HMS Louvain was built as in 1897 by the Earle Company in Hull, UK. It was initially named SS Dresden and operated as an English passenger ship up until 1915. In that year, the Royal Navy renamed the ship HMS Louvain and used it mainly as an armed boarding steamer ferrying men and mail around different ports in the Mediterranean.

Montague George Easton, captain of HMS Louvain.

SS Dresden will always be remembered for the mysterious disappearance of the famous diesel engine inventor Rudolf Diesel while travelling aboard the ship.

On the evening of September 29, 1913, Diesel boarded SS Dresden in Antwerp on his way for a meeting with the Consolidated Diesel Manufacturing Company in London. After having dinner, he retired to his cabin, leaving word to be woken at 6.15am. He never answered the call and was never seen again. His bed had not been slept in and his coat and hat were neatly folded.

Ten days later, a Dutch boat, Coertsen, came upon a badly decomposed corpse of a man. The corpse was in an advanced state of decomposition and could not be recognised. However, personal items retrieved from the corpse were later identified by Diesel’s son Eugen as belonging to his father. There are various suicide and conspiracy theories that seek to explain Diesel’s death but none can be substantiated to be proven correct.

More than 230 men had lost their lives in the tragedy, over 70 of which were Maltese

On January 18, 1918, HMS Louvain was sailing a regular run from Malta to Mudros on the Greek island of Lemnos in the north Aegean Sea. The ship left Malta at 3pm escorted as far as the Corinth Canal and then passed independently through the canal. It was met by HMS MTB Colne at the eastern end of the canal. The ship was carrying mail, officers and ratings on passage to Mudros. Many of the ratings were Maltese on their way to be assigned to other Royal Navy ships.

At about 9pm on January 20, the German submarine UC-22 sighted an escorted HMS Louvain and decided to lay mines in front of the steamer and at the same time positioned itself for a torpedo attack. After laying 10 mines, UC-22 began its torpedo attack.

A cutting from The Times of February 4, 1918, reporting the tragedy. Note the part relating to the Maltese who lost their lives on board the Louvain.

The first torpedo was fired from a range of 600 metres and hit its target. However, as UC-22 was close to the destroyer escort, the submarine itself came under attack. When UC-22 surfaced about an hour later, HMS Louvain was no longer visible and the destroyer escort was performing rescue operations. The captain of UC-22 concluded that, seeing that visibility was excellent, with minimal wind and a flat sea, HMS Louvain must have sunk very quickly.

A court martial was held soon after the disaster and the findings placed no blame on either of the British ships. The enquiry noted the reports made by the captain of HMS MTB Colne that Louvain had been hit on the stern port quarter by a torpedo that penetrated the hull and entered the dynamo compartment. Louvain began to sink rapidly by the stern.

Although the order to abandon ship was issued and lifeboats were being lowered into the sea, these began sinking as soon as they hit the water, mainly because they were still attached to the deck davits as the latter became level with the water.

After HMS MTB Colne too came under attack, it turned to the direction of the attack and dropped two D-type depth charges at 24 metres. After both depth charges exploded, Colne reduced speed and swung around 180 degrees to starboard and headed to the last sighted position of HMS Louvain. Colne stopped for two-and-a-half hours picking up survivors and searching the area. No other attacks were reported.

HMS MTB Colne was escorting HMS Louvain when it came under attack from the German submarine UC-22.

The scroll sent by the King of England to the next of kin of those who lost their lives on HMS Louvain.

The court martial summary stated that HMS Louvain was sunk by a torpedo fired by an enemy submarine and that HMS MTB Colne had taken all possible precautions against the enemy attack and did everything possible to save life. The loss of men in the lifeboats was attributed to insufficient boat drill or an incomplete understanding of it by the ship’s crew. It also blamed the faulty organisation of placing all the officers together instead of distributing them among all boats and rafts to have a steadying influence.

The evidence was insufficient to establish whether the submarine had been destroyed but there was a possibility that it had been damaged.

The commanding officer of the Colne was blamed for making a false radio call that may have delayed the arrival of other ships to hunt for the submarine and provide further assistance. The court also stated that HMS Louvain should have been zigzagging on its track but was unable to apportion blame as neither the master nor the master of the watch had survived.

With the loss of so many men, the aftermath of the tragedy was hard to come to terms with . It was estimated that more than 230 men had lost their lives in the tragedy, over 70 of whom were Maltese. Twenty-four formed part of the crew of HMS Louvain while the others were due to serve on various ships of the British fleet.

Malta had not suffered such a heavy loss since the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

A collage of photos featuring SS Dresden, the Louvain, its captain, the German submarine UC-22 and the location where the ship was sunk.

Lest we forget

January 20, 2018, will mark the 100th anniversary since the sinking of HMS Louvain. A fitting remembrance service should be orga­nised in honour of these men. All those who lost a relative on the ship and would like to pay tribute to these men may call Mr Azzopardi on 7983 5319 or e-mail salvuazz@hotmail.com.

Saviour Azzopardi is the chairman of the Glarac Association Malta.

A map showing approximately where HMS Louvain was sunk by UC-22 on January 20, 1918.