''Brussels'' was a passenger ferry built in 1902 for the British

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

. In 1915, she tried to ram . The ship was captured by Germany in 1916 and her captain,

Charles Fryatt Charles Algernon Fryatt (2 December 1872 – 27 July 1916) was a British merchant seaman who was court martialled by the Imperial German Navy for attempting to ram a German U-boat in 1915. When his ship, the , was captured by the Germans off o ...

was executed after the Germans discovered his attempted ramming. ''Brussels'' was renamed ''Brugge'' and used as a depôt ship at

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

. In October 1918, ''Brugge'' was scuttled by the Germans when they evacuated the port. The ship was raised by the

Belgian government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the polit ...

and presented to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in 1920. She was repaired and later renamed ''Lady Brussels''. She was employed as an

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

ferry, serving until scrapped in 1929.

Construction and design

''Brussels'' was a passenger ferry. She was built by Gourlay Brothers,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, as yard number 202. She was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her two

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

s gave a service speed of . ''Brussels'' was launched on 26 March 1902 and completed in May. Her

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 109884 and her port of registry was

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

Service history

''Brussels'' was used on the

–

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...

route. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, her captain, Fryatt, was twice recognised for his actions. On 3 March 1915, he evaded a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

for which he was awarded a gold watch by the Great Eastern Railway. On 28 March 1915, ''Brussels'' was ordered to stop by ''U-33'' when she was near the Maas Lightship, but Fryatt attempted to ram the U-boat, which was forced to crash dive. For this action, the

awarded him a gold watch. The First Officer and Chief Engineer also received gold watches from the Admiralty for this action.''The Great Eastern Railway Magazine'', September 1920, p 218–26
/ref> On 23 June 1916, ''Brussels'' was captured by the German torpedo boats ''G101'' and ''G102''. Fryatt was interned at

where he was arrested after engravings on his watches revealed his previous actions. Fryatt was tried and executed on 27 July 1916. ''Brussels'' was taken over by the

Kaiserliche Marine The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term was used partic ...

and renamed ''Brugge'', serving as a depôt ship at Zeebrugge. Her port of registry was nominally

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. On 23 April 1918, the

Zeebrugge Raid The Zeebrugge Raid (; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgium, Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German vessels from leaving port. ...

took place, and the ship was torpedoed several times by the British, but did not sink. ''Brugge'' was scuttled by the Germans on 28 October 1918 when they evacuated Zeebrugge. In 1918, ''Brugge'' was claimed by the

as a

war prize A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

. On 26 April 1920, she was presented to Britain. On 17 May, ''Brugge'' left

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

assisted by three

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

on a three-day journey to

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

.''The Great Eastern Magazine'', June 1920, p102
/ref> ''Brugge'' was taken to a Henry Robb's shipyard at

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

to be repaired. She was sold by

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

in 1920 for £2,700 to J Gale & Co. She was operated by the Dublin & Lancashire Steamship Company, which was later taken over by the British & Irish Steam Packet Company. Her port of registry was

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. ''Brugge'' was renamed ''Lady Brussels'' in 1922. She was used on the Preston –

route, serving until 1929. In May 1929 she was scrapped by Smith & Co,

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

. In 1920, the high Brussels Peak in Canada () was named in honour of the ship. A

ship's bell A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it. Strikes Timing of shi ...

, which had been installed in the ship during her repairs in 1920/21, was acquired by Harwich Borough Council at put on display in

Harwich Guildhall Harwich Guildhall is a municipal building in Church Street, Harwich, Essex, England. The structure, which accommodates the offices of Harwich Town Council, is a Grade I listed building. History The first building on the site was a public house ...

in April 1950.

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

*
Photo of SS ''Lady Brussels''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brussels 1902 ships Ships built in Dundee Ships of the Great Eastern Railway Steamships of the United Kingdom Ferries of the United Kingdom World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1915 World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in 1916 Maritime incidents in 1918 Steamships of the Republic of Ireland Ferries of the Republic of Ireland Ships of the British and Irish Steam Packet Company Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks of Belgium