A Most Unlikely Hero
The following notice was published in Dutch, French and German and signed by Admiral Ludwig von Schroder, Admiral Commandant of the German Naval Corps, in the Belgian town of Bruges on 27th July 1916: “The English captain of a merchant ship, Charles Fryatt of Southampton, though he did not belong to the armed forces of the enemy, attempted on March 28th 1915, to destroy a German submarine by running it down. For this he has been condemned to death and has been executed. A ruthless deed has thus been avenged, belatedly but just.”
Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt was born on 2nd December 1872 at Southampton, the second son of Charles and Mary Fryatt. His father held a first mate’s certificate in the Merchant Navy and after many years travelling the world obtained employment with the Great Eastern Railway (G.E.R.) at Parkeston Quay, Harwich, Essex.
Young Charles was educated at the local corporation school and on leaving school followed in his father’s footsteps. He joined the service of the G.E.R. in 1892 as a seaman on board the SS Ipswich. Charles (who married Ethel Towend on 2nd November 1896) passed the necessary certificates of competency until he became Master of the SS Colchester on the service between Antwerp and Harwich, and in 1913 of the SS Newmarket on the Rotterdam to Harwich cargo route. By 1915, and the war with Germany having reached a high point, he had made 143 passages across the North Sea. This was in spite of enemy submarines, aircraft, warships and mines, and unlit coastlines and an absence of navigation buoys.
On 2nd March 1915, Captain Fryatt was in command of the G.E.R’S SS Wrexham when it was attacked by a German U-boat. His ship was chased for 40 miles. With deck crew assisting the stokers, the vessel achieved an astonishing 16 knots, more than two knots faster than the ship’s normal speed. When the ship arrived in Rotterdam the heat from the boilers had burned and blistered the paint on both funnels. Captain Fryatt made clear to his crew, who were black with coal dust, that had it not been for their work the ship would not have escaped. His feat of seamanship was recognised by the Great Eastern Railway who presented him with a gold watch. The watch was inscribed: “Presented to Captain C A Fryatt by the Chairman and Directors of the G E Railway Company as a mark of their appreciation of his courage and skilful seamanship on March 2nd 1915.”
Three weeks later, on 28th March, now captain of SS Brussels (pictured), when near the Maas Lightvessel, he was ordered to stop by another U-boat, U-33. Seeing the U-boat surface Captain Fryatt ordered both engines “Full Ahead” and proceeded to try and ram the enemy submarine, forcing it to crash dive. As the safety of his ship was dependent on keeping the submarine submerged he altered course for the exact place where he had seen it dive. Although the captain did not feel the ship striking the submarine, one stoker reported a bumping sensation under the keel of the ship. After it had passed from starboard to port under the ship it partially surfaced close enough so that, as Captain Fryatt reported, “you could easily have hung your hat on the periscope as she lay alongside us”. The U-boat then disappeared and was never seen again.
For his bravery in this second action Captain Fryatt was awarded a gold watch by the Admiralty with the inscription: “Presented by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Chas. Algernon Fryatt Master of SS Brussels in recognition of the example set by that vessel when attacked by a German submarine on March 28th 1915.” Fryatt was also praised in the House of Commons and presented with a certificate on vellum. The First Officer and Chief Engineer also received gold watches from the Admiralty.
A year later, on 25th June 1916, the Brussels left the Hook of Holland bound for Harwich. Shortly afterwards lights were noticed on the beach and a flare was fired. It was later believed that a passenger, probably a German spy, had remained on deck to confirm the identity of the ship. Two German torpedo boats, G101 and G102, sped out to the ship forcing it to stop. The passengers were told to be prepared to take to the lifeboats and orders given for all official papers and codes to be destroyed. Armed German sailors swarmed on board, rounding up the officers and crew. A German flag was hoisted and the boarding party steamed the ship to Zeebrugge, a Belgian port controlled by the Germans, before sailing up the canal to Bruges. From there Fryatt and his crew were sent to a civilian internment camp at Ruhleben, near Berlin.
On 27th July 1916, after three weeks of interrogation, Captain Fryatt stood before a court martial held in Bruges town hall facing the following charge: “Although he was not a member of combat force, he made an attempt on 28th March 1915 to ram the German submarine U33 near the Maas Lightship. Had Captain Fryatt either during interrogation or at his trial stated he was acting under Admiralty instructions in heading for an enemy submarine with the view to escaping, the court would not have condemned him, the German code giving protection to an enemy in these circumstances.” The engraving on his watch was cited as proof of participation in the action.
All Fryatt would say in his defence was “I have done nothing wrong”. At 3pm the court found him guilty of being a “franc-tireur” — an irregular soldier, or terrorist — and sentenced him to death. The sentence was confirmed by the Kaiser. Two hours later he was taken from his cell, tied to a post and shot by firing squad, receiving 16 bullet wounds. He was buried in a small cemetery just outside Bruges that the Germans used for burying Belgian “traitors”.
In Britain, the news of the trial and sentence aroused a storm of protest. In the House of Commons on 31st July 1916, the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith issued a statement: “I deeply regret that it appears true that Captain Fryatt has been murdered by the Germans. His Majesty’s Government has heard with the utmost indignation of this atrocious crime against the laws of nations and the usages of war. It shows that the German High Command, under the stress of military defeat, have renewed their policy of terrorism.”
The Imperial Merchant Service Guild called it the most despicable crime yet perpetrated by Germany. Lord Claud Hamilton MP, Chairman of the G.E.R., called the execution “sheer, brutal murder”. In the United States, the New York Times denounced the execution as “A deliberate murder”. In Holland, a newspaper wrote: “A cowardly murder inspired by hatred and revenge” and the Dutch branch of the League of Neutral States presented the G.E.R. with a memorial tablet which was erected on Liverpool Street Station and unveiled on 27th July 1917, exactly a year after Fryatt’s execution.
King George V wrote a letter to Mrs. Fryatt expressing his indignation and abhorrence at the execution of her husband. He added: “The action of Captain Fryatt in defending his ship against the attack of an enemy submarine was a noble instance of the resource and self-reliance so characteristic of his profession.”
The G.E.R. awarded Fryatt’s widow a pension of £250 per annum. The Government granted an extra £100 per annum pension on top of her entitlement and Fyratt’s insurers paid the £300 that Mrs. Fryatt was entitled to immediately, dispensing with the usual formalities.the Royal Merchant Seaman’s Orphange offered to educate two of Fryatt’s seven children.
The Brussels was taken over by the Kaiserliche Marine and renamed Brugge. On 23rd April 1918 the Zeebrugge raid took place and the ship was torpedoed several times by the British, but did not sink. Brugge was eventually scuttled by the Germans on 28th October 1918 when the port was evacuated. After the war the wreck was salvaged and handed back to the British Government who sold the ship at auction for £31,000, donating the money to a charity to commemorate Captain Fryatt. Subsequently repaired and renamed Lady Brussels the ship was employed on the Dublin to Liverpool route making her last crossing on 19th April 1929 before being broken up.
In 1919, as a final tribute to Captain Fryatt, his body was exhumed and returned to the the United Kingom for reburial. On 7th July 1919 it was transported by the destroyer HMS Orpheus to Dover from where it was carried to Charing Cross station by special train and placed on a gun carriage drawn by Royal Navy sailors, accompanied by a Royal Marines band, to St. Paul’s Cathedral. The following day his funeral was held with hundreds of merchant seamen and widows of merchant seamen and fishermen attending. The Government was represented by members of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, the Cabinet and the War Office. After the service the coffin was taken to Liverpool Street Station, where the G.E.R’S massed bands were playing funeral music, before being put on board a special train waiting to take Charles Fryatt home. At many stations down the line, reverent crowds assembled to pay their last respects.
At Harwich thousands of people lined the route from the station to All Saints’ Church, Dovercourt, where a second funeral service, conducted by the Bishop of Chelmsford, was held. The mourners sang the hymn “Eternal Father Strong To Save” as the coffin was lowered into the grave. His widow was presented with the insignia of the Belgian Order of Leopold that had been posthumously awarded to Captain Fryatt. He was also posthumously awarded the Belgian Maritime War Cross.
In the picturesque churchyard a memorial now overlooks the harbour from which Captain Fryatt had so often sailed. The inscription reads: “In memory of Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt, master of the Great Eastern Steamship, Brussels, illegally executed by the Germans at Bruges on 27th July 1916. His name will live in History and will be to thousands, as yet unborn, an inspiration which will never die”.
A fitting tribute to a most unlikely hero.