MV Kerlogue

MV Kerlogue, passing Dalkey Island, from an oil painting by Kenneth King
History
Ireland
Name:	Kerlogue
Owner:	Wexford Steamship Company
Port of registry:	Wexford
Builder:	Rotterdam
Launched:	1938
Fate:	wrecked off Tromsø in 1960
General characteristics
Tonnage:	335
Length:	142 ft (43 m)
Deck clearance:	1 ft (0.30 m)
Crew:	11

The MV Kerlogue has become the exemplar of neutral Irish ships during World War II. She was very small. She was attacked by both sides and rescued people from both sides. She was almost sunk by a German mine and was strafed by the Royal Air Force, being left for dead. She rescued the Wild Rose of Liverpool and the survivors of the German destroyer Z27 and its escort, the survivors of which, in the latter case, were brought back to Ireland and interned until the end of hostilities.

Transport within Ireland was very difficult in the aftermath of the Anglo-Irish War (1919–1921) and the subsequent Civil War (1921–1922). The road network had been neglected since World War I. Vital railway bridges had been blown-up by anti-Treaty forces during the civil war. It was therefore, often, faster and more economic to transport goods around the coast, rather than by road or rail. Coasters fulfilled this need. The MV Kerlogue was such a coaster.

At the outbreak of World War II Ireland found itself with an inadequate number of ships. The number of ships had been declining, from 127 in 1923 to 56 in September 1939. Most of Ireland's international trade was carried on British Flagged vessels; with the outbreak of the war, most of these were no longer available. The United States ordered its ships not to enter the ''. As Irish-bound cargos were brought as far as Portugal, ships such as the Kerlogue found themselves on voyages for which they were not intended.

The usual route was to carry Irish agricultural exports to Britain. There they were refuelled and took on a British export to Spain or Portugal; often coal for the Lisbon electric power station. They travelled along the line of longitude at 12° West, while Allied convoys to Gibraltar were 20° West. Having discharged that export, they would collect the American cargo and return with it. Typical cargoes would have been: fertiliser, agricultural machinery, or wheat. If the American goods had not arrived, a "cargo of opportunity", such as wheat or fruit, was purchased.