The First World War

The Elisabethville heeled over, 6 September 1917, after UC-71 torpedoed her seventeen miles east of Belle-Île. Of the three hundred and thirteen aboard, fourteen were lost. Photo: MAS Antwerp, public domain.

All conflicts › The First World War

In the database

• 80Vessels
• 59Crew
• On the timeline

The exodus of October 1914

During the German siege of Antwerp (28 September - 10 October 1914) up to half a million people fled. Thousands mobbed the Antwerp quays to board overcrowded ferries, barges and fishing trawlers, or crossed a pontoon bridge over the Scheldt towards Ghent, Bruges or the neutral Netherlands. Before the Belgian army withdrew, the German merchant vessels seized at the outbreak of hostilities were sunk or disabled in the harbour, and thirty to forty German ships and the petrol tanks were set ablaze.

The fishery to England, France and the Netherlands

On 31 December 1913 the Belgian fishing fleet numbered 428 sailing boats, 160 sloops and 29 steam trawlers, with Ostend the largest home port and further fleets at Blankenberge, Heist, De Panne, Nieuwpoort, Zeebrugge, Oostduinkerke and Koksijde. From the autumn of 1914 almost everything seaworthy left; from 22 October 1914 the Germans forbade all fishing, and only thirty-three vessels remained at Ostend, mostly small shrimp boats and sloops.

The steam trawlers, being larger, worked out of Lowestoft, Milford Haven and Fleetwood, where sharply higher fish prices brought their owners strong returns. Fishers from Heist and Zeebrugge went first to Philippine and Cadzand and then to Zierikzee, where seventy-two Belgian boats arrived in April 1915 with 325 adults and 173 children. After a German submarine sank a Heist fishing boat in August 1915, Belgian fishers in Dutch waters took Dutch names and registration for safety. A few went as far as the Belgian Congo.

The Belgian boats at Milford Haven flew the Belgian flag and were armed. British rules required that if attacked they were to hoist the British flag and don Royal Navy uniform, so as not to be treated as francs-tireurs. The exiled trawler owners prospered, which caused bad blood after the war and led to the founding of the co-operative Roode Vloot (Red Fleet).

The first: the O.213, 7 October 1914

On 7 October 1914 the Ostend fishing boat O.213 Louis-Emile struck a sea mine off the coast. The explosion destroyed the boat completely and the crew was never found. She was not only the first fishing boat but the first Belgian vessel destroyed by act of war in this conflict – ten months before any Belgian merchant ship was lost.

Aboard were the owner-fisherman Henri Smissaert, forty-three, and his son Arthur, fifteen. With them the fishermen Gustave Jansoone (47), Jean Degruyter (53) and Henri Droogenbroodt (53). The printed history of the fishery names in addition the ship's boy Hendrik Simoen; he does not appear on the memorial columns.

What became of their names is a story in itself. In 1925 they were set on a bluestone name wall on the old lighthouse at what is now the Zeeheldenplein, together with the other seamen and fishermen lost at sea in the First World War. At the end of the Second World War the German occupier removed that wall when the lighthouse was pulled down. To this day it is not known who was listed on it. So Henri Smissaert, his son and their crew were forgotten for more than a hundred years. Only recently were their names added to the columns at the entrance of the municipal cemetery in the Stuiverstraat at Ostend, where the other men lost at sea are named.

What the fishery cost

The Belgian figures are firm: 74 fishermen died, and seven steam trawlers and 125 sailing vessels were lost from the pre-war registered fleet. Over sixty per cent of those losses were the enemy's work – seventy-seven sailing vessels destroyed by gunfire, torpedo or mine; twenty-one lost to weather; thirteen during the occupation of the Belgian ports or towed away by the Germans; fourteen sunk by the Allies themselves. Every steam trawler lost went down in action at sea. Separately, the storm of 23 December 1916 broke seven boats off Ostend, with nine dead.

The Ostend skipper Arsène “Tsjaine” Blondé repeatedly charged U-boats to protect British merchantmen: on 26 May 1915, aboard the O.190 Jacqueline, he drove off a U-boat attacking a British ship, and on 17 July 1917, aboard the O.140 Raymond, he was fishing alongside the armed British steam trawler CP.12 when a submarine surfaced. He was decorated by both the Belgian Minister of Marine and the British government.

The merchant fleet

The war destroyed roughly forty per cent of the Belgian merchant fleet. Lloyd Royal Belge was founded in 1916; Armement Deppe carried sixty-two per cent of the Commission for Relief in Belgium's relief goods into the country.

The relief ships that were attacked anyway

Herbert Hoover's Commission for Relief in Belgium chartered ships to carry food to occupied Belgium under German safe conduct and Admiralty instructions, marked Belgian Relief with large banners and flags. They were sunk nonetheless: in 1916 alone eleven Commission vessels were sunk or badly damaged by torpedo or mine, safe conduct or no. When Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare on 1 February 1917, neutral shipping withdrew and the Commission was left to rely on its Belgian ships; of the seventeen oversea cargoes en route to Rotterdam on that day, two reached port, two were torpedoed, and the rest were recalled.

The vessels known by name

Of the one hundred and thirty-two fishing vessels Belgium lost in this war, six have come down to us with name, date and cause, and three of those with their crew as well. Alongside them stand the merchant ships and the Commission for Relief in Belgium relief ships whose loss is established. This is not a complete list and does not pretend to be: it is what is known by name so far.

1. O.213 Louis-Emile · Fishing vessel · Ostend
   7 October 1914 · mine · 6 lost
   Who was aboard Hendrik Smissaert (schipper) · Alfons Droogenbrood (visser) · Jean Degruyter (visser) · Gustaaf Janssoone (visser) · Arthur Smissaert (visser) · Hendrik Simoen (scheepsjongen)
   De Bliedemaker, "Verdwenen vissersboten WO I"; VLIZ
2. O.171 Delta B · Fishing vessel · Ostend · N.V. Delta (Visserij en Sleepdienst), Oostende
   2 June 1915 · sunk by gunfire from U-34 eighteen miles SW by W of the Bishop Rock lighthouse; all eleven aboard were saved by the patrol vessel Devonland · U-34
   Who was aboard Pierre Piteljon (schipper) · Gerard Piteljon (stuurman) · Alfred Demesmaeker (visscher) · Leopold Remaut (visscher) · Albert Messing (machinist) · Gustaaf Cornu (stoker) · Léonce Allary (visscher) · Jean Labeke (hulpstoker) · Adolf Terpoorter (stoker) · Frans Dewitte (hulpstoker) · Achilles Gonzales (visscher)
   Zeeverslag van schipper Pierre Piteljon, 2 juni 1915, met de bemanningsrol; François Coopman, De vergeten zeestrijders van 1914-1918 (3), De Plate 21(3), 1992, op de stukken van het Bestuur van het Zeewezen; via het open archief van VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1598
3. N.1 Vivid · Fishing vessel · Nieuwpoort
   14 July 1915 · mine · UC-3 · 4 lost
   Who was aboard Benjamin Niville (schipper) · Hubert Niville (visser) · Hendrik Boels (visser) · Emiel Devey (visser)
   De Bliedemaker; VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4392
4. P.82 Justine Marie · Fishing vessel · De Panne
   19 February 1917 · scuttling charge laid by an enemy boarding party · UC-65
   De Bliedemaker; VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3223
5. P.103 Diamond Cross · Fishing vessel · De Panne
   1 March 1917 · shelled and sunk · UC-65
   De Bliedemaker; VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1635
6. P.51 Marie-Zenobie · Fishing vessel · De Panne
   23 April 1918 · mine · 4 lost
   Who was aboard Camiel Christiaen (schipper) · Henri Provoost (visser) · Charles Pyson (visser) · Hendrik Christiaen (scheepsjongen)
   De Bliedemaker; VLIZ
7. S/S Elisabethville · Steamer · Antwerp · Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo
   6 September 1917 · torpedoed · UC-71 · 14 lost
   Lloyd's War Losses; naslagwerk over de onderzeebootoorlog; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1889
8. S/S Keltier · Steamer · Antwerp · Lloyd Royal Belge S.A. (Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. 1913-1918)
   7 December 1916 · on passage from Newcastle in New Brunswick to Calais with a cargo of timber, torpedoed by UB-29 forty-five miles west of the Scilly Islands; she stayed afloat, was towed into Falmouth and was back at sea five days later · UB-29
   uboat.net, WWI ships hit; Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com), Robert Thompson & Sons, werfnummer 282
9. S/S Keltier · Steamer · Antwerp · Lloyd Royal Belge S.A. (Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. 1913-1918)
   2 October 1918 · on passage from Milford Haven to New York in ballast, torpedoed and sunk by U-55 two hundred and ninety miles south-west of Brest · U-55 · 25 lost
   uboat.net, WWI ships hit; Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com), Robert Thompson & Sons, werfnummer 282
10. S/S Persier · Steamer · Antwerp · Lloyd Royal Belge
    11 December 1917 · torpedoed · U-35 · 1 lost
    Lloyd's War Losses; vlagtoeschrijving omstreden
11. S/S Harpalyce · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium (charter)
    10 April 1915 · torpedoed despite her safe conduct · UB-4 · 15 lost
    Gay & Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium (1929)
12. S/S Trevier · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium (charter)
    4 April 1917 · carrying 4,396 tons of wheat, torpedoed in broad daylight without warning ten miles off the Dutch coast and inside the so-called safe lane; six of the crew were seriously wounded by shellfire after they had taken to the boats · UB-23
    George I. Gay & H.H. Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium: Documents (1929), V; Torpedoing Belgian Relief Ships, Current History VII(1), januari 1918, blz. 167-168; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 6111
13. S/S Camilla · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium (charter)
    8 April 1917 · inward bound for Rotterdam with 2,600 tons of wheat on the so-called safe lane, torpedoed without warning
    George I. Gay & H.H. Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium: Documents (1929), V; Torpedoing Belgian Relief Ships, Current History VII(1), januari 1918, blz. 167-168
14. O.170 Delta A · Fishing vessel · Ostend · N.V. Delta (Visserij en Sleepdienst), Oostende
    24 April 1918 · unarmed; sunk by gunfire eighteen miles south of St Kilda, all sixteen aboard were saved · U-19
    Francois Coopman, De vergeten zeestrijders 1914-18 (7), De Plate 2005, op de stukken van het Bestuur van het Zeewezen; via het open archief van VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1599
15. O.131 John · Fishing vessel · Ostend · Pêcherie à Vapeur, Oostende
    3 January 1918 · rammed at about nine in the evening by the O.55 Le Compte Horace Vanderburgh and sunk within minutes in 51°30′ N, 5°53′ W; six of those aboard were lost · 6 lost
    Who was aboard Pierre Pincket (patron) · Louis Dedrie (stuurman) · August Calcoen (visscher) · Pierre Declerck (visscher) · Léonce Allary (visscher) · Edouard Meyer (hulpvisscher) · François Van Houcke (jongen) · André Deman (machinist) · Joseph Deman (stoker) · Pierre Baert (visscher) · Theodore Gillegot (stoker) · Arthur Degruyter (trimmer) · Henri Gillegot (visscher)
    Monsterrol van 13 december 1917; François Coopman, De vergeten zeestrijders van 1914-1918, De Plate 18(9), 1989, op de stukken van het Bestuur van het Zeewezen; via het open archief van VLIZ
16. O.126 Neptune · Fishing vessel · Ostend · H.P. Aspeslagh, Oostende
    26 December 1916 · stopped twenty-five miles SW by W of St Ann’s Head; the scuttling charges in the hold failed to go off, so she was sunk by four rounds of gunfire; the crew came away unhurt but lost every stitch of their sea kit · UC-46
    Who was aboard Louis Zonnekeyn (schipper) · Jacques Aspeslagh (stuurman) · Victor Corveleyn (visscher) · Eugeen Labbeke (visscher) · Charles Van Acker (visscher) · Léon Van Acker (visscher) · Louis Van Sieleghem (machinist) · Vincent Torreborre (stoker) · Léon Depaep (stoker) · Jules Geselles (hulpstoker) · Eugene Dewitte (hulpstoker)
    Brief van waterschout A. Claessens aan inspecteur Bultinck van het Beheer van het Zeewezen, Milford Haven, met de monsterrol; François Coopman, De vergeten zeestrijders 1914-1918 (4), De Plate 21(11), 1992; via het open archief van VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7239
17. O.8 Marcelle · Fishing vessel · Ostend
    30 January 1917 · shelled by a submarine twenty miles off Trevose Head; the third round carried away the bridge, a hit burst the boiler, and after an hour’s shelling she went down stern first; the eleven aboard rowed away in a leaking boat and were picked up by the smack The Sweet Heather · U-55
    Who was aboard Auguste Wittrock (schipper) · Emile Pierre (stuurman) · Jean Ponjaert (visscher) · Polydor Deley (visscher) · Edouard Van Acren (visscher) · Louis Janssone (visscher) · Gustave Neuts (jongen) · Jules Engelbrecht (machinist) · Jules Van den Ameele (stoker) · Jules Soete (stoker) · Emile Pierre jr. (trimmer)
    Zeerapport van schipper Auguste Wittrock, Milford Haven, 31 januari 1917, met de monsterrol; François Coopman, De vergeten zeestrijders 1914-1918 (5), De Plate 1994; via het open archief van VLIZ; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3890
18. S/S Euphrates · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium
    22 January 1917 · on passage from Barry to New York in ballast, torpedoed by U 57 about two hundred miles south-west of the Fastnet; most of the crew drowned. The Relief Commission did not hear of it until 3 February, and put it to the German government that it had happened before the expiry of the very period they had themselves declared safe · U-57
    George I. Gay & H.H. Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium: Documents (1929), V; Torpedoing Belgian Relief Ships, Current History VII(1), januari 1918, blz. 167-168; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 2066
19. S/S Haelen · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium
    16 March 1917 · in ballast from Rotterdam for New York on the safe lane, carrying all the Commission’s markings together with a safe-conduct from the German Minister at The Hague, shelled by a German submarine; six of her crew were killed and she was so badly damaged that she had to put into a Norwegian port for repairs · UB-63 · 6 lost
    George I. Gay & H.H. Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium: Documents (1929), V; Torpedoing Belgian Relief Ships, Current History VII(1), januari 1918, blz. 167-168; uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 2670
20. S/S Tunisie · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium
    16 March 1917 · in ballast from Rotterdam for New York on the safe lane in company with the Haelen, carrying all the Commission’s markings and a safe-conduct, shelled by the same submarine; she got away
    George I. Gay & H.H. Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium: Documents (1929), V; Torpedoing Belgian Relief Ships, Current History VII(1), januari 1918, blz. 167-168
21. S/S Ministre de Smet de Naeyer · Steamer · Commission for Relief in Belgium
    17 March 1917 · outward bound in ballast, carrying the Commission’s markings and, as always, a safe-conduct from the German Minister at The Hague, shelled by a submarine in the North Sea; she got away
    George I. Gay & H.H. Fisher, The Commission for Relief in Belgium: Documents (1929), V; Torpedoing Belgian Relief Ships, Current History VII(1), januari 1918, blz. 167-168
22. S/S Eburoon · Steamer · Antwerp · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. / Brys & Gylsen Ltd.
    10 September 1917 · stranded and lost in Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland; she was sailing for the Commission for Relief in Belgium and carried the words BELGIAN RELIEF along her whole length
    Lloyd's Register; Wikimedia Commons, Category:Eburoon (ship, 1909); Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
23. Cenobic · Fishing vessel
    23 April 1917 · · UC-71 · 4 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1192
24. Chilier · Steamer · Lloyd Royal Belge, S.A. (Brys & Gylsen, Ltd.), Antwerpen
    22 June 1918 · · U-151 · 6 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1252
25. Claire · Steamer · S.A. Belge d’Armement et de Navigation à Vapeur “La Phocéenne”, Smyrna & Antwerp
    12 July 1917 · · U-38 · 26 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1315
26. Comtesse De Flandre · Steamer · Océan S. A. Belge d’Armement et de Nav. (L. Dens & Cie.), Antwerpen
    25 October 1916 · · UB-19
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1401
27. Daghestan · Tanker · S.A. du Steamer “Daghestan” (Ch. Good), Antwerpen
    20 August 1915 · · U-38
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1536
28. De Julia · Fishing vessel
    29 January 1918 · · UB-54
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1585
29. De Tien Kinders · Fishing vessel · Stéphanie Aspeslagh
    13 March 1917 · · UB-32
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1587
30. De Twee Marcels · Fishing vessel · Henri Corneau
    29 January 1918 · · UB-54 · 4 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1588
31. Edouard Marie · Fishing vessel · Edouard De Gruyter
    5 March 1918 · · UC-75
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1815
32. Egypte · Steamer · Cie. Nationale Belge de Transports Maritimes (Adolf Deppe), Antwerpen
    23 January 1917 · · UC-17
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 1837
33. Espagne · Steamer · Armement Adolf Deppe, Antwerpen
    25 December 1917 · · UC-71
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 2020
34. Alphonse Marceline · Fishing vessel · Joseph Lescrauwaet
    16 November 1916 · · UB-40 · 4 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 222
35. Amelie · Steamer · Arm. Adolf Deppe, Antwerpen
    13 November 1917 · · UC-31
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 245
36. Godesgenage · Fishing vessel · Auguste Hamman
    26 July 1918 · · UB-40
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 2559
37. H. Debra Huysseme · Fishing vessel · Debra-Huysseune
    29 January 1918 · · UB-54
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 2660
38. Hainaut · Steamer · Cie. Nationale Belge de Transports Maritimes (Armement Adolf Deppe), Antwerpen
    12 March 1917 · · U-53
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 2679
39. Indutiomare · Steamer · Lloyd Royal Belge, Soc. Anon., Antwerpen
    6 July 1917 · · UC-61 · 3 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3010; Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
40. Jean Mathilde · Fishing vessel
    29 January 1918 · · UB-54
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3132
41. Jeannot · Fishing vessel · Albert Vroome
    5 September 1917 · · UB-10
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3141
42. Anna Prosper · Fishing vessel · Henri Steenkiste
    5 February 1917 · · UB-40
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 330
43. Koophandel · Steamer · Scheepv. Mij. Gylsen (Brys & Gylsen, Ltd.), Antwerpen
    1 August 1915 · · U-28
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3382
44. La Petite Henriette · Fishing vessel · Debra H.
    21 February 1916 · · UB-12
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3446
45. Le Jeune Arthur · Fishing vessel
    29 January 1918 · · UB-54
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3533
46. Leon Mathilde · Sailing vessel
    24 August 1915 · · UB-17
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3567
47. Antigoon · Steamer · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. (Brys & Gylsen, Ltd), Antwerpen
    29 August 1916 · · U-38
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 357
48. Lichtevreden Ii · Barge
    23 September 1916 · · UB-6
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3595
49. Liegeoise · Steamer · Soc. Anon. Anversoise de Nav., Antwerpen
    24 August 1916 · · U-38
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3597
50. Londonier · Steamer · Lloyd Royal Belge Soc. Anon., Antwerpen
    13 March 1918 · · UC-71
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3681
51. Marcel · Steamer · L. Hermans, Bruges
    5 September 1916 · · UB-18
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3889
52. Maria Da Jonge · Barge
    23 September 1916 · · UB-6
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 3924
53. Menapier · Steamer · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. (Brys & Gylsen, Ltd.), Antwerpen
    7 June 1915 · · UB-10 · 17 lost
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4075; Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
54. Ministre Beernaert · Steamer · Cie. Royale Belgo-Argentine (Adolf Deppe), Antwerpen
    26 December 1915 · · U-24
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4165
55. Nervier · Steamer · Lloyd Royal Belge Soc. Anon., Antwerpen
    9 October 1917 · · U-101
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4352; Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
56. Paul · Steamer · L. Hermans, Bruges
    26 September 1918 · · UB-21
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4697
57. Portugal · Steamer · Armement Adolf Deppe, Antwerpen
    2 August 1918 · · U-113
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4888
58. Prince Albert · Steamer · Océan Soc. Anon. Belge d’Armement & de Nav. (L. Dens & Cie.), Antwerpen
    30 July 1915 · · UC-1
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4917
59. Princesse Marie Jose · Steamer · Océan Soc. Anon. Belge d'Armement & de Navigation (L. Dens & Cie.), Antwerpen
    29 July 1915 · · UB-4
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 4927
60. Schaldis · Steamer · Soc. Anon. Belge de Nav. à Vapeur Schaldis (Van Hemelryck & Geurts), Antwerpen
    29 March 1917 · · UC-75
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 5476
61. Seresia · Steamer · Cie. Nationale Belge de Transports Maritimes (Armement Adolf Deppe), Antwerpen
    26 August 1917 · · UC-47
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 5529
62. Siberier · Steamer · Lloyd Royal Belge, S.A., Antwerpen
    5 April 1917 · · U-86
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 5555
63. Volharding · Barge
    26 May 1916 · · UC-6
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 6387
64. David Marie · Fishing vessel · H. Debra
    20 February 1916 · · UB-13
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 6611
65. Aduatiek · Steamer · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. (Brys & Gylsen, Ltd.), Antwerpen
    12 February 1916 · · UC-4
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 68
66. Rosalie · Barge
    23 September 1916 · · UB-6
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 6932
67. Germaine · Barge
    23 September 1916 · · UB-6
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7052
68. Marcel · Tug
    18 April 1917 · · UB-23
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7209
69. Marie · Fishing vessel
    29 January 1918 · · UB-54
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7220
70. Martha · Steamer · Handel en Scheepvaart Soc. Anon. (G. Vandesompel), Nieuport
    7 March 1918 · · UB-80
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7224
71. Marguerite · Fishing vessel · Vandewalle Gebroeders
    31 January 1916 · · UB-17
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7272
72. Roi Albert · Steamer · Cie. Royale Belgo-Argentine (Armement Adolf Deppe), Antwerpen
    31 March 1916 · · U-33
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7454
73. True to the Core · Fishing vessel · ?, Nieuwpoort
    27 January 1918 · · UB-54
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7541
74. Z 20 · Fishing vessel
    27 June 1916 · · UB-16
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7543
75. Alexander Maurice · Fishing vessel
    23 June 1916 · · UB-6
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 7753
76. Boduognat · Steamer · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. (Brys & Gylsen, Ltd.), Antwerpen
    2 July 1915 · · U-39
    uboat.net, WWI ships hit, 844; Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
77. Morinier · Steamer · Antwerp · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. (J. D'Haene & Co.), Antwerpen
    13 February 1915 ·
    Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
78. Ambiorix · Steamer · Antwerp · Antwerpsche Zeevaart Mij. (Brys & Gylsen Ltd.), Antwerpen
    6 December 1917 ·
    Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
79. Pervyse · Steamer · Antwerp · Messageries Maritimes Belges S.A., Antwerpen
    ·
    Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)
80. Italier · Steamer · Antwerp · Lloyd Royal Belge S.A., Antwerpen
    ·
    Wear Built Ships (sunderlandships.com)

Where to find more

VLIZ (Flanders Marine Institute): the study-day volumes Vissen in het verleden and De Grote Rede 36 (Brecht Demasure, “Visserij en de Eerste Wereldoorlog”); François Coopman, De vergeten zeestrijders 1914-18; R. Jansoone, Oostende en de zeevisserij tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog. — Freddy Philips, 14/18 op zee: Belgische schepen en zeelui tijdens de Grote Oorlog (Lannoo, 2013). — State Archives, Bestuur van het Zeewezen, nos. 7921, 8099 and 8102. — NAVIGO national fisheries museum, Oostduinkerke; MAS and FelixArchief, Antwerp; Heemkring Ter Cuere, Bredene; De Plate, Ostend; De Bliedemaker (named crew lists). — The Belgian War Memorial at Milford Haven, raised in 1919 by Ostend steam-trawler owners, and the Tower Hill Memorial in London for merchant seamen and fishermen with no grave; the memorial columns at the municipal cemetery in the Stuiverstraat at Ostend, where the names of the O.213 were finally added (City of Ostend).