Charles Algernon Fryatt was a British merchant seaman who was court martialled by the Imperial German Navy for attempting to ram a German U-boat in 1915. When his ship, the SS Brussels, was captured by the Germans off occupied Belgium in 1916, Captain Fryatt was court-martialled by German military law and sentenced to death for "illegal civilian warfare". He was executed by firing squad near Bruges, Belgium. In 1919, his body was reburied with honours in the United Kingdom.

Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on-Sea to the south. It is the northernmost coastal town in Essex.