 - 20th Century
Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt
Born in 1873, by 1916 Fryatt was living in Dovercourt, Essex.
He was the master of the Great Eastern Railway Company's steamship S.S
Brussels of the Mercantile Marine registered in Harwich, Essex. In
World War One its regular run was between Britain and parts of Europe
where the ship ran the gauntlet of German U33 submarines. On 28th March
1915 the S.S. Brussels was on her way to Rotterdam when she encountered
a U33 on the surface. Captain Fryatt realised he could not outpace the
submarine and was in danger of being torpedoed so he attempted to ram
it. There was no extensive damage and the engagement was broken off.
On 22nd June 1916, during a journey back to Tilbury in Essex,
the ship was captured by a flotilla of German torpedo boats and taken
to Zeebrugge. Captain Fryatt and some of his crew were sent to Rublaben
POW camp near Berlin before being returned to Zeebrugge for
interrogation and trial. The crew were sent back to the POW camp but
Captain Fryatt was shot by the Germans on 27th July 1916, presumably
for the earlier incident when he rammed the submarine. Since he was a
Merchant Seaman and not a member of the Royal Navy his action was
judged to have been illegal. His execution caused great public disquiet
and debate.
There is a commemorative tablet to him at All Saints church in
Dovercourt.
Information from Family Tree Magazine, vol 17, no 9, 2001
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