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LÉ
Cliona Fire - 29 May 1962 - Review |
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After many years trying to get access to the LÉ
Cliona Enquiry file
Shipmate Bill Mynes finally achieved his
objective, and on Tuesday 26 July 2022 was
granted access by the military archives to view
selected declassified transcripts regarding the
investigation held by the Department of Defence into
the boiler room fire, which occurred on board
LÉ
Cliona on the 29 May 1962.
(NOTE: Several
confidential submissions to the LÉ Cliona enquiry
remain classified). In this regard, our
website has been updated. Shipmate Mynes
also indicated that he had always felt guilty
as he thought he may have done something wrong, and
this had troubled him since the fire on Cliona in
1962. On the contrary, Bill Mynes never did anything
wrong or failed in his duty.
The conclusion of the review begun in 2015 which led to 4 scrolls
of commendation to be awarded and the subsequent
unveiling of the
LÉ Cliona plinth on the Naval base
in September 2016 which honours all the Cliona crew
for their efforts, is probably the best that could
be achieved, taking into account all the
circumstances.
Peter Mulvany BCL
HDip Arts Admin
http://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie
Findings of the Court of Enquiry 30 May 1962:
A review of the
selected transcripts suggests that some coordination
of witness statements had been discussed post the
fire and prior to the enquiry. In other
jurisdictions coaching of witnesses in war crimes
trials has been an issue. In the case of one other
Irish Naval Service enquiry it was suspected that
witnesses had discussed their evidence with each
other prior to the hearing. Regardless, the evidence
of witnesses to the enquiry investigating the LÉ Cliona
boiler room fire has to be treated with caution.
Leading Stoker Banim under oath states he was going
to the heads (The Toilets) when the depth charge
exploded. In fact there is evidence that Leading
Stoker Banim had attempted to intervene with one
other witness and persuade him to support his
presence in the boiler room if questioned by
investigators. As the ship was at action stations
and supposed to be closed up, L/S Banim was in a
cabin on the port side with the porthole open
watching the fireworks "his term". The Engineering
Officer Lt. Foley alleges he was in the engine room
during action stations. However it is apparent that
Lt. Foley, a direct entry officer, was unsuitable
for service on a naval ship and but for the
assistance of Lt. Phil Devitt matters could have
been worse.
Prepare for Abandoning Ship:
At P5:
Roy Hammond
(RTE Cameraman, Ex
Cork Examiner and Irish Press)
who was on board Cliona records in his essay
"Media Memories of
Cork", Published 1994:
"Meanwhile as is the usual procedure we
were told, a ships boat was launched with a petty
officer and four or five ratings aboard, and this
pulled away to stand off a quarter of a mile and
waited to observe what happened to the ship":
Evidence clearly
shows there was an order to "Prepare for Abandoning Ship"
and the whaler was swung out on its
davits and can be seen clearly in a
photograph
extracted from an RTE Film.
Evidence communicated from a former member of
Cliona's crew in 2016 indicated that Chief Petty
Officer Stoker O'Callaghan despite the fact no order
to abandon ship had been given, had departed in the
whaler with others including a junior officer, and
stood off the stricken Cliona while the
crew were engaged in fighting the fire. There was no
order to abandon ship and that has been
corroborated. The usual procedure is to wait for a
direct order to abandon ship from the Captain and
then abandon ship.
(The Abandon Ship order may only
be given by the Captain, or Officer in Charge of a vessel, if the Captain is incapacitated). The way individuals departed the
stricken Cliona when the ship was in mortal danger
raises questions. In 2016 Chief Petty Officer Stoker
O'Callaghan was awarded posthumously a scroll of
commendation for fighting the fire.
Causation: Premature
Depth Charge Explosion, LÉ Cliona, 29 May 1962:
For years a rumour
was circulated that the crew of LÉ Cliona were to
blame for the premature depth charge explosion that
caused the boiler room fire on the 29 May 1962. It
was alleged that during the live fire exercise one of the depth charges had become jammed
in the stern rails and efforts by the crew to
release the DC had affected the depth setting
causing the premature explosion. In other words the
crew of LÉ Cliona were being unfairly blamed
inferring they were negligent.
The court of
enquiry dated 06 July 1962, advised that a premature
explosion of a depth charge is not considered
responsible for the following reasons. A premature
explosion can only be caused by (1) a broken firing
spring; (2) impact firing, in either of which case
the charge would have exploded on the surface with
disastrous results:"
Comment:
Unclassified British documents, show
clearly that the British Admiralty had conducted Depth
Charge Pistol Fuze Gun Comparative Trials from
1945-1947 using several types of Pistols which
included the Mark 7 pistol, also used in the depth charges aboard LÉ Cliona. The British concluded
inter alia:
1. In hydrostatically operated pistols, firing of
a pistol by countermining is to be EXPECTED if
another charge explodes when it is close to its set
depth.
(Countermining: when one depth charge
detonates the explosion sets of another depth charge
dropped in the pattern.
Note:
Countermining was excluded as a cause of the
premature explosion of a depth charge in the case of
LÉ Cliona):
2. In cases of Mark 7 and 9 pistols, the nominal
firing depth is NOT the expected firing depth.
3. In cases where a Mark 7 pistol is fitted, leakage
(Water/Sea) into the primer tube may cause the
pistol to fire shallow.
4. During tests, Leakage of sea water into the
primer tube of the pistol was the undoubted
explanation for the five shallow fires, of the 11
failures.
It was also concluded, that due to leakage
(Water/Sea) about 12% of the hydrostatic type and 8%
of the orifice type depth charge pistols will fail
to fire, or will fire sufficiently far from their
set depth to be classed as failures i.e fire
shallow. Ironically 20 years earlier on the 30
March 1942, a similar type premature explosion
resulting from a depth charge occurred on HMS
Belwort (LÉ Cliona) causing the loss of one
crewmember.
Eye Witness Reports:
Following publication of
a story in the Irish Examiner
"Global support to honour Irish Navy
veterans" by journalist Sean O'Riordan on
Wednesday 26 August
2015, a phone call
was received from Warrant Officer Engineer Maurice Egan (Retd.)
Irish Naval Service, who had been the Chief Petty
Officer E.R.A. (Engine Room Articifer) on board LÉ
Cliona during the boiler room fire 29 May 1962. Mr
Egan robustly challenged the narrative published in
the Irish Examiner. Following a discussion Mr Egan
was invited to record his version of events which he
agreed to do. In his letter Mr Egan asserted that Lt. Pat O'Mahony
the executive officer had said "I'll take my orders
from you chief" suggesting that Chief E.R.A Egan was leading the fire control party.
That is a nonsense. Lt. Pat O'Mahony led the fire
control party in the boiler room hosing it down to dampen the flames,
and ably supported by the crew. Independent eye
witnesses have corroborated Pat O'Mahony's efforts
in articles published by journalist's who were on
board Cliona during the live fire exercise.
1.Cork Examiner 30 May 1962 -
2.Cork Examiner 30 May 1962:
Roy Hammond
(RTE Cameraman, Ex
Cork Examiner and Irish Press)
who was on board records in his essay
"Media Memories of
Cork", Published 1994. At P4: “Undisputed hero of the day was the ship's
Executive Officer, Lieut. Pat O’Mahony of Tralee,
and we watched as he went down into the inferno to
fight the fire single-handed while other members of
the fire-control party brought up two stoker ratings
who had been on watch in the boiler-room and were
badly injured”:
At P5: Mr
Hammond records from his position on the bridge and
on the boat deck of LÉ Cliona: “The situation improved as time passed.
Approaching noon the flames and smoke seemed to be
dying down but it wasn't until 1300hrs that a smoke
blackened
Pat O’Mahony came up to report the fire
under control. The emergency was over although for
another two hours buckets of water had to be passed
down to the boiler room to cool off the oil tanks":
Report to
the Chief of Staff from Captain Thomas McKenna:
At P2:
Report to the Chief of Staff from Captain Thomas
McKenna on fire damage to LÉ Cliona, 31 May 1962
(Military Archives)": Captain McKenna in his
official report records: “Special mention
must be made of Executive Officer Lieut. O’Mahony
who led the fire fighting by his own tenacity got it
under control. Also of leading Stoker Myre (Mynes)
who coolly turned off all connections and then
continued to take his place in the fire fighting
although injured by burning”:
The absence of enough lifejackets:
At P3: of
"Media
Memories of Cork", Published 1994. Roy Hammond
(RTE Cameraman, Ex Cork Examiner and Irish Press):
Writes: "Each member of crew of Cliona
had their own lifejackets; extra ones were
distributed to the " Passengers". The press party
was the last to be attended to, a rather embarassed
(Sub Lieut.) Johnny Doyle, the Navy's press officer,
offered the last remaining jacket to a party of five
or six people": A Navy Ship involved in a live fire exercise
proceeding to sea with not enough life jackets
onboard shows a total disregard for the safety of
its crew and passengers.
Irish Department of Defence: Disclaimers forms
Interestingly the
Irish Department of Defence had Irish Naval
Officer Sub Lt Johnny Doyle searching out civilians
who had been on board LÉ Cliona in 1962 during the
fire and had them sign
disclaimer forms. Perhaps
the Department of Defence, at that time, was more
interested in protecting itself from potential
claimants for compensation and wanted to bury any
investigation/report?
LÉ Aisling Engine Room Fire - 19 November 1981:
On the 19 November 1981, The LÉ Aisling was
returning from Barry in Wales with a cargo of
ordinance on the after deck when a fire in the engine
room broke out and got out of
control. Abandon Ship was ordered and the escort
vessel was ordered to move off to 5 miles
range in the event she might explode. Petty
Officer Michael McIntyre and Chief Petty Officer
Patrick Tumulty eventually managed to extinguish the
blaze and prevented a catastrophe. Both Tumulty and
McIntyre were subsequently awarded Distinguished
Service Medals for their actions. The similarities between the boiler
room fire on board LÉ Cliona in 1962, and the engine
room fire on board LÉ Aisling in 1981 was also
reviewed. Following the Aisling enquiry, a recommendation
for an award to Lieut. Pat O’Mahony and Able Stoker
Mynes for their actions in fighting the fire on
board LÉ Cliona 1962 was also submitted. However, no
further action was taken in their case by the
Department of Defence.
LE Cliona Crew List:
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie/LE-Cliona-Crewlist.29.05.1962.html
LÉ Cliona Crew Log:
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie/LE-Cliona-Log.29.05.1962.html
Friday 25th Sept 2020: Seascapes,
RTÉ Radio One, Maritime Programme:
In discussion with Fergal Keane, Bill Mynes, ex Able Stoker LÉ Cliona
(Discharged Petty Officer Stoker 1964) recalls the boiler room fire on board
the Corvette following a premature depth charge explosion during a live
firing exercise while at sea on the 29th May 1962:
https://fb.watch/eokCpkj2IN/
LÉ Cliona Fire Revisited: RTE Film:
Recorded 29th May 1962:
https://fb.watch/eol3Bdw3cN/
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/LECliona
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