Source: File: Two Survivors
of the Belgian Prince. See an original image at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-40831765> [Accessed 06 August 2017]
A steamer, Belgian Prince,
out at sea
Some 200 miles from Irish
coastline,
With a crew of varied
origins - they
Included an American black
man,
William Snell and a man of
Tyneside
Thomas Bowman - Chief Engineer.
Built by Laing James and
Sons Ltd
In 1904, the cargo ship was
built
To reach 10.5 knots - The
Belgian
Prince then owned by Prince
Line.
Tuesday 31 July 1917, Thomas
Bowman was on deck; time 8 p.m.
175 miles distant from Tory
Island
On Donegal coast, a German sub
U 55 was on a mission to
sink any
Allied shipping - commanded
by
Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm
Werner; Belgian Prince was
seen.
The U boat's engines were
thrown
Into action and a course was
begun.
The U boat launched a first
torpedo.
Then struck Belgian Prince lurched
Sideways - chief engineer
Thomas
Bowman fell on deck, hit by
debris.
Boat's crew of 42 men took
action
As the vessel gave a list, taking
To the lifeboats. Once in
the water
The submarine came alongside
Fired on the disabled
Belgian Prince
To foil attempts to call assistance.
The crew in the lifeboats
were
Ordered by the U55 to remain
Alongside - with no other
choice
They did so - a veteran of
close
Escapes Thomas Bowman, told
How they were ordered aboard.
Among the 42 standing on the
Submarines deck Captain
Hassan
Was separated and taken
below -
Their prize from steamer
Belgian
Prince that now hung limp in
sea -
U boat crew focused on the
crew.
While some took axes to the
life
Boats other Germans removed
The lifebelts from all but 8
men;
Told to strip off their
outer clothing -
Oars, balers and gratings were
Taken from the smashed
lifeboats.
Without any consideration of
41
Men’s lives, the U55 crew climbed
Into their vessel and closed
the
Hatches - Thomas Bowman told
How the U boat began to move
To wash them all into the waves.
One of eight Thomas Bowman
Still wore a life belt - a
number
Of his fellow crew floundered
In the water to be pulled under
By the U55's swell - others
swum
Back to the wrecked steamer.
By then the submarine was two
Miles distant, their Captain's
fate
Unknown - hanging in water
was
2nd Cook William Snell, of Florida
Jacksonville, and able Seaman
George Silessi; time passed.
The youngest apprentice aged
16,
Edward Sharp was calling out
For assistance - Bowman
dived
Back into water and swam
To the boy to reassure the
lad -
Bowman held him above water.
Hours passed into darkness,
As the figures left were carried
By the sea. Thomas attempted
To keep Edward awake but
The lad losing consciousness
Succumbed to exposure - he
had
To let the boy drift from
his hold.
Midnight was judged to pass
Still in darkened hours - the
final
Survivors waited for daylight
-
Finally some time after dawn,
Emerged on the sea the floating
Hulk of steamer Belgian
Prince.
Smoke still drifted up from
wreck
As Thomas Bowman summed
Energy to crawl through
water,
When an explosion from debri
Halted chance to reach any
kind
Of safety; around him were bodies.
Crewmates hung limp in the
water -
In their isolation two
others were
Still alive - able Seaman George
Silessi had already returned
to their
Stricken steamer, to remain
for hours
When a submarine lifted from
sea.
While not certain this was
the same
That had attacked them, Silessi
saw
Numbers of Germans climb
aboard
To claim any loot - Silessi
slipped
Away into the water and made
for
For the remains of a small
boat.
William Snell, the American
cook
Had also spent the same
hours
Afloat, having concealed
lifebelt
Under his clothing - time
and water
Had caused him to drift in distance;
In daylight he saw Belgian Prince.
Holding onto his life Snell
began
To head back towards the
wreck -
At some distance he judged a
mile,
Snell paused - close to the
Prince
He saw the black U boat
shape
To believe Germans had
returned.
Stalling his return by his
hesitation
He saw the final act to
finish her -
The deck gun flashed twice
with
A crack upon the hulk, the
Belgian
Prince by her stern, finally
sank -
He could do nothing but
watch.
The slowly rising sun
suggested
7 a.m. - was William Snell
the only
Man left? The U-boat
vanished to an
Underwater route, when
little more
Than an hour later, a British
boat
Found 3 survivors with 39
dead.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1917.
Murder On The High Seas - Hums Fiendish Callousness. The Daily Telegraph,
[online] 04 August 1917. P.8. Col.3. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12214750/Daily-Telegraph-August-4-1917.html>
[Accessed: 09 August 2017].
Source: McCauley. C. File: BBC News: World War
One: The sinking of the SS Belgian Prince 100 years on. Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-40831765>
[Accessed 09 August 2017]
Mann, J., 2016. 100
years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 09 August
2017).
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