Capt. John O'Neill

Captain John O'Neill, Captain John Herbert, Captain E.C.G.Horne

Captain John O'Neill When Capt. John O'Neill (pictured right) of Wexford was appointed as Irish Shipping Limited representative in Canada and the United States on 20th November, 1941, he became the first full-time employee of the company. He was based at St. John, New Brunswick, and his duties included arranging and supervising the repair of company ships and arranging for stores and provisions for the ships and maintaining close contact with the company's Masters and Agents at United States and Canadian ports. In November, 1942, Capt. O'Neill was recalled to Head Office as General Superintendent and retained this position throughout the war years. In 1948, he became Joint General Manager of the company, with Liam S. Furlong, a position he held until his retirement in 1961.

John O'Neill began his seafaring career as a very young boy in 1905 when he went to sea in ships owned by the Stafford family in his native Wexford. His subsequent career was both colourful and, at times, extremely dangerous. He served on various types of sailing vessels ranging from schooners to full-rigged ships. In 1912, he obtained his Master's Certificate for square- rigged ships and was one of very few men in Ireland to do so. The last two sailing ships on which he served were full rigged and the second of them, the Cromdale, was driven ashore off the Lizard in Cornwall whilst on passage to Australia. The vessel became a total loss but, fortunately, the crew, including the then Second Officer, John O'Neill, were rescued by the Cadgwith lifeboat.

In 1915, he joined the Reardon Smith Line of Cardiff and began an association with that company which was to last for his entire working life. As Gunnery Officer on the Eastern City, during the First World War, he experienced the grim reality of war. His ship was shelled by a submarine but he responded himself as Gunnery Officer and his firing was so effective that the enemy submarine was sunk. In recognition of his part in the encounter, he was awarded the Military Medal but he refused to accept the honour. In December, 1923, he was Master on the Jersey City when another merchant vessel, the Indian City, became disabled in the Pacific Ocean and he took the distressed ship in tow and brought her some 2,160 miles across the Pacific to San Francisco. That was reported to be the longest distance that any merchant ship was towed by another merchant vessel. Subsequently, John O'Neill came ashore and was appointed Chartering Manager with the firm of Comyn & Co. of Seattle but, in 1928, he rejoined Reardon Smith Line as ship's Master. However, in 1935 he came ashore once again to supervise the building and repair of Reardon Smith vessels in shipyards along the north-east coast of England. It was his experience in this capacity which, later, made him such an invaluable source of expertise in dealing with the many difficulties which presented themselves in maintaining the old and badly equipped wartime fleet of Irish Shipping Limited.

In 1938, he was back at sea in command of the Reardon Smith vessel, the Cornish City and it was during his time on this ship that he became involved in one of the outstanding naval encounters of the Second World War. The Cornish City was the commodore ship of the Jervis Bay convoy carrying Admiral Maltby. The convoy was attacked by the German pocket-battleship, Admiral Scheer, and the ships of the convoy were ordered to scatter. Capt. O'Neill saw the Jervis Bay, commanded by another Irishman, Capt. Fogarty-Fegan, sail into the crippling gunfire of the German cruiser in a gallant bid to save the convoy. The Jervis Bay was sunk and her Captain was subsequently given a posthumous decoration for bravery in the face of certain death. As a result of the Jervis Bay action, only six of the thirty seven ships in the convoy were sunk by the German raider. The Cornish City was subsequently torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine on 29th July, 1943, south east of Madagascar, with the loss of the Master and thirty six of the ship's forty two crewmembers.

Prior to his death in February, 1970, Capt. John O'Neill was presented with the Asgard Award by the Irish Naval Association in recognition of his outstanding service to Irish maritime affairs. Perhaps the story of an exchange between Capt. W. G. Hickman and Capt. O'Neill, provides a fitting perspective both on the company's wartime fleet and on the two gentlemen involved. To those who knew both men, they were ' larger than life' characters and the story was not at all improbable.

The exchange is said to have occurred as both men were seated together in the company car bringing them back to Head Office from the Irish Cedar, then berthed at Dublin port. It was immediately after an incident in which the vessel's steam steering gear had failed on passage from St. John to Dublin and Capt. Hickman was holding forth at great length on the ship's many and varied defects. In a somewhat acerbic retort, Capt. O'Neill remarked " Maybe you should report the matter to the Receiver of Wrecks " and just as sharply Capt. Hickman replied " I am, I'm reporting it to you". The "Receiver of Wreck" , to give that Official the correct title, is the official responsible for all wreckage salved on the coastline or at sea and brought into port.

The vacancy created by Capt. O'Neill's recall to Ireland in November, 1942, was later filled by Capt. John Herbert, Master of the Irish Fir, who was appointed company representative at St. John on 30th August, 1943. Capt. Herbert subsequently returned to Dublin in January, 1945, and served in the company's Operations Department and later was appointed Dock Superintendent at Dublin.

Capt. E. C. G. Horne, from Cobh, Co. Cork, a serving ship Master with the company, was appointed representative at St. John in March, 1945, and later he moved office to New York where he represented Irish Shipping Limited until March, 1948. He then returned to Dublin where he took up duty as Dock Superintendent until he was appointed Senior Master with the company in August, 1950. He was given command of the Irish Plane and in March, 1951, Capt. Horne was still Master of the vessel when the Irish Plane became the first company ship to visit Australia, arriving there just ahead of the Irish Hazel under the command of Capt. J. P. Kelly.