Quiet here...

[Bullethead]

Wow,

that was quick.

Well, it was just a wild guess that popped to mind because I often dream of cruising on these ships. Forget the Caribbean, these things sound like the real party cruise!



Anyway, the attached pic is of a ship and her captain who were quite famous at the time.

a. What ship?
b. Who's the captain?
c. What happened to them?
d. Why was this newsworthy at the time?

[Bullethead]

Hint #1: The land in the background is part of Zeebrugge.

[ViribusUnitis]

Ship: Passenger ferry SS Brussels.
Captain: Charles Algernon Fryatt

Fate: On 25th june 1916 german destroyers captured the ship.
Fryatt was court martialled and executed, although he was a civilian for trying to ram U-33 on 28th march of 1915. On 23 April 1918,when the Zeebrugge Raid took place, the ship was torpedoed several times by the British, but did not sink. Brugge was scuttled by the Germans in October 1918 when they evacuated Zeebrugge. (This is the pic)
In 1918, Brugge was claimed by the Belgian Government as a war prize. On 26 April 1920, she was presented to His Majesty's Government. On 17 May, Brugge left Antwerp assisted by three tugs on a three day journey to South Shields.Brugge was taken to a Tyneside shipyard to be repaired. She was sold by auction 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. Brugge was renamed Lady Brussels in 1922. She was used on the Preston - Dublin route, serving until 1929. In May 1929 she was scrapped by Smith & Co, Port Glasgow. In 1920, the 10,317 feet (3,145 m) high Brussels Peak in Canada (51°31′00″N 117°49′20″W / 51.5166667°N 117.82222°W / 51.5166667; -117.82222) was named in honour of the ship.

(thanks to wikipedia)

This seems to be a story that needs reflection.

regards

[Bullethead]

Ship: Passenger ferry SS Brussels.
Captain: Charles Algernon Fryatt

You got it, even if for some reason you called the ship "Brugge" in the rest of your otherwise spot-on description . I didn't even know all those details.

Your turn.

This seems to be a story that needs reflection.

Yes indeed, which was part D of the question. But seeing how that was phrased a bit open-endedly, I'll say what I know.

According to the story I read from contemporary newspapers, Fryatt and his ship were well-known on both sides of the Channel. First, he'd been making the Harwich-Rotterdam run every couple of weeks since like 1912 and didn't stop because of the war. Second, he'd had previous brushes with German DDs but had refused to stop for them. This infuriated the Germans because they weren't allowed to do more than fire shots across his bows, and were afraid other merchant captains would follow his example. Thus, the Germans were really out to get him.

The previous May Fryatt had been doing his regular run and accidentally collided with the submerged U-boat he didn't know was there. Upon feeling the bump, Fryatt stopped his ship and the U-boat popped up alongside, still partially under Brussels. At this point, Fryatt ordered full ahead in and effort to hit the U-boat with his screws, but the U-boat managed to get free and escaped. This made the Germans hate Fryatt even more, but made him more of a hero back home. The town of Harwich gave him a gold watch engraved with text commemorating the attempted destruction of the U-boat.

When Fryatt was captured in June, some say the Germans found this watch on him and that's what identified him as their Most Wanted Fugitive. However, it seems more likely that the Germans knew exactly who he was from the get-go, given the past. I'm sure every ship in MKF had a wanted poster with a picture of Brussels on it.

Anyway, the Germans wanted to make an example of Fryatt to send a strong message to other merchant captains who might consider ignoring the rules of prize war, let alone go so far as to take hostile action. So within a day or 2 after his capture, he was tried as a franc-tireur and shot immediately afterwards.

Naturally, this caused much outrage amongst the Entente and neutrals, not only for the loss of a gallant man but also over the legality of the execution. There seems to have been a conflict of law on this point. OT1H, the military was entitled to shoot franc-tireurs, and Fryatt technically met that definition, although that rule was intended for land operations. OTOH, maritime law gave a captain the right to use violence to protect his ship, crew, and passengers.

All in all, the case seems to have been yet another nail in the coffin of prize rules, and another step on the inevitable path to unrestricted commerce warfare.

[ViribusUnitis]

You got it, even if for some reason you called the ship "Brugge" in the rest of your otherwise spot-on description . I didn't even know all those details.

The Germans renamed it Brugge.

My turn:

Whats going on in this picture?

[ViribusUnitis]

1st hint:

The big dark ship where the questioned action is taking place is part of a SES game.

regards

[Bullethead]

1st hint:The big dark ship where the questioned action is taking place is part of a SES game.

That's a big hint. I know, but I just went so I'll abstain.

[ViribusUnitis]

2nd hint:

The ship where the questioned action is taking place has got only 1 turrent and is black with yellow funnels and black funnelcaps.

regards

[gascan]

I think I know which ship it is, but I can't find much info on it. I kinda guessed yellow funnels with black funnel caps from the picture, but knowing that it had only one turret marks it as a fairly unique ship, and there is only one ship of that class in the original DG, IIRC.

[ViribusUnitis]

@gascan: I think you have got the vessel. It should be possible to guess whats going on in the picture.

For the others:

3rd hint:

This is a beautiful digital remastered picture of the vessel where the questioned action is going on: