{{one source|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox ship |display_title=FV ''Commandant Bultinck'' |section1={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |name=* {{flagicon|UK|civil}} ''Marloes (M76)'' (1911-1914) * {{flagicon|UK|naval}} HMS ''Marloes'' (1914-1919) * {{flagicon|UK|civil}} ''Marloes (FD170)'' (1919-1926) * {{flagicon|Belgium}} ''Commandant Bultinck'' (1927-1929) |namesake= |owner=Société de Pêcheries à Vapeur |operator= |registry={{flagicon|Belgium}} [[Ostend]], [[Belgium]] |route= |ordered= |builder=Smith's Dock Co. Ltd. |original_cost= |yard_number=466 |way_number= |laid_down= |launched=3 March, 1911<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/2009/01/s-t-marloes-fd170/ |title=S. T. Marloes FD170 |publisher=fleetwood-trawlers |date=3 September 2025}}</ref> |completed=May, 1911<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/2009/01/s-t-marloes-fd170/ |title=S. T. Marloes FD170 |publisher=fleetwood-trawlers |date=3 September 2025}}</ref> |christened= |acquired=1911 |maiden_voyage=1911 |in_service=1911 |out_of_service=2 October 1929 |identification=[[Official number]]: 128753 |fate=Ran aground in a storm and scrapped |notes= }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type=[[Trawler (fishing)|Trawler]] |tonnage={{GRT|219}} |length={{cvt|35.7|m|ftin}} |beam={{cvt|6.4|m|ftin}} |height= |draught= |depth={{cvt|3.4|m|ftin}} |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |power=1 x 3 cyl. triple expansion engine |propulsion=Screw propeller |speed= |capacity= |crew=12 |notes= }} }}
'''FV ''Commandant Bultinck''''' was a Belgian [[Trawler (fishing)|trawler]] that [[ran aground]] in a storm off [[Fleetwood]], [[Lancashire]], [[United Kingdom]] on 2 October 1929.<ref name=NHE>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?139645 |title=FV Commandant Bultinck (O-177) (+1929) |publisher=wrecksite.eu |date=24 March 2010 |accessdate=18 June 2020}}</ref>
== Construction == ''Marloes'' was built at the Smith's Dock Co. Ltd. shipyard in [[Middlesbrough]], United Kingdom in 1911. Where she was launched and completed that same year. The ship was {{convert|35.7|m|ftin}} long, had a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|6.4|m|ftin}} and had a depth of {{convert|3.4|m|ftin}}. She was assessed at {{GRT|219}} and had one three-cylinder [[triple expansion engine]] driving a single screw propeller.<ref name=NHE/>
== Early service== Registered at [[Milford, England]] 26 May, 1911.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/2009/01/s-t-marloes-fd170/ |title=S. T. Marloes FD170 |publisher=fleetwood-trawlers |date=3 September 2025}}</ref> and put in service
==World War I== Requisitioned by the Admiralty in August 1914<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/2009/01/s-t-marloes-fd170/ |title=S. T. Marloes FD170 |publisher=fleetwood-trawlers |date=3 September 2025}}</ref> and used as a minesweeper. Sold 1918 and returned to owner 1919.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~cmi/books/miscWr/bultinck.html |title=Commandant Bultinck lost 1929 |publisher=liverpool.ac.uk |date=2 September 2025}}</ref>
==Post war service== Milford registry closed 20 May, 1919 and registered at Fleetwood next day. Sold in 1924. Sold to Belgian firm August 1926 and renamed ''Commandant Bultinck''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~cmi/books/miscWr/bultinck.html |title=Commandant Bultinck lost 1929 |publisher=liverpool.ac.uk |date=2 September 2025}}</ref>
== Sinking == ''Commandant Bultinck'' was sailing in the [[Irish Sea]] when on 2 October 1929, she got caught in a storm with winds up to {{cvt|80|mph}} with sleet and lightning, which drove her to shore and ran her aground at Rossall Point near [[Fleetwood]], [[Lancashire]], [[United Kingdom]] barely missing a [[Breakwater (structure)|breakwater]]. She was spotted on the beach by a number of passengers on a [[tramcar]] at 11 pm, who quickly alerted the Fleetwood harbourmaster. The lifeboat headquarters at [[Blackpool]] were also informed of the wreck and chartered their lifeboat by horse to the wrecksite.<ref name=NHE/>
By the time the rescuers arrived, a large crowd had followed them to the site, where the harbourmaster said that the lifeboat would be useless as the wreck lay in very shallow waters surrounded by big waves. The rescuers waited on the shore until 4 am as they saw how another lifeboat with other rescuers tried in vain to reach the wreck before having to return to Fleetwood for shelter against the storm. Meanwhile, ''Commandant Bultinck'' endured wave after wave crashing over her deck as she lay broadside to the shore, with her crew holding onto the tilted deck. Ultimately three of the crew attempted to swim for the shore and holding onto a rope which could be used afterwards to rescue the remaining crewmen, but were swept under the stranded vessel and drowned.<ref name=NHE/><ref name=FTE>{{cite web |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~cmi/books/miscWr/bultinck.html |title=Commandant Bultinck lost 1929 |publisher=liverpool.ac.uk |date=4 October 1929 |accessdate=16 December 2022}}</ref>
By this time one of the teachers from the nearby [[Rossall School]] arrived on the scene with a megaphone. He was the only person who knew some [[Flemish dialects|Flemish]] and helped to communicate with the stricken [[Flanders|Flemish]] crew who did not know any [[English language|English]]. The crew of ''Commandant Bultinck'' were reluctant to enter the water again as the two previous attempts failed and claimed the lives of three of their fellow crewmen. Instead they waited until [[low tide]] when the rescuers were finally able to reach the ship and assist the remaining crew into getting ashore. The nine surviving crewmen were taking to the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen's Hostel in Fleetwood. The [[fish catch]] aboard ''Commandant Bultinck'' was also lost as all the ice aboard for preservation had been washed out by the [[seawater]].<ref name=NHE/>
== Wreck == The wreck of ''Commandant Bultinck'' lay nearly completely dry at low tide, but several attempts to refloat her were made. But even after holes were cut in the ship to make her lighter, she still failed to be refloated. Ultimately ''Commandant Bultinck'' was scrapped on site.<ref name=NHE/>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{1929 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commandant Bultinck}} [[Category:1911 ships]] [[Category:Shipwrecks in the Irish Sea]] [[Category:Trawlers]] [[Category:Steamships of Belgium]] [[Category:Ships built in North Yorkshire]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]] [[Category:Fishing vessels]]