Archives department

Friend and Foe 1917

Introduction

On 31 July 1917 a German submarine left its base in the North Sea and proceeded to the entrance of Waterford Harbour to lay mines. Its purpose was to disrupt shipping in and out of Waterford.

At 10.20pm on the night of August 4th an explosion was heard out to sea in the fishing village of Dunmore East. A number of boats set out with the intention of rescuing any survivors. By 1am on the morning of August 5th one survivor had been picked up by three of the men who had rowed out. When he was brought ashore it was discovered he was Kpt. Kurt Tebbenjohanns of a German mine laying submarine, UC44 and that he was the only survivor of a crew of 30.

The exact location of the sunken submarine was established by early morning. During the next four months the resources of the British Admiralty were used to salvage a near intact German submarine in what turned out to be the naval intelligence coup of 1917, if not indeed, the entire war.

This exhibition depicts the events of that August night of 1917 within the bigger picture of World War 1. It also places the events within the context of Waterford before and during World War 1. The fishing village of Dunmore East’s social and economic life and, most importantly, it indicates clearly the importance the British Admiralty placed on the salvaging of UC-44 and its contents, especially the Code Book.

This exhibition was researched and curated by Sean and Orla McGrath. Please note the images used in the exhibition are copyright and courtesy of their respective owners and donors and should not be copied without the permission of the copyright holder. You will find details of the copyright owners of the images within the exhibition. Click on image to open the exhibition PDF. Please note this is 32MB. so may take time to open.