The Tuscania and Otranto in the First World War

The waters around Islay are subject to numerous shipwrecks. The museum of Islay Life has detailed records of almost all the ships that were sunk in these treacherous waters. Probably the best remembered tragedy happened in 1918 when the Tuscania sunk before the cliffs of the Oa. The Tuscania, a passenger liner, was on its way from New Jersey to the coast of France with 2,000 American soldiers and a crew of more than 300. At Halifax, Nova Scotia, they joined a convoy and entered the British waters between Islay and Northern Ireland on the 5th of February. The convoy was followed by a UB-77 German submarine which torpedoed the Tuscania. The direct hit on the Tuscania resulted in heavy damage and the Tuscania sunk after a few hours, 7 miles off the Islay coast near the Oa peninsula. An estimated 230 lives were lost in this tragedy.

A few months later on October 6 1918, another tragedy occured only a few miles from the place where the Tuscania sunk. The HMS Otranto was carrying troops from New York to Glasgow when it collided with the steamship HMS Kashmir during a heavy storm. The Otranto was severely damaged and drifted towards the shore where it was wrecked near Machir Bay. More than 400 lifes were lost in this tragedy. Many of the killed soldiers are buried on Islay and on other islands where they were washed ashore.

Close to Machir Bay, near the ruined Kilchoman church, is one of the graveyards where victims from the Tuscania and Otranto are buried. In 1920 the famous landmark at the south west tip of the Oa was erected to remember the lives that were lost in these terrible tragedies.

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