IT was the moment the tragedy of the First World War struck home for the small Hebridean island community of Islay.
One hundred years ago, the SS Tuscania was torpedoed off the island's coast, leading to the deaths of hundreds of American troops and British crew members.
Today, locals gathered to commemorate those who lost their lives in the disaster, as well as those who survived and the valiant efforts of the local community to save them.
Carrying more than 2,000 US Army personnel to fight alongside the Allies on the battlefields in Europe, the Tuscania had been travelling from New Jersey to Liverpool when it was attacked by German submarine UB-77.
The Royal Navy managed to save some 1,800 men, but around 210 drowned, with many washing up on the islands shore.
After the war, the American bodies were reinterred at Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial in Surrey or repatriated to the US.
To mark the centenary, piper Isobel Ferguson lead a full day of commemoration at the American Monument on the Mull of Oa.
Following the performance, pupils of the Port Ellen primary School Gaelic Choir sang at soldier Private Roy Muncaster’s grave -- the only US serviceman still buried on the island -- before moving to a reception at local hotel where survivors of the sinking were billeted.
The event is part of a year-long programme, WW100 Islay, marking the island’s contribution to the First World War, the sinking of the SS Tuscania and a later sinking the same year of the troop carrier HMS Otranto.
Event chair, Jenni Minto, said: “Today was a very fitting local tribute to those lost in the SS Tuscania disaster. In addition to remembering the soldiers and crew who lost their lives in these two tragedies the Islay 100 programme recognises the contribution made by the local community to the rescue of survivors and its dedication to respectfully burying the casualties.
“At the time, Islay had a population of around 6,000, approximately 1,000 of whom went to war. Sadly over 200 did not return and the impact on the community was significant. Our aim is to leave a lasting legacy that can be revisited by individuals and communities in the future. Today’s event has set the tone nicely for the rest of the island’s programme of commemorations.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here