The Castro of the Wilson Line, remamed Aud
The Aud , was the 1062ton220 x 32 x 12 ft, former SS Castro of the Wilson Line of Hull, England. This ship was captured by the German Navy in the Kiel Canal,at the beginning of World War One in August 1914.
Karl Spindler
Masquerading as the Aud, an existing Norwegian vessel of similar appearance, she set sail from the Baltic port of Lubeck on April 9th 1916, under the Command of Karl Spindler,and his crew of twenty two men, all of whom were volunteers.The Aud, laden with an estimated 20,000 rifles, 1000,000 rounds of ammunition, 10 machine guns, and explosives, evaded patrols of both the British 10th Cruiser Squadron, and local Auxillary patrols.
The route of the Aud in 1916
After surviving violent storms off Rockall, the Aud arrived in Tralee Bay on April 20th. There they were due to meet with Roger Casement and others, with Casement having been landed nearby by U-19. Due to a combination of factors, the transfer of arms did not take place.
At this point Roger Casement and his companions who had been landed by the submarine U-19 in Kerry had been captured . The car-load of Volunteers who were supposed to meet Spindler had crashed near Kenmare so there was no hope of an organised transfer of arms. With Spindler and his crew on a ship with no radio or other means of communicating their plight The poorly organised gun-running plan was nearing an end.
In 1966, on the 50th anniversary of the Irish Rising, these cards were issued
After a number of incidents including a farcical searching of the ship for contraband by the armed trawler HMT Setter II , the Aud , attempting to escape the area, was trapped by a blockade of British ships. She was finally intercepted by the sloops HMS Zinnia and HMS Bluebell . Captain Spindler allowed himself to be escorted towards Cork Harbour, in the company of Acacia class sloop Bluebell .
The voyage of the Aud was compromised from the very beginning, with German codes having been broken, and agents reporting the movements of submarines and shipping from both the Baltic and occupied ports.
The British Naval Intelligence Division (NID) knew that there was an arms ship on the way, but did not know precisely when. Therefore from mid-March 1916, extra patrols were in place all around the West and South Coasts of Ireland to intercept any suspicious vessels for searching
At the approaches to Cork Harbour, the crew of the Bluebell noticed that the Aud had stopped. The Bluebell then went back about a cables length, and saw a small cloud of white smoke issuing from the after hold. At the same time two German Naval Ensigns were flown from the mast and two boats were launched, one from either side. The Bluebell went round across the bows, and the occupants of the two boats, coming towards her, hoisted a flag of truce, and put up their hands.
They were taken prisoners on the Bluebell and the Aud sank almost immediately afterwards. Captain Spindler had scuttled the Aud , using pre-set charges of explosives in the aft hold.
Thus ended the career of the only German naval surface ship to enter Irish waters during World War One. Following this, the wreck was depth charged and wire swept a number of times.
There would have been a number of reasons for this; to make sure that the weapons were scattered and made unrecoverable by the rebel forces, to prevent submarines using the wreck as cover, and to prevent the wreck snagging and damaging post war fishing trawls. During the Second World War, the wreck was again depth charged, this time by the newly formed Irish Marine and Coastwatching Service.
Sketch Plan of the Aud wreck (from the 1997 survey)
The rifles, and the majority of the ammunition originated in Russia. They were captured as a result of the rout of Russian forces at the battle of Tannenburg in 1914. These rifles were the Mosin-Nagant Model 1891 'any German captured rifles in the year 1916 or prior would be 1891s and 1891/10s.'( Correspondence from D.Jones Feb 05), one of which was identified during the trial of Roger Casement, by Colonel N. Belaeiw.
"Shown a rifle, much the worse for wear, and asked if it was a Russian weapon, the witness, after examining it carefully, said "Yes". It had been manufactured at the Russian Imperial Toula (sic) Rifle Works in 1905" (Irish Times, May 18, 1916). Examples of rifles, foodstuffs, and other items taken from the Aud , can be viewed at the Cork Public Museum, Fitzgerald Park, Cork, Irish Defence Forces Museum,Collins Barracks , Cork, and at the Imperial War Museum, London. For more information on the rifles click The arms and ammunition of the Aud
Ammunition on the wreck of the Aud
The wreck of the Aud lay in Cork Harbour at a depth of 35metres, undisturbed, apart from snagging the occasional trawlers nets. It became a favourite with local sport angling boats, and was a natural lair for conger eel, ling, cod, and pouting.
In the 1960s' the advent of scuba diving made wrecks such as the Aud accessible. In 1969, a team led by Des Brannigan, dived on the remains of the Aud . A lot of material was recovered, some of which was donated to the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire In June 1997 a comprehensive survey of the remains of the Aud was carried out by a team from IUART - the Irish Underwater Archaeological Research Team. This was followed by a survey dive from members of the Department of Heritage
In 2012, divers raised two anchors from the wreck of the Aud , one of these is now on display in Cobh Heritage Centre.
