Captain Fryatt and the crew of the SS Brussels in 1914.
A Great Eastern Railway Steam Ship built in 1902 Gourlay Brothers Ship Builders of Dundee, for the Harwich-Antwerp service. She was fitted with wireless telegraphy and submarine signalling.
Captured by German Naval Forces 23rd June 1916. Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt was executed and the male members of the crew interned as civilian prisoners of war. The female stewardesses were released after a few weeks.
A Great Eastern Railway Steam Ship built in 1902 Gourlay Brothers Ship Builders of Dundee, for the Harwich-Antwerp service. She was fitted with wireless telegraphy and submarine signalling.
Captured by German Naval Forces 23rd June 1916. Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt was executed and the male members of the crew interned as civilian prisoners of war. The female stewardesses were released after a few weeks.
SS Brussels with railway carriages in the snow at the Pier, Harwich around 1912.
Built in 1902 by Gourlay Bros., Dundee (Yard No.202) for the Great Eastern Railway Co., Harwich. She was 1,380 grt and measured 285 x 34 x 15½ ft. Powered by two 3 cylinder triple expansion engines driving two propellers she was capable of 16½knots. She entered service in May 1902 on the Harwich Antwerp route.
This boat was later sunk in World War one with Captain Fryatt murdered by the Germans.
Postcode for the nearest location is CO12 3DA click here for Google Earth imagery.
SS Brussels with railway carriages in the snow at the Pier, Harwich around 1912.
Built in 1902 by Gourlay Bros., Dundee (Yard No.202) for the Great Eastern Railway Co., Harwich. She was 1,380 grt and measured 285 x 34 x 15½ ft. Powered by two 3 cylinder triple expansion engines driving two propellers she was capable of 16½knots. She entered service in May 1902 on the Harwich Antwerp route.
This boat was later sunk in World War one with Captain Fryatt murdered by the Germans.
Postcode for the nearest location is CO12 3DA click here for Google Earth imagery.
The S.S. Brussels captured in June 1916, with Captain C A Fryatt & First Officer W.Hartnell
This postcard may well show one of the last photographs taken of Captain Fryatt, later murdered by the Germans in 1916. Although of only poor quality, it shows Captain Fryatt, just behind First Officer W.Hartnell in the gangway of the S.S. Brussels, which was captured on the 24th/25th June 1916. Other members of the crew can be seen, as well as an armed German guard aboard the ship. The so called "court-martial" was held at Bruges Town Hall, at which he was found guilty of being a franc-tireur and sentenced to death four weeks later on the 27th July 1916.
The Captain & Hero
Captain Charles Fryatt
It is almost 100 years since the Southampton sailor was captured and executed by the Germans for his daring exploits during W.W.1. Captain Charles Fryatt is still regarded as a hero in Belgium and England. Charles Fryatt was the master of the British merchant ship, SS Brussels and was en route from Rotterdam to Southampton in 1916 when he was stopped by a German torpedo boat and subsequently interned in Zeebrugge, Belgium. He was arrested when the enemy discovered that he had received a decoration from the British Admiralty for showing courage while trying to sink a U-boat the year before.
It is almost 100 years since the Southampton sailor was captured and executed by the Germans for his daring exploits during W.W.1. Captain Charles Fryatt is still regarded as a hero in Belgium and England. Charles Fryatt was the master of the British merchant ship, SS Brussels and was en route from Rotterdam to Southampton in 1916 when he was stopped by a German torpedo boat and subsequently interned in Zeebrugge, Belgium. He was arrested when the enemy discovered that he had received a decoration from the British Admiralty for showing courage while trying to sink a U-boat the year before.
His ship HMS Brussels had regularly plied to Rotterdam from the UK since the outbreak of war and he was regarded as a thorn in the side of the German Navy. The Germans tried twice in March 1915 to sink his ship without success and during the first attack he evaded a U-boat and sailed back to England to a hero's welcome and the ships owners rewarded him with a gold watch.
A further attempt to sink him was made on 28 March but again the U-boat was spotted while surfacing and trying to line a torpedo shot on the ship. Captain Fryatt immediately spun the helm over and bore down on the submarine forcing it to crash dive out of the way. It never reappeared and Captain Fryatt was awarded another gold watch, this time from the Admiralty.
For another 15 months he continued on his route until a flotilla of German E-Boats trapped him and took him prisoner. A court martial was held in Bruges and some records show that he was convicted even before the trial took place and then condemned to death.
He was executed that same evening and was buried in a small churchyard on the outskirts of Bruges where the Germans buried Belgian 'traitors'.
Captain Fryatt was in the employ of the Great Eastern Railway at the time.
For more information follow this link click here
A further attempt to sink him was made on 28 March but again the U-boat was spotted while surfacing and trying to line a torpedo shot on the ship. Captain Fryatt immediately spun the helm over and bore down on the submarine forcing it to crash dive out of the way. It never reappeared and Captain Fryatt was awarded another gold watch, this time from the Admiralty.
For another 15 months he continued on his route until a flotilla of German E-Boats trapped him and took him prisoner. A court martial was held in Bruges and some records show that he was convicted even before the trial took place and then condemned to death.
He was executed that same evening and was buried in a small churchyard on the outskirts of Bruges where the Germans buried Belgian 'traitors'.
Captain Fryatt was in the employ of the Great Eastern Railway at the time.
For more information follow this link click here
The S.S. Brussels & it's recovery
Great Eastern Railway Steamer the SS Brussels ashore at Felixstowe, Suffolk in April 1907
- This was the boat that was later captained by Captain Charles Fryatt, who was murdered by the Germans during WW1 and buried in Parkeston.The Great Eastern Railway steamer Brussels went ashore on the Felixstowe side of Harwich Harbour shortly before 11 o'clock on Wednesday night during thick fog. Captain Smith, of the Brussels, in his report yesterday morning stated that the Brussels left Parkeston Quay at 10 o'clock, and when in the vicinity of Fagborough buoy ran into a thick fog. No buoys or lights could be seen, and the vessel took ground on the north side of the harbour. The position of the Brussels was not serious, as she was on soft mud, and it as expected that she would come off at high tide yesterday morning. The Great Eastern Railway steamer Clacton and the tugs Rescue, Dauntless and Foam were in attendance, and the passengers, 60 in number, were still on board. The Brussels was bound for Antwerp.
- Later messages yesterday said that the passengers had been transferred to the tug Dauntless, and conveyed to Parkeston to await last night’s Antwerp boat. It was feared that a portion of the cargo would have to be removed if the Brussels was to be floated by this morning’s tide. The vessel is not seriously damaged.
Funeral & Memorials
Captain Fryatt funeral procession, Dovercourt, July 7th 1919
At the end of WW1, the bodies of only three heroes were ever brought back to England and given state funerals; those of the nurse Edith Cavell, the Unknown Warrior and British Merchant Navy Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt.
Charles was executed by the Germans in 1916, for attempting to ram a U-boat, which was about to torpedo his ship, the "SS Brussels". Charles referred to as "The Martyr of Bruges" simply tried to save his passengers, crew and ship, by attempting to ram a German submarine, he was later captured off Zeebrugge & sent to an internment camp near Berlin, before being returned to Bruges to be court martialled and sentenced to death.
At the end of WW1, the bodies of only three heroes were ever brought back to England and given state funerals; those of the nurse Edith Cavell, the Unknown Warrior and British Merchant Navy Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt.
Charles was executed by the Germans in 1916, for attempting to ram a U-boat, which was about to torpedo his ship, the "SS Brussels". Charles referred to as "The Martyr of Bruges" simply tried to save his passengers, crew and ship, by attempting to ram a German submarine, he was later captured off Zeebrugge & sent to an internment camp near Berlin, before being returned to Bruges to be court martialled and sentenced to death.