The ceremony paid tribute to the dead from the Otranto and to the islanders.
Islanders and descendants of American soldiers and British crewmen who died when HMS Otranto sank off Islay gathered to pay their respects on the centenary of the First World War’s worst convoy disaster. Carrying American soldiers to fight alongside the Allies, HMS Otranto sank on October 6, 1918, near Machir Bay, on the west coast of the island, after a collision with HMS Kashmir.
Around 500 men – US soldiers and British crew members – were thrown into the water, of whom only 19 survived. The tragedy came just eight months after the SS Tuscania was torpedoed near the island, with around 200 men perishing. On both occasions, the people of Islay rescued and cared for the survivors and buried the dead.