Ceremony honors US soldiers who died off Scottish coast

By: The Associated Press

Friday, May 4, 2018 4:25 AM

LONDON (AP) Relatives of U.S. soldiers who died in two sea disasters off the coast of Scotland during World War I have traveled to the island of Islay for a service honoring those who were lost and the local people who rescued the survivors.

The ceremony commemorates the sinking of two troop carriers, the SS Tuscania in February 1918 and the HMS Otranto eight months later. Some 700 U.S. servicemen and British crew members lost their lives.

The Tuscania was on its way from New Jersey to Liverpool when it was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank between Islay and Northern Ireland. HMS Otranto sank after a collision with another ship.

Residents of the islands of Islay and Jura rescued the survivors and buried many of the dead.

Ceremony honors US soldiers who died off Scottish coast

In this photo taken on Thursday May 3, 2018, former NATO Secretary General George Robertson holds a wreath prior to throwing it in the sea close to the wreck of the SS Tuscania which sank in 1918 off the coast of Islay, Scotland. A service has been held at sea to remember around 700 WWI soldiers who lost their lives in the sinking of two US ships off the coast of a small Scottish island. The SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto sunk off the coast of Islay within eight months of each other in 1918. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Thursday May 3, 2018, Nick Hide, Lynne Vandertie, John Roberts, Morvern McPhee and Mark Jabbusch, descendants of the crew and survivors from the HMS Otranto disaster which sank in 1918 off the coast of Islay, walk along Kilchoman beach, Scotland. A service has been held at sea to remember around 700 WWI soldiers who lost their lives in the sinking of two US ships off the coast of a small Scottish island. The SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto sunk off the coast of Islay within eight months of each other in 1918. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Thursday May 3, 2018, former NATO Secretary General George Robertson throws a wreath into the sea close to the wreck of the SS Tuscania which sank in 1918 off the coast of Islay, Scotland. A service has been held at sea to remember around 700 WWI soldiers who lost their lives in the sinking of two US ships off the coast of a small Scottish island. The SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto sunk off the coast of Islay within eight months of each other in 1918. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Thursday May 3, 2018, Jenni Minto from the Museum of Islay Life, left, and Jennifer Jones from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC stand alongside the flag made 100 years ago on the island of Islay, Scotland. The flag was made for the US crew members who lost their lives in the SS Tuscania disaster, which sank in 1918 off the coast of Islay. A service has been held at sea to remember around 700 WWI soldiers who lost their lives in the sinking of two US ships off the coast of a small Scottish island. The SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto sunk off the coast of Islay within eight months of each other in 1918. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

The Associated Press

In this photo taken on Thursday May 3, 2018, Nick Hide places a cross at the grave of his grandfather, Captain Ernest Davidson, who died in the HMS Otranto disaster which sank off the coast of Islay in 1918, in the graveyard alongside Kilchoman beach, Scotland. A service has been held at sea to remember around 700 WWI soldiers who lost their lives in the sinking of two US ships off the coast of a small Scottish island. The SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto sunk off the coast of Islay within eight months of each other in 1918. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

The Associated Press