WW1 Internees - Crew of S.S. Belgia

TNA FO 383/187 contains a file which includes the name of 33 members of the Crew of the SS Belgia.

A cutting from the Times of 3rd March 1916 explains the background behind the appearance of the list:

THE HAGUE CONVENTION : DETENTION OR CONFISCATION.
THE OWNERS OF THE STEAMSHIP BELGIA v. HIS MAJESTY'S PROCURATOR-GENERAL.

This was an appeal from a decree of the Prize Court (31 The Times Law Reports, 490) pronouncing the steamship Belgia to have belonged at the time of the seizure to enemies of the Crown, and to be liable to confiscation and condemnation as prize. The question raised was whether under Articles 1 and 2 of the Sixth Hague Convention, 1907, the Belgia, which belonged to the Hamburg-Amerika Line, of Hamburg, was liable only to be detained until the end of the war and not to be confiscated.

Sir Robert Finlay, K.C., and Mr. H. C. S. Dumas appeared for the appellants; the Attorney-General, Mr. Aspinall, K.C., and Mr. C. R. Dunlop for the Crown.

SIR ROBERT FINLAY said that the Belgia was a vessel of 8,000 tons gross and 5,000 net. When she was seized she was on a voyage from Boston to Hamburg ; there were no passengers and there was a crew of 75. On August 3, 1914, the captain, when off the Scilly Isles, heard by wireless telegraphy that war had broken out between Germany and France. He was afraid to go up the Channel lest he might meet a French cruiser, so he turned into the Bristol Channel. When he was off the Trevase Head he took a pilot and went into Newport. The vessel arrived off Newport about 5.50 p.m. on August 4. War had not then broken out between this country and Germany. When the vessel had got to the entrance of the Usk She was boarded by the dock master, who ordered her to go into the channel and anchor off the English and Welsh Lightship. The contention of the appellants was than when the vessel was stopped she was in port. The reason alleged by the harbour master for his action was that he feared that the vessel was armed. It was quite conclusive from the evidence that she was not armed.
LORD SUMMER - A vessel enters and leaves port in time of peace. War breaks out. Is it our proposition that she ought then to be allowed to enter port ?
SIR ROBERT She ought not to be put in a worse position owing to the action of the harbourmaster.
LORD SUMMER - What is the ground ?
SIR ROBERT - Comity of nations.As the vessel had actually got into port she could not be arrested and captured. She could merely be detained until after the war. The action of the harbour master was wrong.
Their LORDSHIPS, who did not call upon the Attorney-General, reserved judgement.

The arrest of this German ship, probably the first such of the war, created great local interest - part of its cargo was a collection of live animals, including some 30 alligators, intended for Carl Hagenbach's private zoo - this menagerie was bought by a Mr T Murphy who exhibited the collection around South Wales giving half the proceeds towards local war funds.[See Abergavenny Chronicle 18 Sept 1914], however it also carried significant amount of food and copper with an estimated value of £250,000.

The twin screw vessel had been built in Belfast in 1902 for the Arak Steamship Co of Liverpool who named her the Arak, in 1911 she was sold to another Liverpool based company the Brocklebank Line and renamed the Mandasor but by 1913 had been purchased by Hamburg-Amerika line and yet again renamed as the Belgia. The reserved judgement of the Prize court was for confiscation and thus she was sold by auction to F.C.Strickland of London and yet again renamed as the Huntstrick - finally sunk by UBoat in 1917 with the loss of 15 crew.

The comment on the cover note to the release request by the 33 detained crew which drew attention to the Law report, commented that the crew had misinterpreted both the Hague convention, which did not it seems apply to the seamen, as well as that of the reserved judgement of the court in that the vessel was later decided to be confiscated. The cover comment intended as a guide for ministerial response was that no agreement could be concluded with the German government concerning any release of merchant seaman who were in port before the declaration of war, noting that no such British merchant seamen had been released by the Germans.

The actual list and request is an early reverse photocopy of a hand-written document dated 4 April 1916, done presumably at the American embassy, under the heading of Knockaloe Prisoners Aid Society - there are three sequential groups of Camp numbers - the three assistant Engineers are in the first group who judging from their camp numbers were either the tail end of the first group transferred in March 1915 or in the second such group (my groups C1 or C2) and who were placed in Camp I compound 2 hut 2b - the second group also headed by a Richard Ingel, noted as the radio operator, arrived a month later probably along with the final small group of five. Missing from the list are the chief engineer and the mate, both of whom I would have expected to indicate their rank on the petition to the American Embassy; I would also have expected them to appear with the other officers in the first group of transfers to Knockaloe.

There is an account of the arrival of the vessel at Newport by the Captain Gustav Schmidt found in the State Archive of Hamburg [621-1 /95_492 D Belgia 1900-1914] with the translated title "From my captivity in England from August 4, 1914 to April 10 1918" which dates correspond to the internment of Gustav Otto Ludwig Schmidt - however the copy of the document (in German) is missing one or more pages that deal with the transfer to Queensferry and subsequent transfer to the IoM. Schmidt would appear to have been one of the first batch of transfers from Queensferry to Douglas camp under camp number 160 but the register is blank as to his departure from the camp. However he re-appears with Douglas camp number 3498, described as Captain and received from Knockaloe on 5th August 1915 and transferred to Spalding for repatriation on the 3rd April 1918 with the repatriated noted on the 10th April. He mentions that he had got on well with Colonel Madoc, commandant of Douglas, who asked him to become head captain of the upper or non-privilege camp.

An assistant Engineer, Max Carl Ludwig Kloker, aged 22 from Kiel was already dead - he had committed suicide on the 7th November 1915. The inquest, IoM PRO reference 1915/50 gives some details - he, and presumably the small group including the other three assistant engineers, arrived in Knockaloe on the 15th March 1915 from Queensferry camp having been arrested at Newport on the 5th August 1914. Local Newpapers state that the arrested German seamen were held under guard until the 11th August in the Temperance Hall in Newport and then transported by sea, again under guard, by two tugs to Birkenhead from where they were taken to Queensferry near Chester. Wilhelm Rockel, another assistant Engineer, gave evidence that Kloker's mind was disturbed "thinking other men were chasing him and trying to murder him" - "he said many times that he would kill himself". Kloker was removed to the Hospital on Saturday evening [4th Nov] and later was moved to the Isolation Hospital. "Two of my friends offered to keep guard over him because they thought he would commit suicide but their offer was rejected. They saw him in the hospital - he was always reading books and I think too much reading turned his brain". Another internee then gave evidence of discovering his body at 7.20 on Tuesday 7th November hanging by his drawers wrapped around the beam supporting the cistern in the lavatory.

List

The photocopy makes it difficult to read all names so there is some doubt about my reading of several names, though all but four names can be confirmed in the I.C.RC. lists - the law report quotes a crew of 75 - one newspaper report quotes 73 - however no other internees are identified as crew members

I have not yet determined when the crew were repatriated, but two were transferred to Spalding at the end of January 1919 and another to Alexandra Palace at the end of February 1919. The Admiralty were opposed to any early repatriation of seamen - engineers especially were to be kept interned no matter what their age.

References

Alan Smith The Belgia in pp6/7 of S.O.S. Newsletter of the Friends of the Newport Ship #14 Spring 2009 - includes no sources & his account is somewhat at variance with the Prize Court account and local press
Cambria Daily Leader 5Aug 1914 German Liner Seized
Abergavenny Chronicle 7 Aug 1914 The War - Capture of a German Liner at Newport

Acknowledgements

Mike Edwards (www.AthenaAncestry.com) for giving me the information on the local press and the report by Captain Schmidt.

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2019