The Mystery of the Casement Ship

Summary

The Mystery of the Casement Ship recounts one of the most extraordinary and explosive episodes of the Irish Easter Rising. In 1916, working with the Irish revolutionary Sir Roger Casement, Germany sent a captured British merchant ship disguised as a Norwegian tramp steamer named the Aud to Ireland to deliver guns and ammunition to rebels planning the Easter uprising. The crew of the Aud, comprising men of the German Navy, braved British warships, hurricanes, the ever-present threat of submarines, and the looming knowledge that they could be summarily executed if caught, to make their rendezvous. What happened when they got there—and the aftermath—are discussed, analyzed, celebrated, and commemorated to the present day. This first-person account of the Aud’s ill-fated mission unfolds in the words of the ship’s captain, Reserve-Lieutenant Karl Spindler of the German Navy. The Mystery of the Casement Ship is a must-listening for any history lover.