Ships › BRUXELLES
S/S BRUXELLES
Lost during the Second World War
- Type
- Steam merchant
- Tonnage
- 5,085 GRT
- Built
- 1919 – Bartram & Sons Ltd, South Dock, Sunderland
- Owner
- Armement Deppe, Antwerp
- Home port
- Antwerp
- Date
- 8 June 1942
- Fate
- Sunk by U-502 (Jürgen von Rosenstiel)
- Attacker
- U-502 (Jürgen von Rosenstiel)
- Convoy
- TO-5
- Voyage
- Liverpool → Kingston, Jamaica
- Cargo
- 900 tons of general cargo
- Position
- 11.0833, -66.6833 · grid ED 8499
Position of the attack. Click the map to enable zoom.
Crew list (48 names)
The voyage
- Departure
- Liverpool
- Destination
- Kingston, Jamaica · never reached
- Sunk
- 8 June 1942
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master (Kapitein) | Vandenbossch Jean | Survived | |
| 1st Officer (1ste officier) | Caudron Aimé | Survived | |
| 2nd Officer (2de officier) | Van Meerbeek Eric | Survived | |
| 3rd Officer (3de officier) | Van Den Berck Jacques | Survived | |
| Radio Officer (Marconist) | Vos Marcel | Survived | |
| Carpenter (Timmerman) | Christiaens August | Survived | |
| Boatswain (Bootsman) | †Portelance Frans | Lost | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Anderson Arne | Sweden | Survived |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | De Parades Ghislain | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | De Schacht Cyriel | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Kennis Emiel | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Lundvall Arne | Sweden | Survived |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Talboom Kamiel | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Thoon Amaat | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Van Overstraeten Robert | Survived | |
| Able Seaman (A.B.) | Zeller Norbert | Poland | Survived |
| Chief Engineer (Hfd-werktuigk.) | Dubois Théophile | Survived | |
| 2nd Engineer Officer (2de werktuigk.) | Brijs Emile | Survived | |
| 3rd Engineer Officer (3de werktuigk.) | Pisa Gerhard | Estonia | Survived |
| 4th Engineer Officer (4de werktuigk.) | Rodance Corneille | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | De Poorter Emiel | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Guinee Thomas | Survived | |
| Donkeyman | Lanes August | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Boudou John | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Bourguignon Constant | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Burms Michel | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Coldatoff Victor | Russia | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Coppens Jozef | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | De Winter Frans | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Hall John | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Pihlanets Johann | Estonia | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Scheers Julien | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Stunska Casimir | Latvia | Survived |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Van Woensel Henri | Survived | |
| Fireman (Stoker) | Verhuyck Jan | Survived | |
| Steward | Proost Joseph | Survived | |
| Purser (Commissaris) | Jones Reginald | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Assistant Steward (Assistant-steward) | Goossens Armand | Survived | |
| Messroom steward | Piessens Gustaaf | Survived | |
| Cook (Kok) | D'Hondt Pierre | Survived | |
| 2nd Cook (2de kok) | Van Diest Leopold | Survived | |
| Galley Boy (Galley-boy) | Mac Carthy William | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Gunner | Hermans Frans | Survived | |
| Gunner | Hermans Jacques | Survived | |
| Gunner | Laenens Jean | Survived | |
| Gunner | Peeters Thomas | Survived | |
| Gunner | Tinsley Thomas | United Kingdom | Survived |
| Gunner | Wright William | United Kingdom | Survived |
The convoy TO-5
- Route
- Port of Spain (Trinidad) to Curaçao
- Dates
- 7–9 June 1942
- Escort
- HMS Churchill and the Dutch minelayer HNLMS Jan van Brakel
- Merchant ships
- 3
- Sunk
- 2 · 11,674 tons
The dotted line follows the great circle the TO series ran, Port of Spain (Trinidad) to Curaçao, with the coastal bends the fairway imposes. The red point is where the Belgian ship was hit, from the U-boat’s attack report.
About the line on this map
A convoy steered the great circle: the shortest way over the globe, not the straight line on the map. That is why the Atlantic crossing here runs so far north, and why ships on that route were hit around 55 to 58 degrees and not at 48. The bends closer to land follow the fairway – the North Channel above Ireland, round Land’s End, through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The line is the route of the series, not the track that one convoy actually steered. The Admiralty shifted convoys north or south from sailing to sailing, according to the season and where the U-boats were; ONS-154 was deliberately routed south past the Azores in December 1942. And a straggler or a dispersed ship was by definition no longer with the group. Where the red point sits far from the line, that is usually what you are looking at.
The only convoy on route TO to be hit by a U-boat in the whole war. Only three ships were left in it: two of them were lost.
Convoys (17)
From the Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Convoys only, not independent voyages: a ship sailing alone does not appear. See the convoy page.
| Convoy | Departed | Route | Sunk |
|---|---|---|---|
| BHX.56 | 6 July 1940 | Bermuda – -> HX.56 | |
| HX.56 | 7 July 1940 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| OB.211 | 10 September 1940 | Liverpool - Dispersed 56.30N 15.08W | |
| BHX.85 | 30 October 1940 | Bermuda – -> HX.85 | |
| HX.85 | 1 November 1940 | Halifax – Sydney CB | |
| HX.85/1 | 11 November 1940 | Sydney Cb – Liverpool | |
| OB.272 | 10 January 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed | 3 sunk |
| SC.24 | 28 February 1941 | Halifax – Liverpool | 1 sunk |
| WN.101 | 18 March 1941 | Clyde – Methil | |
| FS.444 | 23 March 1941 | Methil – Southend | |
| EC.15 | 3 May 1941 | Southend – Clyde | |
| OB.321 | 11 May 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed | 1 sunk |
| SL/MKS.85 | 25 August 1941 | Freetown – Liverpool | 1 sunk |
| ON.37 | 15 November 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed 59.10N 20W | |
| ON.39 | 21 November 1941 | Liverpool - Dispersed 53.34N 39.30W | |
| SC.70 | 15 February 1942 | Halifax – Liverpool | |
| OS/KMS.28 | 12 May 1942 | Liverpool – Freetown | 2 sunk |
Sources
Crew list from the printed source.