SS ''Franz Fischer'' was an iron-hulled collier that was built in England as ''Rocklands'' in 1881, renamed ''Franz Fischer'' in 1913, and sunk by enemy action in 1916. She was owned and registered in Britain until 1896, when she passed to German owners. In August 1914 the UK Admiralty seized her and placed her under British civilian management. On 1 February 1916 a German attack sank ''Franz Fischer'', killing 13 of her 16 crew. German news media claimed that a bomb dropped by a

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

sank her, making her the first merchant ship to be sunk by aerial attack. Research has since disproved this, and established that the

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 ...

sank her.

Building

Irvin & Co built ''Rocklands'' as yard number 37 at

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed in ...

on the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

, launching her on 10 September 1881 and completing her that October. Her registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...

s were , . She had a two-cylinder

compound 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 ...

built by Thomas Richardson & Sons. It was originally rated at 99 RHP, but by 1899 this had been revised to 105

NHP Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

. ''Rocklands'' first owners were Hardy, Wilson & Co, who registered her in West Hartlepool. Her UK

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 ...

84530 and her

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

were WDBK.

Changes of owner and name

In 1895 ''Rocklands'' owner was listed as Robert Hardy & Co of West Hartlepool. In 1896 Gebrüder Petersen ("Petersen Brothers") acquired her and registered her in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Her German code letters were LMJS. In 1913 FW Fischer acquired her, renamed her ''Franz Fischer'', and registered her in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

Capture

In August 1914 the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

entered 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 ...

, and the UK Admiralty seized ''Franz Fischer'' at

Sharpness Sharpness ( ) is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream ( typical sp ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The Admiralty kept her German name, gave her the pennant number CT-18 and appointed Everett and Newbigin to manage her. She was registered in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and her code letters were JHVL.

Sinking

On 31 January 1916 ''Franz Fischer'' left Hartlepool carrying a cargo of 1,020 tons of coal to

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

in the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. On approaching the Kentish Knock

lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...

off the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

coast at 9.30pm on 1 February, ''Franz Fischer'' was warned of German

sea mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ve ...

s on the route ahead and her captain decided to join a group of vessels anchored for the night. At 10.30 pm there was an explosion

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

aboard ''Franz Fischer''. ''Franz Fischer'' appeared only lightly damaged, but the crew prepared to lower her boats in case they had to abandon ship. However, she soon developed a list to

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, and capsized and sank two minutes after the explosion. The Belgian steamship ''Paul'' saved three of her crew: her British chief engineer and steward, and a Newfoundland seaman. 13 other men initially survived the sinking but died in the water.

Cause of sinking

The German news service the

Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau (1849–1934) was founded by the German Bernhard Wolff (1811–1879), the editor of the ''Vossische Zeitung'' and founder of the ''National Zeitung'' (1848–1938). It was one of the first press agencies in Europe an ...

reported that the ship was sunk by a bomb from a Zeppelin returning from the 31 January – 1 February raid on the English Midlands. ''Franz Fischer''s surviving crew reported hearing a mechanical noise to the southeast just before the explosion, and one described feeling that an aircraft was overhead, lending credence to the claim. She was noted as being the first merchant ship to be sunk by aerial attack and the "first steamship in history whose loss to air attack can be positively confirmed". All Zeppelins from the raid on England had passed over the area by the time of the sinking except Zeppelin LZ 54 (L 19), which suffered from engine problems. For some time the sinking was attributed to her. However, historians from

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

reconstructed L 19's last movements before she was wrecked in the North Sea later on 1 February 1916, and note that she was too far north to have sunk ''Franz Fischer''. An alternative theory at the time and since was that she was sunk by a German bomber flying from

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 ...

. The Historic England investigation concludes that the German U-boat ''UB-17'' actually sank ''Franz Fischer''. The U-boat's logs note she fired two torpedoes at a ship at Kentish Knock on the night of the sinking. The first missed but the crew claimed a hit by the second. The sound of the first torpedo, which was a misfire, may explain the noises heard by the crew of the ''Franz Fischer'' before the explosion. The official British history of the First World War at sea attributes the sinking to ''UB-17''.

Legacy

The writer

Alfred Noyes Alfred Noyes CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright. Early years Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. When he was four, the family moved to Abe ...

told the story of the sinking of ''Franz Fischer'' in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' as "Open Boats". A radio dramatisation was made and this was also serialised in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

References

{{February 1916 shipwrecks 1881 ships Maritime incidents in 1916 Merchant ships of the German Empire Ships built on the River Tees Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I Steamships of the German Empire Steamships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea