''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 off occupied Belgium ...

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

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) 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-Zeeb ...

. 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 ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...

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, Traf ...

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

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

ferry, serving until scrapped in 1929.

Construction and design

''Brussels'' was a passenger ferry. She was built by

Gourlay Brothers Gourlay Brothers was a marine engineering and shipbuilding company based in Dundee, Scotland. It existed between 1846 and 1908. Company history The company had its origins in the Dundee Foundry, founded in 1791. By 1820 the foundry was manufac ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, 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 he ...

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-on- ...

Service history

''Brussels'' was used on the

–

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

route. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

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 {{italic title 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 wa ...

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

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. On 23 April 1918, the

Zeebrugge Raid The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German ...

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 is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

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

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

assisted by three tugs 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. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

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

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

to be repaired. She was sold by

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

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 (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. ''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 ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) 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 recen ...

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

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