1962 daymarks on lightship masts were abolished.

On 5 April 1977 the German vessel Anne Catharina on passage from Wales to Sweden with quarry stone went aground close to Kearney Point. The captain had mistaken the South Rock light for that of the Scottish Killintringan Lighthouse, both having identical characters. As a result the colour of the South Rock light was changed from white to red on 14 December 1977.

Automation
On Friday 10 July 1981 ilt Granuaile laid the first part of the mooring for an automatic lightfloat on the South Rock station and the following day the second part was completed. She arrived at 2030 hours and worked to 2330 hours placing the Gannet, which had been converted to an automatic lightfloat, in position. On Tuesday 14 July at 0520 hours the watched light on the Kittiwake was put out for the last time and on Wednesday the 15th the automatic lightfloat Gannet began operating at 0830 hours. The character of the light was changed to three red flashes every 30 seconds and an electric horn replaced the diaphone fog signal.

On 26 March 1982 the Gannet was demanned. After an inspection the crew were taken on board the Granuaile, where a special reception was held in their honour. They and their comrades and families were thanked by the Commissioners for their dedication to the Service going back over generations. The crew members present were later put ashore at Donaghadee. These were Charley Dumigan, Master, who was appointed Attendant Master of the automatic lightfloat, Jimmy Mageean, Master, who was appointed Assistant Attendant Master, Ted Edge, Charley Roche, Myley Doyle, Mick Ellard and Harry Murray.

Other members of the last crew had come ashore on previous 'boat days' on the Boy Jonathon with Ernie Dunbar, the boat contractor, and Sam Clint, the present Attendant Master. These included Eddie McMullan, Matt Carroll, Denis Behan, Bill McGrattan and Dave Keegan. In the final days Kieran McMullan, William Fitzsimmons, Laurence Edge and K. McCarthy were employed as temporary seamen.

The demanning of the South Rock Lightvessel and its conversion to an automatic lightfloat marked the end of an important chapter in the maritime history of Co Down, and of Ireland, and it is one which deserves to be remembered.

Among those who served as crew on the South Rock station over the years were-

T. S. Andrews, F. Auld, R. Barry, D. Behan, J. J. Berringer, N. Bird, B. Brennan, S. Brennan (Master), P. Brady, G. Bright, J. Busher, J. Byrne, J. K. Carley, P. Carley, M. Carroll, C. J. Cleary, J. Cleary, J. J. Codd, E. Convey, P. Convey, B. Convey, R.Corry, J. P. Cunningham, R. Curran, A.Dick, P. Dolan, J. Doyle, M. Doyle, J. J. Duff, W. Duggan (Master), C. M. Dumigan (Master), J. Farrell, T. Flaherty, W. Flaherty, A. Foley, C. Fox, P. Gaddren, J. Gibson, W. Graham, S. E. Griffin, D. Hawkins (Master), P. Hayes, J. Hendrick, H. Higginbotham (Master), R. Higginbotham, M. Higginbotham, N. Higginbotham, P. Hogan, T. Kelly, A. Kirwan, P. Landy, J. Mageean (Master), W. J. Mahood, M. Malone, H. T. Mason, J. Meagher, J. J. Molloy, J. Moran, D. Moreland, J. Moreland, M. Moreland, T. Moreland, T. J. Morgan, J. J. Morris, T. Morris, J. Mullan, J. J. Mullan, P. Mullan, W. Mullan, P. Murphy, L. McAlea, K. McCarthy, J. J. McClean (Master), H. J. McCluskey, J. McGeean (Master), W. McGrath, W. McGrattan, H. McKeating, E. McMullan, K. McMullan, P. McMullan, R. A. McMullan, T. McMullan, P. J. Owens, B. Owens, G. O'Connor, J. O'Connor, W. O'Flaherty, E. O'Hanlon, T. O'Keefe, J. O'Neill (Master), J. J. Power, M. Roche, R. Roche, T. Roche, R. Roddy, J. Scanlan, P. Scanlan, P. Scanlan, A. Smith (Master), J. Smith (Master), J. Smyth, J. Smyth, T. Smyth, L. Stafford, N. Stafford, J. Tomelty (Master), E. Turkington, R. Tweedie, J. Tyrell, T. Tyrell, N. Whitmore, V. Whitmore, T. Whelan.

I would like to thank the following people for help and information-

David Bedlow, Frank Pelly, Sean Gahan and Michael Costeloe of Irish Lights. Hannah Durch, Mrs Bell, Mrs Beggs, Harry Murray, Ted Edge, Jimmy Mageean, Nicholas Higginbotham, Eddie McMullan, Joe Smyth, Ernie Dunbar, Samuel Clint, Capt. Eddie McGee, Belfast Education Library Board, Southern Education and Library Board, South East Education and Library Board, and Newspaper Library.

© Jim Blaney September 1998