Charles Algernon – Fryatt – Great Eastern Railway – Master – 27/07/1916

Charles Algernon – Fryatt – Great Eastern Railway – Master – 27/07/1916

Charles Algernon

Fryatt

Great Eastern Railway

Mercantile Marine

Master

GER Continental Service

Master

S.S Brussels

27/07/1916

Great Eastern Railway Magazine, September 1916, pp217-226; August 1919, pp143-151

Dovercourt (All Saints) Churchyard

Born on 2 December 1872 at Southampton, the son of Charles and Mary Fryatt, and husband of Ethel Fryatt, of 42, Oakland Rd, Dovercourt. He joined the GER as a seaman on the S.S Ipswich in 1892 and progressed through the ranks, serving on steamers sailing between Harwich or Tilbury and Holland. In March 1915 the S.S Brussels was challenged to stop by a German U-boat. To save his ship Captain Fryatt attempted to ram the submarine which submerged and was not seen again. He was later presented with a gold watch by the Admiralty for his action. In June 1916 the Brussels was intercepted by German destroyers en route to Tilbury from the Hook of Holland, and the ship and its crew were captured. Fryatt was put before a court martial, and charged (falsely) with sinking a German submarine. He was found guilty and shot by firing squad, causing enormous outrage. After the war Fryatt's body was returned from Bruges to be reburied at Dovercourt amid great ceremony.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission; Great Eastern Railway Magazine

11/01/2017

03/11/2015