"I deeply regret to say that it appears to be true that Captain Fryatt has been murdered by the Germans. His Majesty's Government have heard with the utmost indignation of this atrocious crime against the law of nations and the usages of war. Coming as it does contemporaneously with the lawless cruelties to the population of Lille and other occupied districts of France, it shows that the German High Command have, under the stress of military defeat, renewed their policy of terrorism.
"It is impossible to guess to what further atrocities they may proceed. His Majesty's Government, therefore, desire to repeat emphatically that they are resolved that such crimes shall not, if they can help it, go unpunished. When the time arrives they are determined to bring to justice the criminals, whoever they may be, and whatever their station. In such cases as this the man who authorises the system under which such crimes are committed may well be the most guilty of all."
The circumstances connected with Captain Fryatt's death are not disputed by either side; everyone can, therefore, form his own opinion about the case. It is as well to remember, however, that Germany declared a blockade of the British Isles in February, 1915, a month before Captain Fryatt encountered the U33, and that the U-boat pirates were employing methods of "frightfulness" in March, 1915.
The captain was perfectly justified in believing that the U33 would sink his ship without giving those aboard her time to enter their boats. He acted as any man of spirit would have acted in similar circumstances, and the German defence of his murder breaks down when we recall the conduct of the U-boat commanders at that time. On the very day when Captain Fryatt met the U33 another German submarine was sinking the s.s. _Falaba_, without giving the passengers or crew time to abandon ship. The _Falaba_, it will be remembered, sank in eight minutes, with a loss of 104 lives. Was not Captain Fryatt justified in saving his crew from the chances of a similar fate?
On the 21st September the s.s. _Curamalan_ proceeded to sea. She had been in the service of the Argentine Republic for twenty years, and could not, therefore, be classed as a ship transferred for use during the war. Her owners were subjects of the Republic, and she was chartered by the Argentine Whaling Company to carry coal from Newport (Wales) to South Georgia. Such vessels are in the habit of speaking St. Vincent, Cape Verde, _en route_, but the _Curamalan_ did not do so. She has been missing "without trace" since the date of her sailing, and it has been presumed by the authorities that she was sunk in European waters.