From sea to shining sea - Maritime Cork

Huh? Maritime Cork? Have you been drinking too much? Just look at the map, Cork is nowhere near the sea. Nope, I'm still in full command of my mental and physical abilities. Hey, you two over there in Speyer!! Stop giggling!

Seriously though, Cork's maritime side is not always obvious, but it is this city's past as a port that enabled it to become the second city in Ireland, right behind Dublin. And even today, maritime trade is a major factor for the economy of Cork.

Looking at a map of Cork, it is pretty obvious that the city is pretty far away from the open ocean. Granted, the lower reaches of the River Lee are navigable, hell, parts of the Port of Cork are built on it, but it is still a long way from the sea. If it wasn't for Cork Harbour. It claims the title of the second largest navigable natural harbour in the world behind Sydney, Australia. How much of that is true, and how much is just the work of the Port of Cork PR department is open to debate. 

What is undebatable is that this harbour is pretty damn big, stretching from the western parts of Cork City to Roches Point on the Atlantic and the aptly named East Ferry and Ballinacura on its eastern reaches. The tidal pull from the Atlantic is still very much present even in the western parts of the city, and there are few parts of the city where you have to walk more than a couple of minutes to get a view of the port.
But what kind of port is that, now? 
Well, to anyone who's been to Rotterdam, Hamburg or Bremerhaven, the Port of Cork is not really remarkable. whereas you will have no problems seeing 200 metre behemoths in downtown Hamburg, you'll struggle to find that here in Cork. Hey, at high tide, even the rather modest 84-metre L.E. Eithne, an Irish Naval Service Corvette, is an imposing sight.

Why is that gun turret pointing at me???

However, there is more to the port than immediately hits the eye. Granted, Horgans Quay, where the ships in the picture above are moored, the triangular Customs House Quay, and the grain elevators of Kennedy Quay and the South Jetties are the most visible signs that Cork is a maritime City. These, however, are but part of a large number of terminals, docks and quays stretching all along the lower River Lee all the way to the mouth of Cork harbour.

A Cork suburb with the unlikely name of Tivoli is the home of the main Container Terminal in  Cork, capable of handling ships of up to 150 meters in length. Further downriver is the town of Passage West, a name firmly lodged in Irish maritime history. It was the birthplace of the first Irish steam ship, built in 1815, just a couple of years after a certain French wannabe emperor named Napoleon dismissed the idea with the elegant, though entirely un-French phrase "I have no time for such nonsense!"
Passage Wests current state of affairs is much removed from its past grandeur, having been relegated to the home of a bulk terminal, a ferry landing, and an altogether unremarkable suburb of Cork.
Even further downriver, or rather down the bay, is the town of Cobh, formerly known as Queenstown. This town just oozes history. The big names of the transatlantic liner business, Cunard, White Star, and all the other big names used to have offices here. It was here, where hundreds of thousands of irish emigrants made that big step into the unknown, fleeing their impoverished, starving homeland and hoping for a better life in the New World. It is no coincidence that the first immigrant at New Yorks infamous Ellis Island immigration facility embarked in Queenstown.
More prominently, the town was also the last port of call for the most famous transatlantic liner of all, the RMS Titanic. A few lucky souls managed to leave her here, while many more souls boarded the proud ship for her fateful crossing. Many of those ho embarked at Queenstown never made it off the ship on that horrible night.

Only a few years later, Queenstown would be the scene of yet another tragedy. In 1915, the liner Lusitania went down off the Old Head of Kinsale after being hit by a torpedo launched from the German Submarine U-21, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Walter Schwieger. The survivors of the Lusitania were brought ashore both in Kinsale and Queenstown. It was the largest loss of civilian life in wartime at sea so far, and would remain that way until the Sinking of the liners Steuben, Wilhelm Gustloff and Goya in the next world war. It is also seen as the event that tipped the scales over in America, and one of the factors that led the country into World War 1 two years later. When that happened, Queenstown once again took center stage with the arrival of Division 8 of the US Navy Destroyer Force under Rear Admiral Joseph Taussig. The ships came to the aid of the beleaguered Royal Navy, which was at that time in over its head with stopping German U Boat attacks in the Atlantic.
After the misery of the war years and the turmoil of Irish independence, Queenstown, now called Cobh, turned to peaceful matters, resuming its role as the last jumping off point on the transatlantic run, before the rise of the jetliner brought an end to that era.
Modern day Cobh has however seen a renaissance of the big ships, as it is the site of Irelands only dedicated cruise terminal. However, for landbound tourists, it is advisable to give the town a wide berth, as the city is absolutely overrun then.

Just off the Cobh shoreline is the last remaining dedicated reserve for grey hulls in Ireland. Haulbowline Island is the Headquarters of the Naval Service of the Irish Defence Forces. The island, which had been used as a dockyard by the Royal Navy until Irish Independence, is the homeport of all eight active warships of the Irish Navy, a force which is dedicated to a maritime policing role in Irish waters, without any power projection ambitions. This shows in the armament of the ships, none of which are currently armed with missiles, torpedos, or any other form of guided weaponry except for their main gun. Occasionally, these ships make their way to Cork for port visits.

We've seen her a couple of times before. The L.E. Eithne is the flagship and the largest vessel  of the Irish Navy. It is also the only vessel in the service that can embark helicopters, although the helicopter type used for that has since been retired.

The armament above, a 5,7cm gun by Bofors is typical of the ships of the Irish navy. The photos were taken during the Port of Cork open day at the end of August.

From the largest we now come to the fastest. The L.E. Ciara, a Peacock class patrol vessel has the  reputation of being the fastest ship in the fleet. Her nickname, Road Runner, reinforces that claim.

The frontal view of the L.E. Ciara betrays her heritage. Together with her Peacock Class sister ships, she was built for the Royal Navy to serve in the prestigious Hong Kong Patrol Squadron. A total of five ships were built, two now serving in the Irish Navy, while three other ships of the type are in service with the woefully underequipped navy of the Philippines.

The "business end" of the L.E. Ciara is the ubiquitous Oto Melara  7,6 cm Super Rapid gun.

Being so close to the headquarters of the Irish Navy, Cork Harbour sees its fair share of naval visitors. Sometimes, these open for visitors, mostly though, they are just here either for joint excercises, exchange of experiences, or just as a stopping point on a transatlantic voyage. In those few months that I've been able to see visitors from three nations call in Cork.

Well well, look who has come over to visit... 

Oh Sh*t... THE RUSSIANS ARE HERE

The guided missile destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov was  on her way back to Severomorsk from anti piracy operations off Somalia and maneuvers with the Syrian Navy. She made a courtesy call in Ireland on the way.

One of the ships two Kamov Ka-27 Helix helicopters. They are used for Anti Submarine Warfare and missile targeting.

Well, that is a sight you don't see every day...

Another view of the Ka-27.

Whether it is the two 10cm guns on the forecastle, the two quadruple launchers for SS-N-14 anti ship missiles, the eight vertical launchers for SA-N-9 SAMs or the two quadruple torpedo mountings, one of which is seen here. This ship alone has more firepower than the entire Irish Naval Service.

You gotta admit though, she is a sleek ship.

This ship isn't quite as heavily armed. The L.E. Niamh, the newest ship in the Irish fleet, seen here at Haulbowline Island, is already a veteran. She took part in the rescue of the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi, formerly HMS Upholder, after a fire had severely damaged the sub on her way from the UK to Canada. She also played a key part in Operation Seabight, in which the ship intercepted cocaine worth 750 million Euros.

These guys weren't so keen on publicity. Three River class offshore patrol vessels of the Royal Navy made a quick visit to Cork this fall. Given that British military personnel still are not really popular with parts of the Irish population, these ships were moored at a remote part of the South Deepwater Jetties

These two were not that shy. However, the two Leopard class training ships of the French Navy were still not open for visitors. They called at Cork as part of a training cruise in late September.

That's enough grey hulls for now. Even with these fleet visits, Cork is still a predominantly civilian port. While it may not rank up there with Hamburg, Rotterdam, or Shanghai, it still sees a respectable amount of traffic, and has regular links to all major European ports, Central America and West Africa. I'll end this post in that style, with a number of impressions of the Port of Cork.

Some guys just want to catch your attention...

These guys seldom make headlines, but the truth is that every port would grind to a halt without tugboats like the Gerry O'Sullivan

I just wish it was always just plain sailing like this.

The Celtic Explorer, a state owned and operated research vessel, regularly calls at Cork.

They may not look like much, but they are the main source of traffic in the port.