One of the first Irish vessels to have been sunk during WWII has been located off the coast of Donegal.
The trawler, named the Leukos, was sunk by a German U-boat on 9 March 1940, killing all 11 of the young fishermen on board.
The discovery of the wreckage near Tory Island was made by diver and submariner, John Kearney, who said they came across the wreckage ‘by pure chance’ while searching for a different vessel.
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, he said that up until last week no one had seen the Leukos in 85 years and it was “incredible to come across it”.
Several of the fishermen who died were teenagers and Mr Kearney is hoping to make contact with any surviving relatives.
“A lot of these young sailors came from Ringsend in Dublin. The oldest was only 28. We would love to reach out to any family members,” he said, adding that they have “lots of footage” and images of the Leukos that they would like to share.
“They were children but they were brave. They went out in those conditions and it wasn’t easy back then to be on a fishing boat.”
He said anyone who suspects they might be a relative of one of the fishermen can contact the Inishowen Maritime Museum in Greencastle, or the National Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire in Dublin.
It’s not known for certain why the trawler was attacked. Mr Kearney said it would have had an Irish flag on display, indicating it was from a neutral country.
He said a number of UK vessels in the area at the time managed to get away.
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